God on Trial

Dozens of short texts, newspaper articles, lectures, and letters: Lewis responds to the questions of his time about God, morality, science, capital punishment, animals… The best way to discover the apologist in small doses.

The collection, compiled after Lewis's death, brings together newspaper articles, lectures, and answers to questions. The title comes from a text where Lewis observes that modern man has reversed the roles: once, man stood before God; today, it is God who is in the dock, and man, a benevolent judge, is ready to acquit Him if He presents a good defense. It also includes The Myth Become Fact, on the Gospel as the fulfillment of myths, The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment, a plea against a justice that “heals” instead of punishing justly, The Vivisection, and a text on women priests.

• Original title — God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics
• First published — 1970
• Genre — Posthumous collection of essays
• First UK edition — Undeceptions (1971)
• Availability in bookstores — Available (Empreinte temps présent, 2020)
• Reading level — Easy — short texts to pick up
• For whom — Ideal for those who prefer short texts. You can open it at random.

[{Title, Publisher, Year, Translator?, Note?, Source?}]

• God in the Dock — EBV (Brunnen Verlag) — Basel / Paris — 1982 — Astrid and Étienne Huser — selection of texts from 1942–1963; 111 p.
• God in the Dock — Raphaël — 2010 — edition cited by A.-F. Caballero (2024); no record found in catalogues
• God in the Dock — Empreinte temps présent — 2020 — 152 p.

themes

• Myth and truth.
• Justice and punishment.
• Science and religion.
• Chronological snobbery.

Quotes

• Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. — “Christian Apologetics” (1945), in God in the Dock

Family

Essays

Other names

• God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics
• Posthumous collection of essays
• Essays

Dozens of short texts, newspaper articles, lectures, and letters: Lewis responds to the questions of his time about God, morality, science, capital punishment, animals… The best way to discover the apologist in small doses.

Quick facts

## How to Approach It

The book in a few words

The collection, compiled after Lewis's death, gathers articles from the press, lectures, and answers to questions. The title comes from a text where Lewis observes that modern man has reversed the roles: once, man stood before God; today, it is God who is on the witness stand, and man, the benevolent judge, is ready to acquit Him if He presents a good defense. It also includes Le Mythe devenu fait (The Myth Became Fact), on the Gospel as the fulfillment of myths, La Théorie humanitaire du châtiment (The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment), a plea against a justice that "heals" instead of punishing justly, La Vivisection (Vivisection), and even a text on women priests.

In Lewis's Workshop

Walter Hooper gathered these scattered texts between 1941 and 1963. The 1982 French edition only includes a selection of them.

What announces Narnia

Le Mythe devenu fait (The Myth Became Fact) is the key to understanding how Lewis viewed Aslan: not as an allegory, but as another imagined incarnation.

What a modern reader retains

The image of the title has not aged: many of us still judge God, or the idea of God, as an accused who should justify himself before us. The short texts in the collection lend themselves well to reading today, one article at a time. Some (on justice or vivisection) revive debates that are still very much alive; others, such as the one on women priests, show the limits of their era.

Its legacy

La Théorie humanitaire du châtiment (The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment) is still discussed by jurists; a translation appeared in a French criminology journal in 2018.

Key ideas to remember

• Myth and truth.
• Justice and punishment.
• Science and religion.
• Chronological snobbery.

To quote

« Christianity, if it is untrue, has no importance; if it is true, it has an importance infinite. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. » — « Christian Apologetics » (1945), as included in God in the Dock — translation from the website

Read it in French

• Dieu au banc des accusés, EBV (Brunnen Editions), Basel / Paris, 1982, translated by Astrid and Étienne Huser — selection of texts from 1942-1963; 111 p.
• Dieu au banc des accusés, Raphaël, 2010 — edition cited by A.-F. Caballero (2024); no record found in catalogs
• Dieu au banc des accusés, Empreinte temps présent, 2020 — 152 p.

See also

• Reasoning or Telling Stories? Lewis's Two Apologetics and Those Who Responded to Them
• Démo(n)cratiquement vôtre
• Is Narnia an Allegory?
• Other Essay Collections

Sources

• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis
• https://www.pintswithjack.com/csl-in-france/