PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS
MERE CHRISTIANITY
Before reading the chapter, number your paragraphs 1-6.
CHAPTER FOUR: WHAT LIES BEHIND THE LAW
Paragraph 1:
Regarding the Law of HUMAN Nature, does it describe the way people act or is it something above and beyond the way people act?
If the Law of HUMAN Nature is above and beyond us, did we create it? What does this imply?
Paragraph 2:
(This has as much chance of happening as your shooting at a target and hitting the bullseye—with you being on one side of the universe and the target being on the other side of the universe.)
What is the religious view of the universe?
Is the materialistic view a new and modern view and the religious view an ancient, out-dated view?
Can science prove which view is true? If so, why? If not, why not?
According to Lewis true scientists don't try to find out which view is true. According to him who does try to use science to answer this question?
Paragraph 3:
Now if an alien was just observing man, he would never know about the Law of Human Nature. Instead, you have to be a man to know that the Law of Human Nature exists. Why? The Law of Human Nature is not something you can observe; it is something which is experienced. It is something we are aware of but which cannot be observed. You have to be a human being to know that it exists; therefore, we have to go to man, not to the rest of the universe, to know that God exists.
Paragraph 4:
On the other hand, Lewis points to the inner man to find the answer to this question. What is in the inner man which shows you something above and beyond the universe exists?
Lewis uses the analogy of a postman to illustrate his point. According to Lewis we all receive letters in the mail. I may not have read your letters, and you may not have read my letters; HOWEVER, when I see the same person who drops a letter off at my house drop something off at your house, I can only safely assume that you got a letter just like I got a letter. In this analogy the letters are the Law of Human Nature, the awareness of what I ought to do. The fact that we all got this letter (the Law of Human Nature) shows us what? (Circle the correct one.)
Paragraph 5:
What is the most he has shown up to this point?
Why does he say that he has shown up to this point that at least a great mind is behind the universe?
Why can't just matter be the thing behind the universe?
Paragraph 6 (Note):
According to Lewis if this view does not have a mind or purpose, is it really different from the materialistic view?
According to Lewis "The Life-Force is a sort of _____________ God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the ___________ of religion and none of the ____________. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of ______________ thinking the world has yet seen?"
Book One
Chapter 4
Lewis has been establishing that there are 2 kinds of laws in the universe: Law of Nature and Law of Human Nature. The first law basically only describes the way things actually do work in the universe. According to Lewis is there something ABOVE the Law of Nature which governs the way nature acts or is the Law of Nature really nothing more than a description of the way nature acts?
According to Lewis there are 2 views regarding the universe, the materialistic view and the religious view. What is the materialistic view of the universe?
According to Lewis who is the key to finding out if the materialistic or religious view of the universe is correct? "That one thing is __________."
Lewis says you shouldn't look at the physical universe to determine whether or not God exists. The physical universe in a large sense does NOT point beyond itself. To look at the universe for answers is like looking at a house to see an architect. The house can only show itself, not the architect.
According to Lewis has he proved that the God of Christianity exists?
Lewis says that many people believe that a third option exists in addition to the materialistic view and the religious view. People call this view the Life-Force Philosophy, Creative Evolution, or Emergent Evolution. According to Lewis though if this view has a purpose or a mind, is it really a separate view from the religious view?