Mere Christianity - CS LewisSample

Day 1: The Reality of Right and Wrong - The Moral Law

Reading for the Day:

“Men ought to be unselfish, ought to be fair. Not that men are unselfish, not that they like being unselfish, but that they ought to be. The Moral Law, or Law of Human Nature, is not simply a fact about human behaviour in the same way as the Law of Gravitation is, or may be, simply a fact about how heavy objects behave. On the other hand, it is not a mere fancy, for we cannot get rid of the idea, and most of the things we say and think about men would be reduced to nonsense if we did. … Consequently, this Rule of Right and Wrong, or Law of Human Nature, or whatever you call it, must somehow or other be a real thing—a thing that is really there, not made up by ourselves. And yet it is not a fact in the ordinary sense, in the same way as our actual behaviour is a fact. It begins to look as if we shall have to admit that there is more than one kind of reality; that, in this particular case, there is something above and beyond the ordinary facts of men's behaviour, and yet quite definitely real—a real law, which none of us made, but which we find pressing on us.”

“...Christianity simply does not make sense until you have faced the sort of facts I have been describing. Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness. It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that Power—it is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk.”

Reflection Questions:

1. Have you had any recent interactions with anyone whose actions have not been in keeping with what we think of as basic human morality or code of conduct? What was your gut reaction to this experience? How did you respond? How did you expect others to act?
2. Think of some words that describe how everyone should treat one another. What do you notice about these words? Are they specific to a particular time or culture, or are they universal to humanity in general?
3. What do you think the reality of a Moral Law tells us about God’s character? What do you think we can learn about God simply by reflecting on our innate notion of right and wrong?

Learn more about C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity here: https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/cslewis