PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS
MERE CHRISTIANITY
INTRODUCTION
Although this chapter seems as if it is starting a brand new topic, in reality it is not. This chapter is actually the 11th chapter in Lewis' Mere Christianity. This chapter does not simply come after the previous 10 chapters; it is based upon those other 10 chapters. How? In the previous 10 chapters Lewis has established that not only is there a God but that He is Jesus. Moreover, these 10 chapters have established the fact that Jesus is not only God but that He is a righteous God who demands right conduct from people. The question then becomes, "What kind of right conduct does Jesus expect from us?" This chapter and the following ones answer this question.
Before reading the chapter and answering the following questions, please number your paragraphs 1-10.
BOOK THREE: CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR
Paragraph 1:
According to Lewis what do people normally think when they think about morality?
Why are they wrong in thinking this way?
Simply because something seems to work, does it necessarily work?
Paragraph 2:
Instead of talking about moral obedience, what do some people prefer to talk about?
In what sense is it true that moral perfection is an ideal?
In what sense though is it misleading to call moral perfection an ideal?
How does Lewis compare changing the gears of a car with perfect behavior?
What is the danger of thinking you are a person of high moral ideals?
Even though you are not going to keep moral ideals perfectly, why is it still important for you to try?
Paragraph 3:
What are the 2 ways in which the human machine can go wrong?
Can you have one of these things without the other? Why or why not?
Paragraph 4:
What is the one thing we have not taken into account yet?
Paragraph 5:
What then are the 3 things morality seems to be concerned about?
Paragraph 6:
When people normally think about morality which of the 3 parts do they normally think of?
What do people normally mean when they say that we are striving for Christian morality?
Is there any real serious disagreement about this first part of morality?
If we think that morality stops only with this first part, what does Lewis say we are doing to ourselves?
Paragraph 7:
Is telling a ship how to steer all that you need to do? If not, what else must you make sure is true?
What is it going to take to make any system work properly?
What is something law cannot do?
What though is essential for good society?
Paragraph 8:
Now regarding the third part, do different beliefs about the universe lead to different kinds of behavior?
Going back to the analogy of the ship, does it matter whether or not you own your own ship? Is so, why?
"If somebody else made me, for his own purposes, then I shall have a lot of _______________ which I should not have if I simply belonged to myself."
Paragraph 9:
What does Christianity assert about every individual human being?
If I am going to live only 70 years, does it matter that much that I am getting more and more bitter? Does it matter if I am going to live eternally and getting more and more bitter each day?
If individuals are immortal, what matters more, the individual or the state, the individual or civilization itself?
Paragraph 10:
Most of us can agree in 2 of the different parts of morality. Which part do we most disagree about?
That though is the area we are going to concentrate on in this book, Christian morality.
Book Three
Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1: The Three Parts of Morality