We come to the close of Part I, or Book 1 of Mere Christianity.
Lewis has established that outside of anything you learn from “the Bible or churches,”
we know intrinsically that there is a moral law, so therefore, there must be a moral lawgiver.
That also means, as Lewis says, “We have cause to be uneasy.”
Why? Because we know there is a moral law, and yet, we cannot keep it.
The world does seem to recognize the importance of love.
Do you remember the movie, Alfie? Burt Bacharach’s song was haunting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIO3eDdfHcs
Likewise many of you may have watched parts of Prince Harry’s Royal Wedding. Let me say there was much that was beautiful — and a “Royal Wedding” is such a picture of Psalm 45, and the wedding in the Song, and Bishop Curry did point that out. (And for those who are interested in the parallels, this is wonderful article sent to me by one of our silent readers: Ann Dahl. https://juicyecumenism.com/2018/06/05/royal-wedding/
Yet though many applauded the sermon at the end, I was sorry that the gospel wasn’t made clearer. Bishop Curry emphasized, like Alfie, that without love, life does not have meaning. That is true. His exhortation seemed to be:
Everybody should love. Go do it.
Bishop Curry did mention Jesus and even that His death demonstrated love. But the fact that we cannot love without repentance and the power of Christ was not explained. Indeed this is the key to a good marriage. Perhaps it was the pressure of the smirk that stopped him — I don’t know. Many guests were already rolling their eyes at just the mention of Jesus, and would have become apoplectic if he had explained the gospel. Yet I felt it was such a missed opportunity given the audience he had. (29 million in the United States alone) I can picture this sermon preached in a Unitarian Fellowship and being well received. The world has not come to terms with the fact that though we know we should love, we don’t do it well, that, in fact, without God, we can’t.
Lewis, in his conclusion to Part I or Book 1, brings us to this point:
that since we cannot keep the law of the moral lawgiver:
WE HAVE CAUSE TO BE UNEASY.
He has laid the foundation for Christianity, where we go next week.
Sunday:
1. What stands out to you from the above and why?
Monday:
2. The chapter is short. Read it all and share two points that stood out to you.
Tuesday:
3. Watch the following video of this chapter, and again, share anything that stood out to you.
Wednesday: The Logic
4. Lewis says there are two bits of evidence, apart from Scripture and apart from religion, that we have a God who is a “moral law giver.” What are they?
5. Lewis makes an analogy with math. What is it?
6. Why does it do “no good” to ask the moral lawgiver to let us off and not count our failing?
7. Why is all this necessary to understand before we approach Christianity?
Thursday: Repentance
8. Martin Luther didn’t say, “All of life is love,” but rather, “all of life is repentance.” Why, do you think?
9. Why does Lewis say we should look for truth instead of comfort?
10. How might you apply this right now in your life?
Friday: Enemies of God
Lewis says, indeed, we have made ourselves enemies of God. In listening to a sermon by Tim Keller, he said that many of us will deny that we hate God, though the Scripture says we do. Keller said, “In truth, we all want to be sovereign over our own lives.” Since God insists on being Sovereign instead, when what we want and what He wants is at odds, and we are convinced we know best, we become enemies of God.
11. What do you learn from Psalm 10:4-5?
12. Where in your life do you want your own sovereignty? What would Lewis tell you to do to find comfort?
13. How could you apply the above truth in your life now? (And let us pray for one another as we read their answers.)
14. What questions might you ask an unbeliever, without using Scripture, to help him consider the real possibility that there is a moral God? (If anyone has a dialogue with someone — tell us!)
Saturday
15. What is your take-a-way and why?
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14. A question for a non believer. Do you think this particular thing is wrong? How do you know? Do you think most people would say the same thing? Where do you think that sense of ‘wrong’ comes from?
That’s good, Mary.
My take away: to look for truth rather than comfort which means to study God’s word diligently and to memorize it.
I have several take-a-ways — I am encouraged how you are articulating Lewis’s logic for I think it will stay with you.
The discussion on the Royal Wedding and the sermon was fascinating. There was tension between if mentioning jesus was all he could do with that crowd or if he should have gone further. You know I fell on the latter, but I do see the argument for the first. Though I do think that, we cave to fear too often.
And I was encouraged by Laura’s insight with her daughter.
9. Why does Lewis say we should look for truth instead of comfort?
Lewis said that in religion, as with everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. However, I think we can deceive ourselves that we have found comfort; we comfort ourselves temporarily with food, sex, material things, relationships, entertainment. But this kind of comfort doesn’t last. And we can’t understand the comfort that Christianity offers without first understanding the truth about ourselves: that we are in a very desperate state and in need of forgiveness. Lewis said that you arrive at comfort by first seeking truth. If not, you end up with soft-soap and wishful thinking.