PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS
MERE CHRISTIANITY
CHAPTER 10: Nice People or New Men
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Will this happen before you die?
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According to Christ what are we to judge by?
What does Lewis mean by the slogan Careless Lives Cost Talk.
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"But when we are comparing Christians in general with non-Christians in general, we are usually not thinking about _________________ people whom we know at all, but only 2 vague ideas which we have got from novels and newspapers." How does he use the illustration of the bad Christian and the good Atheist to illustrate his point?
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How does the illustration of Lewis and the young African-American using Whitesmile's toothpaste prove his point?
Now we come to the example of Mrs. Bates who though a Christian has an unkind tongue and of Dick Firkin who though a non-Christian has a kind tongue. How does Lewis account for this?
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Because Dick Firkin's good temperament was just a part of nature, what will happen to it in the end if he does not give his will to God?
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The reason he gets to keep it is that he is now beginning to take a share in his own creation.
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What is the danger of having sound nerves and intelligence and health and popularity and a good upbringing?
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"It is _____________ or _______________ for them. It is taking up the cross and following--or else ________________. [John 6:68] They are the ______________ ___________________; He came specially to find _______________."
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What will happen to the first and what will happen to the last?
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Not only do NICE people need to be saved, what else might be true about nice people?
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It's not turning a horse into a good jumper but into what kind of horse?
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Book Four
Chapter 10
According to Lewis what did Jesus mean?
Lewis begins to address the issue why some non-Christians are nicer than many Christians. If a person who claims to be a Christian does not change his actions for the better, what may we rightly suspect about him?
In what way is the world illogical when it demands results from Christians?
Lewis claims that the view that ALL Christians should be nicer than ALL non-Christians is a too simplistic way to view people. According to Lewis what is a more accurate picture of people and their relationship to Christ?
Lewis says that now we are getting down to brass tacks, to talking about REAL people. If Christianity is true, what 2 principles must also be true?
It almost sounds as if Lewis is saying that God is going to make Mrs. Bates as nice as Dick Firkin and that Dick Firkin really didn't need saving. What is the truth about Dick Firkin though according to Christianity?
God is not trying to make Mrs. Bates into a nice person. Rather He is waiting for what to happen?
Although God can help us point our spiritual compasses to Him, what will He NOT do?
It's not hard at all for God to give us nice natures and good temperaments. What does it cost God to convert our rebellious wills?
Lewis says that a paradox is working here: we only get to keep the things we give to God. What does Dick Firkin give to God that he ultimately gets to keep?
What is another reason a lot of Christians just might be nasty?
On the other hand, what do the nasty people learn whenever they make any attempt at goodness at all?
What warning does God give to nice persons?
What encouragement does Lewis give to poor creatures who are brought up in a bad environment or saddled with some serious problems through no fault of their own?
If we made people ONLY nice, what else would we NOT have done for them?
God did not come to make us better or nicer men; rather Jesus came to turn creatures into what?
Just read this paragraph. It encourages to take all this very seriously.