Terrifying...
Mere Christianity, Book I, Chapter 5, We Have Cause to Be Uneasy
Let me start by telling you some of the things that go through my head. I'm not sure what event it was that started this, but the last year or two, there have been times when I think, "What if there is no God?" I became a Christian when I was just six years old, and as a child it was so easy to believe in the ideas of God creating the world, and of Jesus being raised from the dead. Those things just made sense and were easy to accept. Perhaps this is just my coming of age, and I actually want more explanations for those things, outside of what the Bible says. I hear all the time that Christians are stupid, and are blind to the reality of the world we live in, even that we are evil. Is that true? I wouldn't call myself a stupid or evil person. So, what's the problem then? Should someone like me really believe all that stuff about God? If someone would ask me why I am a Christian, what would I say? Is God really good like the Bible teaches? One of my friends (a Christian) said if she finds out when she dies that she was wrong and there is no God, then so what? It wouldn't matter because she wouldn't exist anymore to even know if she had been right or wrong....but think of the alternative. What if the Christians are right? So, I guess what I'm saying is I have had a lot of questions recently about what I really believe, and that is why I have been reading this stuff. Trying to firm up my beliefs. I should be able to defend what I believe...even defend it to myself.
This chapter seems to be a transition from "the Something" to the God of Christian theology. Lewis tries to defend his writing against those who would label it as another "religious jaw" wrapped in philosophy. So far we haven't referenced the Bible or any other religious writing or theology. Yes, it is obvious where the book is going...it is called Mere Christianity after all. He also wants to be clear that the past chapters have not been a trick to get to his real subject. "My reason was that Christianity simply does not make sense until you have faced the facts that I have been describing." I find that I have to keep going back to those facts or I get ahead of myself and start doubting things again. There is a real Right and a real Wrong. If I am honest with myself I know this is true. I encounter that urge to do the right thing, and the guilt of doing the wrong thing almost every second of every day. How could I deny it? In order for that urge to exist, it has to come from a source outside of this universe. I also know that I am constantly failing to do the right thing, therefore constantly against the Something that compels me to follow the Moral Law. This is a terrifying thought.
So how can we figure out more about the Something? There are two clues. The first is the universe He made, but Lewis warns that if we rely on this as our only clue, then we would "conclude that He was a great artist (for the universe is a very beautiful place), but also that He is quite merciless and no friend to man (for the universe is a very dangerous and terrifying place)." The second clue is "that Moral Law which He has put into our minds." This clue will give us the most information, "just as you find out more about a man by listening to his conversation than by looking at a house he has built." From the second clue we find out that this Something is very concerned about us doing right, or doing what is good. Anything that has this characteristic must be "good." Not "indulgent, soft, or sympathetic," for there is nothing indulgent about the Moral Law...no in-between Right and Wrong, no letting it slide this time. "You know at bottom that unless the power behind the world really and unalterably detests that sort of behavior, then He cannot be good." So if the power is absolutely good, then we are in deep trouble. If anyone is 100% good, every second of every day with no exceptions, then this information is useless to you. If you are like me, then you know that you have "put yourself in the wrong with that Power." This is where Christianity begins to talk.
It is truly terrifying to think about facing this absolutely good Being. It would seem that our situation is hopeless...that God is "our only possible ally and we have made ourselves His enemies." Christians claim to have the answers. Book I was all about facing the facts so that we can realize how desperate our situation is. You only go to see the doctor when you realize you are sick. Book II is title What Christians Believe. We'll see if there can be any hope found in what they have to say.
Let me start by telling you some of the things that go through my head. I'm not sure what event it was that started this, but the last year or two, there have been times when I think, "What if there is no God?" I became a Christian when I was just six years old, and as a child it was so easy to believe in the ideas of God creating the world, and of Jesus being raised from the dead. Those things just made sense and were easy to accept. Perhaps this is just my coming of age, and I actually want more explanations for those things, outside of what the Bible says. I hear all the time that Christians are stupid, and are blind to the reality of the world we live in, even that we are evil. Is that true? I wouldn't call myself a stupid or evil person. So, what's the problem then? Should someone like me really believe all that stuff about God? If someone would ask me why I am a Christian, what would I say? Is God really good like the Bible teaches? One of my friends (a Christian) said if she finds out when she dies that she was wrong and there is no God, then so what? It wouldn't matter because she wouldn't exist anymore to even know if she had been right or wrong....but think of the alternative. What if the Christians are right? So, I guess what I'm saying is I have had a lot of questions recently about what I really believe, and that is why I have been reading this stuff. Trying to firm up my beliefs. I should be able to defend what I believe...even defend it to myself.
This chapter seems to be a transition from "the Something" to the God of Christian theology. Lewis tries to defend his writing against those who would label it as another "religious jaw" wrapped in philosophy. So far we haven't referenced the Bible or any other religious writing or theology. Yes, it is obvious where the book is going...it is called Mere Christianity after all. He also wants to be clear that the past chapters have not been a trick to get to his real subject. "My reason was that Christianity simply does not make sense until you have faced the facts that I have been describing." I find that I have to keep going back to those facts or I get ahead of myself and start doubting things again. There is a real Right and a real Wrong. If I am honest with myself I know this is true. I encounter that urge to do the right thing, and the guilt of doing the wrong thing almost every second of every day. How could I deny it? In order for that urge to exist, it has to come from a source outside of this universe. I also know that I am constantly failing to do the right thing, therefore constantly against the Something that compels me to follow the Moral Law. This is a terrifying thought.
So how can we figure out more about the Something? There are two clues. The first is the universe He made, but Lewis warns that if we rely on this as our only clue, then we would "conclude that He was a great artist (for the universe is a very beautiful place), but also that He is quite merciless and no friend to man (for the universe is a very dangerous and terrifying place)." The second clue is "that Moral Law which He has put into our minds." This clue will give us the most information, "just as you find out more about a man by listening to his conversation than by looking at a house he has built." From the second clue we find out that this Something is very concerned about us doing right, or doing what is good. Anything that has this characteristic must be "good." Not "indulgent, soft, or sympathetic," for there is nothing indulgent about the Moral Law...no in-between Right and Wrong, no letting it slide this time. "You know at bottom that unless the power behind the world really and unalterably detests that sort of behavior, then He cannot be good." So if the power is absolutely good, then we are in deep trouble. If anyone is 100% good, every second of every day with no exceptions, then this information is useless to you. If you are like me, then you know that you have "put yourself in the wrong with that Power." This is where Christianity begins to talk.
It is truly terrifying to think about facing this absolutely good Being. It would seem that our situation is hopeless...that God is "our only possible ally and we have made ourselves His enemies." Christians claim to have the answers. Book I was all about facing the facts so that we can realize how desperate our situation is. You only go to see the doctor when you realize you are sick. Book II is title What Christians Believe. We'll see if there can be any hope found in what they have to say.
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