God in the Dock: 1st 3 essays

  In the first essay “Good and Evil” Lewis faces the very basic question of the relation of good and evil in the world.  According to the appearances of things as one contemplates the world, they may seem to be of equal power, with evil very often having the upper hand.   This essay is first because rightly understanding the answer is essential to one’s thinking about all the other issues of life, many of which Lewis will face in subsequent essays.

Lewis refers to Ormuzd and Ahriman.  They are the gods of good and evil in  Zoroastrianism, a dualistic religion developed by Zoroaster in Persia in the 7th century, and having an on-going effect on the thinking of many.

In “Miracles” Lewis faces the widespread denial in our materialistic world that miracles do not exist.  Anything claiming to be a miracle can be seen to be an hallucination or explained away in one way or another.  But Lewis points out that miracles are divine processes made instantaneous, rather than occurring in the process of time, such as turning water into wine.  God is constantly growing grapes and allowing them to ferment into wine.  Raising the dead is something he has promised and will do in time.

“Dogma in the Universe” deals with the contention that Christianity is outdated because it does not adapt to the changes in the cultue. It is rigid, dogmatic, and unchanging, whereas scientific knowledge is ever growing and needs religious thought that adapts to it.  After dealing insightfully with many of the conflicts between Christian reality and scientific thought, Lewis remarks: 

". . . I claim that the positive historical statements made my Christianity have the power, elsewhere found chiefly in formal principles, of receiving, without intrinsic change, the increasing complexity of meaning which increasing knowledge puts into them."

Because the universe is constantly changing it will, according to Scripture, one day it will be completely changed, and: 

"all that seems to divide us from God can flee away, vanish, leaving us naked before Him, like the first man, like the only man, as if nothing but He and I existed.  And since that contact cannot be avoided for long, and since it means either bliss or horror, the business of life is to learn to like it.  That is the first and great commandment."

PLEASE SHARE YOUR REACTIONS OR COMMENTS ON ANY OF THE ABOVE ESSAYS.  DID YOU FIND ANY OF LEWIS’S THINKING ESPECIALLY INSIGHTFUL?

I especially like the startling effect which the last statement quoted above creates.  When all is said and done, Christian faith is completely personal:  it is me standing naked in God's presence with no one else around.  As it will be in the hereafter, so it is here and now.  God knows me completely, and I can keep nothing from him.  It is so easy to suppose one can.


Comments

Warren P. 3rd Hour said…
I am interested in the ways and means both C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers dealt with the concept and reality of evil in their fiction, writings of faith, as well as in their prose essays. Thank you for this introduction to Lewis’s perspectives on the complex issues involved.
March 13, 2022 at 9:36 PM
Rolland Hein said…
The nature of evil is a tough subject; I'm interested in it also. It's good to know you are reading with us.
March 14, 2022 at 9:02 AM
Tim M said…
I especially appreciated the article on miracles as things differentiating by time rather than by substance. I really enjoyed the effort Lewis took to show how the miracles of Christ were ordinary processes on a different time frame. That thought has stuck with me.
March 19, 2022 at 6:15 PM
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