Outline of C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity
(First Four Chapters)
I. The Law of Human Nature
A. People argue about what is right
B. This means there is some standard they are arguing about
C. Just as mass is governed by law of gravitation; humans are governed by Human Nature D. Humans can choose to not obey the law (we don’t much of the time)
E. Exists in all cultures, with minor differences; but basic moral teachings are the same
F. Even those who say morality does not matter end up contradicting themselves
II. Some Objections
A. Moral Law is really just Herd Instinct
1. Feeling a desire to help is different then feeling you ought to help
2. We sometimes choose the weaker instinct because of Moral Law
3. There aren’t “good” instincts that we have; it all depends on the situation
B. Moral Law is just a Social Convention
1. Because we learned Moral Law from others doesn’t mean humans created it
2. Moral Law is that same in all cultures for the most part, unlike “social conventions”
3. Some moral beliefs are better than others…what are they compared to?
III. The Reality of the Law
A. You have how humans actually act, and then something above that: Law of Human
Nature, how humans ought to act
B. Wrong is not determined by what inconveniences us
C. It is right to do things that benefit society, but it falls short of explaining why we feel the way we do about right and wrong.
D. “Men ought to be unselfish, ought to be fair.”
IV. What Lies Behind the Law
A. Two views: The universe is an accident; the universe was created by some thinking
being; and science cannot tell us which one is right
B. We can only learn through external observation; except man because we are men
C. The only way to find out if there was a creator is through ourselves, and that points in the direction that there was (there is a Moral Law)
C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity Essay
How can anyone believe that they could make
statements that apply to everyone everywhere?
We
can make statements like this because we can logically come to such a
conclusion, and we can induce from our own experience and lives to reach such a
conclusion as well. C. S. Lewis uses logic.
He presents it in a way to make it very obvious that a Moral Law does
exist through clear examples and lucid logic.
For example, when you are in an argument with someone, what are you
really arguing about? That one of you is wrong. Well, wrong according to who,
or what? There is some standard out there that we are meant to live up to and
which is generally accepted by everyone, whether they realize it or not.
Throughout time, nearly all cultures have had the same moral systems. There
have been minor differences, but nothing huge. This is how a “Declaration of
Human Rights” could be made, in part. Throughout history, people have accepted
a way of treating each other. The U.N. merely put it down onto paper and
intends to defend such rights. Morality is not subjective and cultural. Certain finer points may be, such as how many
wives you can have, but the entire moral systems are nearly identical. For
example, all the systems agreed that you must not simply have any woman you
liked. We have seen this in class already in the different moral systems of the
world which we studied. Lewis tells us to imagine a culture whose morality
really was completely different. It
would mean that being a coward was encouraged or that double-crossing those who
cared for you was something to be proud of. This obviously has never happened
and if it did, that culture and civilization would not be around for very long
for obvious reasons. Everything that we can know deeper than
the surface points to a higher Law or being that over shadows what we do and
tells us what we should be doing.