David Hill
Apologetics
Period 5
“In Response to Lewis’s Mere Christianity”
C.S. Lewis provides several intriguing facts and arguments for Christianity and explains his beliefs and knowledge in a way that keeps the reader hooked. Mere Christianity is a compiled work of radio broadcasts the Mr. Lewis hosted during the World War II era. Mr. Lewis is considered one of the foremost Christian thinkers of the 20th century and in his book, Mere Christianity, he offers some of the most profound and greatest insights into the Christian faith. I found his arguments compelling and interesting to read, but also somewhat repetitive of facts I have reasoned out on my own, or have been taught through classes.
In “BOOK I. RIGHT AND WRONG AS A CLUE TO THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE” Mr. Lewis sets forth the argument of the universal human conception of right and wrong, with the insight of how we react to and obey the moral law. I found this section very intriguing especially the argument that Humans have an innate sense of right and wrong; secondly, the argument put forth that the natural law and moral law are always conflicting. For example, when someone is in trouble Moral law tells us to help the person, yet natural law tells us to save ourselves if there is danger. Personally, the argument that God put the Moral law into our minds when he created us, is in fact quite convincing. Mr. Lewis later alludes to what I think he has come to believe and what all Christians should do; Face the Facts (p.32). I believe that Mr. Lewis feels that God can be a person through us in the moral law that all humans possess.
“BOOK 2. WHAT CHRISTIANS BELIEVE” is an in depth plunge into the Christian faith. This book is interesting and offers the greatest insight of belief and arguments that people may set forth. In book 2 Mr. Lewis reveals to us what he believes, and the arguments he has reasoned with. The one argument that stuck with me, because it goes hand in hand with my thought process and coming to reason with the Christian faith is the argument that Jesus was in fact God incarnate, not a Moral teacher. For, if Jesus was just a great moral teacher, he would be a lunatic or some form of evil. Forgiveness of sins is a claim Jesus made that he was able to perform. The argument is that Jesus, who had not been wronged, was forgiving the sins of people who had wronged others. Mr. Lewis states that Jesus acted as if he was the party who was chiefly concerned by the actions and that this would only make sense if he were in fact God (p.52).
Mr. Lewis came to believe that a man who said the things Jesus said could not just be a great moral teacher, if he was he would have to be a maniac of the devil himself. So, by conducive reasoning he can only be the Son of God.
David Hill
Edwards pd.5
Written Response to Book III
In book III, C.S. Lewis elaborates on Christian Behavior. Mr. Lewis discusses Morality, the Cardinal virtues, and Sin. Book III is hard to understand at times and easy at others. For instance, when Mr. Lewis is talking about faith and his interpretation, it is very difficult to interpret what he is trying to say. On the other hand, when Mr. Lewis is discussing immorality and pride being the greatest sin, his analogies are simple and easy to understand.
It is not only Mr. Lewis’ elaboration on faith, but also his elaboration on the three theological virtues as well that, to me, become quite confounded. We shall start with charity. Mr. Lewis’ explanation on charity is not as confusing as it is confounding. All this talk about compounding interest and good and evil, it all seems so over analyzed and almost contradictory. Chapter 10 is on Hope, it is short and vague. The only thing that makes sense is the imagery of heaven and gold, etc. (after a quick glance of it a third time, it made more sense. So, we’ll begin with the hard one.) Finally, Mr. Lewis describes his two “sense” of faith, this was especially hard for to understand because it was his own interpretation, and it is always hard to understand another’s interpretation of something you already have your own for. I understand his analogies of “faith in anesthetics” and the little boy learning to swim; it’s a battle from within. Then, Mr. Lewis starts in a different direction, elaborating on something about you can only know how hard something is once you’ve tried followed by a child getting money from his dad for a present for his dad. The entire section does not flow to well, and is hard to follow without close examination.
The first half of Book III made a lot of sense and really helped open my eyes. It flowed and made sense, even though some of the things escaped me. The chapter on psychoanalysis was very in depth and explained very thoroughly. Then chapter five, on Sexual morality, is also very in depth and the analogy of the hungry country with a covered-platter and an audience saying that our society is “sexually deprived” etc. The way Mr. Lewis explains that indulgence causes this want not deprivation is clear as crystal. My favorite part was “The Great Sin” chapter 8. This chapter really helped me see how it really is the greatest immorality of all. Pride leads to all other sins, this made sense and has helped me come to new realizations about sin and temptation in the world.
David Hill
Edwards 5
Theology 12
“Written Response to book IV”
Mr. Lewis’ Book IV in Mere Christianity focuses on the trinity, and his basic idea of it. This section includes Lewis’ explanation of making and begetting, time – and how we understand God perceives time, the “Three –Personal God,” relation of the Father and Son, and the unmoved Toy Soldiers…
“Theology is like a map” (p. 154) - This quote is Lewis’ way of explaining Theology. He says that theology is a compilation of everyone else’s discoveries that helps give us an idea of what it is. However, it does not offer to us the knowledge of experiencing it ourselves. He explains that one cannot get anywhere simply by viewing the “map” that one must embark on the journey to discover it for themselves. Lewis’ says it is important to know that you cannot simply go off of one’s experience with God and not follow Theology, and vice versa.
The second major point Lewis emphasizes is the difference betwixt making and begetting. According to Lewis, Making is what God when he created humanity and Begetting is what happened when he created Jesus. A man can make a statue in his own image; however, when a man begets something, it is from him – like having a child. Begetting happens when a being comes from another.
It is very hard to understand Lewis’ definition of a Three-Personal Being. As I understand it, God is three people, yet remaining as one being, just as a cube has three dimensions yet it is one. The Three-Personal Being is hard to grasp, yet it is essential to understand it. Through God and the Three-Personal Being, we are able to understand how he works in our lives.
There is no certain way of knowing how God perceives time in relation to us; however, since we know God is omniscient, we are able to form some idea. Lewis explains this as God is the page on which the line is drawn; therefore, we have to go from one point to the next, whereas the “page” can see it all at once. This is an excellent explanation of God’s sense of time and greatly helps put it into perspective.
Lewis uses the example of the toy soldier to express the differences between natural human pride and giving oneself to the spiritual world and a higher power. The tin soldier has only known itself and when the higher power (the owner) attempts to change it, the tin soldier does not want to become something it is not. The same way when we start having to obey guidelines set forth by the church and other religious leaders, we want to keep from changing into something we are not.
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