C.S. Lewis begins his discussion by applying the argument from morality. The general idea is that man in whatever circumstance he finds himself, is fully aware of a standard. For the atheist, that standard is circumstantial (or so he thinks). For the Christian, that inherent Law of Right and Wrong has been written on the hearts of man, because the Creator has established fixed laws of morality, by which man must comport.
Indeed, if there are no fixed set of laws (of morality) then we enter into the realm of the absurd. As Lewis writes:
Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find that same man going back on this a moment later.[1]
No one can live consistently within a worldview that does not operate within the laws of morality. These laws guide man, so that when he does wrong, he senses and knows that he has broken some law. Of course, the unregenerate continues throughout his life to suppress this reality to the point of death (ultimate death; Romans 1).
C.S. Lewis summarizes the inescapability of man before this Cosmic Law:
First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in.[2]
The Law of Nature for Lewis is a law derived from the Creator. This concept of the Law of Nature has two general meanings, a) that, it is the revealed Law of God to all people and is clear in Nature and by our experiences and b) It is the revealed Word of God found in Scriptures and witnessed in Creation. There ought not to be some unnecessary dichotomy here. Both explanations answer the problem, but one is incomplete without the other. Many during the Scholastic period claimed that the Laws of Nature were clear and therefore, we were in no need of some special, divine revelation. This is foolish, since Natural Revelation is never as clear as Special Revelation.[3]
This was the climax of the Enlightenment that autonomous man is not in need of divine assistance. Descartes, himself, sought to see the starting point of all things in the Self. Truth is found everywhere. It is not confined to the Biblical Revelation. But when the Self of Descartes replaces those two revelations,[4] then autonomy has once again replaced the authority of God’s unique revelation in Scripture and Nature. Hans Kung summarizes Descartes’ journey:
The two books in which medieval man had sought truth—the book of nature and that of the Bible—appear to be replaced here by those of modern man: the book of the world and that of his own self.[5]
This is at its inception the decline of a proper view of Morality that Lewis sought to follow.[6] How is man able to know right and wrong if he is the standard of right and wrong? A true standard must be greater than self, if it is to judge other “selves.” Continue reading “C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity: Analysis and Application Part II”