Websiteresearch about ideas
Websiteresearch about ideas
Boththe life and works Clive Lewis are intriguing, not only to theChristian community but also the Atheist. He was born in November1988 in England. He went ahead to have a quite successful career thatsaw him become a novelist, broadcaster, and a lecturer. All theseplatforms provided him with a good opportunity to have a publicplatform across which he would be able to raise his ideas and opinionregarding various issues in life. In the memoirs that he wrote knownas Surprisedby Joy, Lewisindicates that he was brought up in a Christian family. In fact, hegot baptized while a member of the Church of Ireland (Wedel, 2016).However, he fell out of touch with Christianity while in hisadolescents when he decided to become an Atheist. He explains thatwhile an Atheist, he was quite angry with God, “because He did notexist.” The paradox in him was quite evident. He states that one ofthe elements that motivated him to become an Atheist is that he beganseeing religion more as a duty or a chore. He felt that most of theactivities that were being conducted in religion were merely out ofroutine rather than utter conviction. He would return to Christianitywhen he was 32 years old. At that time, he was greatly motivated byhiscolleague at Oxford, J.R.Tolken and would choose to join the AnglicanChurch. This was contrary to the expectation of his friend whoanticipated that Lewis would choose to join the Catholic Church, towhich he, too, was going.
Thispaper seeks to present website material regarding the views given byLewis as a Christian apologetic. The details present a new focus uponwhich the fundamental aspects that he brought up seem to receive lessresistance from the Atheist community.
Rightor wrong
Inthe book, MereChristianity,Lewis puts forth an argument regarding the situations that could leadsomeone into professing the Christian religion, without necessarilyrelying upon the Biblical teachings. He talks of the general lifeprinciples that people in most societies aim to follow (Wedel, 2016).According to Lewis, it is just that Christianity happens to share,‘the same principles’ and, therefore, there is a chance thatpeople will find it quite comfortable to fit into the religion sincethey share the same fundamental values.
Quitecategorically, while trying to address the element of principles,Lewis introduces the element of right and wrong in which he statesthat it is from such principles that people are able to identify whatis right and what is wrong. It is, therefore, easier for a givenindividual to identify what is wrong without drawing a directreference to the Bible, as Lewis indicates. Lewis also talks aboutthe beliefs that Christians have. He draws that the major differencebetween Christians and people who would be referred to as Atheists isthat while Christians do believe in the existence of God, Atheists donot (Wedel, 2016). However, both groups of people do share most ofthe values and virtues that act as a mark of human existence. Hestates that the major reason why Atheists do not believe in theexistence of God is because they do lack faith and, rely uponphysical evidence, an element that is obviously lacking as far as theproof of the existence of God is concerned. However, as Lewis putsit, in relation to the contemporary American Christians, there isvery little difference between them and the Atheists. He states thatthe Christian activities that are conducted today are quite differentfrom those which used to be carried out 2000 years ago right at theonset of the Christian religion when most people were quite vibrantand willing to go a long way to prove their devotion.
Prudenceand temperance
Prudenceand temperance are also two elements that Lewis addresses in hisworks. He explains that man is guided by common sense. When peoplemake practical use common sense, they are not only able to makechoices that are worthwhile for themselves, but also for other peopleas well. The scholar indicates that the virtue is most oftenexpounded when people take time “to think about what will come outof their actions.” The best way for people to build their abilityto make better choices and apply common sense to its full potentialis through building once intellectual capability (Wedel, 2016). Fromthe chapter two of the book, which is dubbed as CardinalVirtues,Lewis states that God is interested in people being intelligent muchas He is interested in them being full of other virtues as well. Thisis because intelligence builds the capability of a person todistinguish between the actions that are desirable and those that arenot. The issue of intelligence is also shared by Atheists who callfor the essence of people being of sound mind and able to makedecisions that are commendable.
Christianityas an unattainable Idea
Mostof the works by Lewis spread the view that Christianity is quitefar-fetched in the American community, and most people do not holdthe belief that they can be staunch Christians (Wedel, 2016). This isbecause of high levels of devotions that are attached to thepractices that are associated with the religion. This is quiteevident in most of the televangelists that spread the message ofChristianity who seem to have attained quite high levels of Christianpractice, a state that remains to be quite unattainable for mostpeople within the American population. The level of dissociationamong Christians also act as a huge impediment towards the properfurthering of practices that are associated with the religion. It isquite unreasonable that people who claim to profess the same religioncould go ahead to differ with one another, especially on theintricate matters that define their faith in the first place. As aresult, this situation brings in a case of, “on the fence”Christians who lack any form of conviction but rather, associate withthe religion out of pure default, rather than a personal decision. Asa result, this circumstance poses a grave danger to the continuedexistence of Christianity as a religion. While it can be argued thatit will remain for a long period, its strength could be threatened,especially when a better foundation is not laid upon people who wouldform part of the future Christian fraternity.
Theseassertions were well documented by Lewis in his book, MereChristianity wherehe encourages Christians to formulate actions that will make them tobe consistent with the practices that the religion demands of them.This exercise, Lewis indicates, will send a strong message to otherpeople of the strong bond that exists in the religion. As a result,such people will be quite motivated to join the religion as they willbe able to believe that the virtues proposed in Christianity areattainable. He states that unless Christians are able to show adifference between their lives and that of Atheists, it would bequite impossible for other people to be convinced into joining thereligion.
TheCentrality of Lewis’ arguments
Thearguments given by Lewis are mostly brought about by the fact that hewas once an Atheist, and therefore, he clearly understands the viewsthat such people hold regarding Christianity and the existence ofGod. As a result, they go a long way in showing that unlessChristians make deliberate decisions to stick to the virtues thatgovern their religion they would not be able to impress others.
Hisideas also seem to augur well with most Atheists, with some of themstill identifying with Lewis as, “one of their own.” This mostlycomes from the fact that Lewis is not keen on attacking Atheists perse, but rather, tries to explain why he thinks that they have chosenthe path that they follow. In the book, TheProblem of Pain,Lewis highlights that the fact that most Atheists do not believe inthe existence of God is a great challenge to the Christian Communitysince Christians, by themselves and through their actions, need to beproof of the existence of God (Wedel, 2016).
Althoughpeople have the freedom to choose between right and wrong,Christians, however, have a higher duty to aim for the right thingsso that they may be role models to other people (Stevens,2005).As such, they do not have a right to do things the way they feellike. With increased knowledge, Christians are able to come up withactions that will be commendable and build a better image for theChristian religion. Christians can draw a lot of lessons from thelife and articles written by Lewis. This is because he was not quickto blame those who do not believe in the existence of God, butrather, called upon the Christians to focus on good things as a wayof making their presence have a great influence upon the world.
Conclusion
Theassertions brought forth by Lewis have attracted fanatic andcriticism in almost equal measure. This is because he was clear instating his stand regarding Christianity and those who do not believein the existence of God. His Christian critics do hold that he was sovague regarding his attitude concerning Atheists while others beingblatant that he was out to protect them. However, his role as aChristian apologetic cannot be overstated. He was quite open withdefending Christianity both as a religion and as a vessel that couldbe used to sell around good values among people. His main concern wasfor people to bear the same principles that are contained in theBible. Therefore, Lewis was quite head-on in his argument and hislessons are worthwhile in the Christian community.
References
 Stevens,P. (2005). Review of "Reforming Empire: Protestant Colonialismand Conscience in British Literature" by ChristopherHodgkins, ModernPhilology,103 (1). 137–8
Wedel,M (2016). C.S. Lewis on intelligence in Christianityhttps://reprog.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/c-s-lewis-on-intelligence-in-christianity/