In 1962, Christian Century asked the well-known Christian writer, C. S. Lewis to name the books that had most influenced his thought. Among the ten that Lewis listed was Arthur J. Balfour's 1915 Theism and Humanism. This wasn't a passing whim. Almost twenty years earlier, in 1944, Lewis had written in "Is Theology Poetry" that Theism was 'a book too little read.' Unfortunately, until now it hasn't been that easy to find a copy. Except for a brief reprinting in the 1970s, copies are only available on the used market and are thus rare and relatively expensive.

Balfour was a talented writer and perhaps the most intelligent British Prime Minister of the twentieth century. During World War One he replaced Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty and later went on to become Foreign Secretary. In the latter office he was responsible for the 1917 Balfour Declaration committing Great Britain to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It is no exaggeration to say that Israel owes its existence to Balfour.

Theism and Humanism is based on a 1914 Gifford Lecture that Balfour gave at the University of Glasgow. All the original text is included, and I have added quite a bit of additional material. There are 13 illustrations of Balfour adapted from political cartoons in Punch magazine. There are four appendices taken from his other writings, including the marvelous "A Catechism for Naturalism" that sent Darwin's Bulldog/arch-agnostic Thomas Huxley into a fit of rage. There's also a glossary of people and terms mentioned in the book and a detailed index. Last but not least, I've added brief quotes from Balfour's other writings to clarify what he is saying. As one reviewer has mentioned, these additions make a book that¹s not light reading much easier to understand.

Balfour's target in Theism is naturalism, a belief that all that exists are natural processes. He challenges those who believe in naturalism to come up with a foundation for the things they hold dearest--a belief in human rationality, our ethical longings, and a justification for art--based solely on their own beliefs. He makes a good case that they cannot do that and summarizes his book in these words:
My desire has been to show that all we think best in human culture, whether associated with beauty, goodness, or knowledge, requires God for its support, that Humanism without Theism loses more than half its value.

Readers should be warned that this book isn't light reading. But if you like philosophy and stimulating, provocative ideas, this may be just the book for you. The Cambridge-educated Balfour was quite knowledgeable about science and, as such, his writings make a useful complement to the Oxford-educated Lewis, whose specialty was literature.
—Mike W. Perry, Inkling Books, Seattle