Where do you draw the line
As promised, here is the next section of Mere Christianity.
Book II, Chapter 1, The Rival Conceptions of God
In this chapter, CS Lewis explains what he believes are the divisions of humanity as far as what people believe about God. The first paragraph is one of my favorites, and something I've not heard many Christians say (at least not in this particular way), so I thought I'd include the whole paragraph in this post.
"I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view. But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. As in arithmetic -- there is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers are wrong; but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others."
So where do the distinctions lie? Where does Christianity differ? Lewis says that the first line to be drawn is between those who believe in some kind of God or gods, and those who don't. The majority of people in the world do believe in God or gods, and Christianity falls into this category (duh!). The next division comes in regard to the nature of the God in which they believe. Some believe that God transcends good and bad, and the closer you get to God, the less of a distinction you will see between good and bad, until finally everything depends on point of view. Others believe that "God is quite definitely 'good' and 'righteous', a God who takes sides, who loves love and hates hatred." Christianity, Judaism, and Islam fall into the second category, as far as I know. I am not an expert on world religions, but generally speaking, these are the main divisions. Lewis calls the first view Pantheism, and Pantheists would say that the universe and God are one. One could not exist without the other, and every piece of the world is a piece of God. Christians believe that God made the world like a painter makes a painting. You will see attributes of the painter in his work, but that is only because it came from his head. The painter is not his painting. He is separate from it. Christianity thinks God is separate from the world. "But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again."
This, then, begs the question, "If God is good, then why is there so much bad in the world He made?" Lewis says that this was his argument against Christianity for many years*. "My argument against God was that the universe seemed cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust?" In order for something to be seen as unjust, there has to be some idea of just to compare it to. Lewis says that atheism is too simple. "If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would have no meaning."
So, from this chapter we learn a little of what Christian believe, and a little taste of how it is different from the other religions. Christians believe that God made the universe, and that he is supremely good and righteous, but that some things have gone wrong with the world, things that God insists be put right. Next time we'll look at another view, what Lewis calls "Christianity-and-water."
Thanks for reading!
*If you struggle with this question (If God is good, why do bad things happen?) then I STRONGLY urge you to read CS Lewis' The Problem of Pain. This was actually the first book of his I read (besides the Chronicles of Narnia) and it is very good. I may write some blogs on The Problem of Pain when I am finished with Mere Christianity.
Book II, Chapter 1, The Rival Conceptions of God
In this chapter, CS Lewis explains what he believes are the divisions of humanity as far as what people believe about God. The first paragraph is one of my favorites, and something I've not heard many Christians say (at least not in this particular way), so I thought I'd include the whole paragraph in this post.
"I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view. But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. As in arithmetic -- there is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers are wrong; but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others."
So where do the distinctions lie? Where does Christianity differ? Lewis says that the first line to be drawn is between those who believe in some kind of God or gods, and those who don't. The majority of people in the world do believe in God or gods, and Christianity falls into this category (duh!). The next division comes in regard to the nature of the God in which they believe. Some believe that God transcends good and bad, and the closer you get to God, the less of a distinction you will see between good and bad, until finally everything depends on point of view. Others believe that "God is quite definitely 'good' and 'righteous', a God who takes sides, who loves love and hates hatred." Christianity, Judaism, and Islam fall into the second category, as far as I know. I am not an expert on world religions, but generally speaking, these are the main divisions. Lewis calls the first view Pantheism, and Pantheists would say that the universe and God are one. One could not exist without the other, and every piece of the world is a piece of God. Christians believe that God made the world like a painter makes a painting. You will see attributes of the painter in his work, but that is only because it came from his head. The painter is not his painting. He is separate from it. Christianity thinks God is separate from the world. "But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again."
This, then, begs the question, "If God is good, then why is there so much bad in the world He made?" Lewis says that this was his argument against Christianity for many years*. "My argument against God was that the universe seemed cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust?" In order for something to be seen as unjust, there has to be some idea of just to compare it to. Lewis says that atheism is too simple. "If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would have no meaning."
So, from this chapter we learn a little of what Christian believe, and a little taste of how it is different from the other religions. Christians believe that God made the universe, and that he is supremely good and righteous, but that some things have gone wrong with the world, things that God insists be put right. Next time we'll look at another view, what Lewis calls "Christianity-and-water."
Thanks for reading!
*If you struggle with this question (If God is good, why do bad things happen?) then I STRONGLY urge you to read CS Lewis' The Problem of Pain. This was actually the first book of his I read (besides the Chronicles of Narnia) and it is very good. I may write some blogs on The Problem of Pain when I am finished with Mere Christianity.
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