The chapter today is a short one. In it, Lewis adds two notes concerning things which were mentioned in the previous chapter. The first relates to the begetting of many sons and the second concerns his description of humanity as one great organism.
Episode 35: Two Notes (Download)
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Show Notes
Introduction
- David and Matt chatted a little bit about David’s interview last week with C.S. Lewis author Justin Wiggins.
Quote-of-the-Week
- The quote-of-the-week was not actually from Lewis, but from St. Paul:
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12
Toast
- Unfortunately, neither was drinking anything very exciting this week. David was sipping on some mint tea and Matt was content simply with water. Who ARE they?!
Discussion
01. “
• Matt has promised to have on the show his housemate in New York to testify that when they were in Oxford, the English absolutely loved Matt. We’ll see if this testimony holds up to scrutiny…
• Matt outlined today’s chapter, saying that Lewis will be responding to two issues related to the previous chapter:
One sensible critic wrote asking me why, if God wanted sons instead of “toy soldiers,” He did not beget many sons at the outset instead of first making toy soldiers and then bringing them to life by such a difficult and painful process
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book IV, Chapter 6)
The second note relates to Lewis’ description of the human race as one giant organism.
• Regrading the first issue, Lewis notes that the process of becoming a son might have not been difficult and painful, if humanity had only not fallen. However, he goes on to point out that, since God is not a continent being, asking what “could have been” makes no sense:
“Have the words ‘Could have been’ any sense at all when applied to God? …when you are talking about God-i.e. about the rock bottom, irreducible Fact on which all other facts depend- it is nonsensical to ask if It could have been otherwise. It is what It is, and there is an end of the matter.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book IV, Chapter 6)
While this argument is logical, neither Matt nor I found this answer very satisfying 🙁
• So why else could God have not had many sons? Lewis gives the example of two pennies which are identical in size, shape and markings. What makes them “two” then? It’s that they are occupying difference spaces and are made up of different atoms i.e. due to space and matter.
If God beget many sons, they would each be related to the Father and the other sons in the same way. In what way would they be different? Lewis said that whenever he thought he could imagine God having many sons, he realized that, like the pennies, he had been secretly been sneaking into his thoughts time, space and matter…but God has existed before all these things came into being!
• Lewis makes this brilliant suggestion:
Was Nature-space and time and matter – created precisely in order to make manyness possible? Is there perhaps no other way of getting many eternal spirits except by first making many natural creatures, in a universe, and then spiritualising them?
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book IV, Chapter 6)
All this made Matt’s brain hurt. However, we agreed that since we’re describing the life of God, it was always going to be hard to describe.
• Lewis then moves on to the second note, adding some qualifications to his description in the previous chapter of humanity being a massive organism. He exhorts us not reject the following propositions:
- Individual differences do not matter
- Individuals are less important than collectives (classes, races etc.)
He then goes on to point out that individual differences can be great and yet all contribute to a common whole:
Christianity thinks of human individuals not as mere members of a group or items in a list, but as organs in a body – different from one another and each contributing what no other could
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book IV, Chapter 6)
This is why Matt quoted from St. Paul at the beginning of the episode. I suggested that understanding this idea is crucial to understanding St. Paul and that this began for the Apostle from the very beginning of his conversion:
And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Acts of the Apostles 9:4
Matt pointed out that this idea is also present in Jesus’ earthly ministry:
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:37-40
• Lewis warns us not to fall into individualism or totalitarianism. He also cautions us that the devil wants us to focus on which of these we think is worse:
“He always sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse… He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book IV, Chapter 6)
When speaking against individualism, I quoted from another of St. Paul’s epistles:
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthians 12:26
• The review-of-the-week was for Clumsy Theosis:
Richael is my friend and mock pretty much everything she does. However, I always look forward to listening to her podcast each week!
Theosis is the term used in Eastern Christianity to describe the process by which we are made sons of God and drawn into the life of God. The podcast is called CLUMSY theosis because our participation in that process is often imperfect and faltering.
Each week Richael speaks about some aspect of Christianity and how it relates to this journey into the life of the Trinity. She communicates all this in her own quirky, inimitable style.
Most people reading this review aren’t able to hang out with Richael in person and hear her riff on theology over coffee each Sunday, but subscribing to this podcast is the next best thing.
iTunes Review
• The winners of “Surprised By Agape” in last week’s competition were Yuri van Hoef and Christine Norvell. You books are in the mail!
