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

On August 27, 1945, C.S. Lewis gave his 4th BBC talk entitled, "What Can We Do About It?  This was supposed to be the last of his first series of talks, but an extra talk was added so he could answer some of the many questions his talks generated (which we covered in a previous post).

Later, when his talks were first published in book form, this talk became chapter 5 under the same title.  When it was later republished in the compilation in 1952 under the title of "Mere Christianity," this chapter was renamed "We Have Cause to be Uneasy."

Lewis begins by reviewing the last chapter ("What Lies Behind the Law).  Somebody or something beyond the material world actually gets at us.  Lewis quickly responds to those who feel he simply tries to turn back the clock to reintroduce religion, something they lack interest in.  Lewis responds with three points.

1. If the clock is wrong, it only makes sense to correct the clock, and if that means turning the clock back, then so be it.  Or if you are on the wrong road, you may well have to go back and get on the right road.  Or if your arithmetic goes wrong, you may need to go back to where you went wrong and start again.  Refusing to admit your mistake will not help.
2. Lewis points out he still has not yet got to the God of any particular religion.  All he has done thus far is to say there is Somebody or Something behind the Moral Law, quite apart from anything in the Bible or the churches.  We have two bits of information about this Somebody.  First, we can see He is a great artist from what we observe from the universe.  Second, the Moral Law He put in our minds gives us inside information about Him - it tells us He is interested in right conduct.  He is not soft about this.
3. Christianity tells people to repent and promises forgiveness.  It makes no sense to those who do not feel they have done anything to repent of and thus do not feel they need forgiveness.  It only speaks to people who realize there is a real Moral Law, a Power behind that Law, that they have broken that Law, that they are now wrong before that Power behind the Law.  Christianity only speaks to those who realize all this.  Only those who know they are sick listen to the doctor.

Only those who realize their position is nearly desperate will be open to understand what Christians are talking about.   Christians offer an explanation of how we got to a position of hating goodness while yet loving it.  Only Christians offer an explanation about the force behind the law who is also a Person.  Only Christianity explain how the demands of the law, which we cannot meet on our own, has been satisfied on our behalf by God - how God became man to save man from God's disapproval.  All Lewis claims is to try to explain the old story so they can face the facts, and help them understand the questions Christianity claims to answer.

Lewis admits the facts Christianity tries to explain are terrifying facts.  So while Christianity offers unspeakable comfort, it begins with dismaying facts.  He says he avoid soft soap and wishful thinking, which can only lead to despair.  He draws an analogy to the current war time situation in England.  Lewis refers to the wishful thinking about international politics before the war - and says most of us (speaking to an audience in England in the midst of WWII) have gotten over that.  He says it's time to get over wishful thinking about religion.

This ends Book 1 in Mere Christianity (since it ended the first set of BBC talks Lewis gave).  So we will next go to the first chapter of Book 2.

Bk 1 - Ch 4 - What Lies Behind the Law

Bk 2 - Ch 1 - Rival Conceptions About God

Mere Christianity - Overview