"Can't you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?" People asked Lewis to write on this topic and Lewis gave them much more than they bargained for with his answer I am sure. That is because Lewis in his answer does not simply answer the question phrased by their lips but the one formed in their hearts. He cuts past their outward projection into their true motives. Many people today ask that same question and we like Lewis should seek to move beyond that simple question to the much more meaningful one that is at it's root.
Lewis hits the mark when he says, "If he hadn't heard of Christianity he would not be asking this question (that of whether you can lead a good life without being Christian). If, having heard of it, and having seriously considered it, he had decided it was untrue, then once more he would not be asking th question. The man who asks this question has heard of Christianity and is by no means certain that it may not be true. He is really asking 'Need I bother about it?'" The crux of the matter hinges on whether Christianity is important, whether in obeying or disobeying Christianity one might avoid damnation. The question in its simplest and lowest terms is need I do anything at all that would require a form of work, intellectual challenge, or alteration of my lifestyle?
I think that once a person asking that initial question understood what it was in fact that they were asking, they would be able to give themselves the answer quite easily. I don't think that they are unaware that they must change and engage the ideas in world but rather that they desire not too. That desire has led to them throwing up ramshackle defenses of and empty arguments to distract them from the true issue at hand.
Any human encountering the idea of Christianity must then for the sake of discovering truth engage it. As Lewis writes "Here is a door, behind which, according to some people the secret of the universe is waiting for you. Either that's true or it isn't. and if it isn't then what the door really conceals is simply the greatest fraud, the most colossal sell on record. Isn't the job of every man to try to find out which and then devote his full energies either to serving this tremendous secret or to exposing and destroying this gigantic humbug?" To be a man is question and search for truth. Anyone who encounters such a claim whether Christianity or other and does not proceed to search for the truth is more rabbit than man.
I loved what you said in the first paragraph: "That is because Lewis in his answer does not simply answer the question phrased by their lips but the one formed in their hearts. He cuts past their outward projection into their true motives". It's crazy to me how Lewis can do that in pretty much every meditation he writes! He has a way of seeing past our 'fire walls' and revealing our deepest concerns or struggles. That's one of the reasons why Lewis has such an impact on his readers. great thoughts
ReplyDeleteNate, your whole post was well written. I really appreciated your last two paragraphs about how many desire not to engage in ideas in the world. It is so much more easier that way, especialy when one can just make up their own morals about certain issues and in a way lean toward subjectivism. The quote at the end about how there is a door reminds me of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." There is so much that Lucy gets to see if she decides to open that door, yet if she doesn't, she has not idea what all that can entail.
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