Mere Christianity - Bk. I - Ch. 4 - What Lies Behind the Law

On August 20, 1941, C.S. Lewis delivered his third talk on the BBC then entitled, "Materialism or Religion."  It became the fourth chapter of Broadcast Talks published in England in 1942, and The Case for Christianity published in the United States in 1943.  When published as Mere Christianity in 1952, Lewis changed the title to "What Lies Behind the Law."

Lewis begins by summarizing the previous chapter about the reality of the moral law, something we cannot explain, something we expect everyone to follow, even though we realize we often fall short of this standard.

So Lewis moves on to what this means.  He explains two basic views about the universe.  First the materialist view which explains the universe just happens to exist by chance.

By one chance in a thousand, something hit our sun and produced the planets.  By another chance in a thousand, some matter on this earth came alive, and eventually by another very long series of chances, those living creatures turned into something like us.

The second view Lewis calls the religious view.  Behind the universe is something more like a mind, being conscious, with purpose, and definite preferences.  This mind produced creatures like itself - with minds.  Both views have been held for a long time throughout human history.


Now Lewis wants to make it quite clear that science simply cannot resolve this issue.  He says science has a very proper role within its limitations - that which can be tested by experiments.  Those who try to use science to answer this issue usually do not understand the limitations of science.

Lewis also points out that we do not just observe mankind, we are men (or women) - we have inside information.  We know the moral law does not just describe just what we do - instead it strongly informs and pushes us towards what we ought to do.  This inside information gives us a clue - points the way to a mind outside of the observable facts - which strongly influences us to behave in a certain way - the moral law.  If we look at a house or building, we can't see the architect, but we can see how that mind shaped the design of the edifice.  When we see the postman delivering mail, we have some idea of what he delivers to others based on the inside information we derive from what we receive when the postman delivers the mail to us.  Otherwise, if we just saw a postman delivering mail without this inside information - we would likely have no idea what he was doing.  Lewis compares God with a sender of letters who tells us to obey the law of human nature.

Lewis cautions the reader - he has not yet started to describe the God of Christianity.  All he has done thus far is to describe Something which directs the universe, who urges us to follow a basic law of right and wrong - something more like a mind rather than matter - since it would be difficult to imagine matter giving us instruction.

Bk. 1 - Ch. 3 - The Reality of the Law

Bk 1 - Ch 5 - We Have Cause to be Uneasy

Overview of Mere Christianity