Integrative Essay: Developing a Christian Mind

Jeremy Li

IDIS 150-07 (DCM – C.S. Lewis)

January 25^th 2011

Professors Paulo and Adriana Ribeiro

Developing a Christian Mind

            I had no idea what to expect from a class on C.S. Lewis, as I have not read anything from him besides a couple books from his Narnia series. As a visual and active learner, I was worried that the reading assignments would be too much to handle. However, from the first reading of the class, I knew something was different about C.S. Lewis’ writing. These few weeks of discussions and readings have been the most learning I have done in a while.  While the readings themselves cover a wide variety of topics, they fit perfectly with the overarching class theme of “Developing a Christian Mind.”

            The first step in the development can be described as laying of the foundation for your worldview. In C.S. Lewis’ “Meditations in a Toolshed,” writes, “We must, on pain of idiocy, deny from the very outset the idea that looking at is, by its own nature, intrinsically truer or better than looking along. One must look both along and at everything”[1]. Lewis emphasizes the importance that there is no absolute better way in approaching something. One must try to understand another person’s perspective before they share ideas. One must also be mindful of the way their ideas are presented, especially in an argument. Lewis’ “Bulverism,” reminds us that “you must show that a man wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong.” He continues on with the important point that “you can only find out the rights and wrongs by reasoning – never by being rude about your opponent’s psychology” [2]. Too often, what people do is to assume the person is wrong and start insulting their opponents. Lewis teaches the important lesson to respect others who may disagree with you.

On a different aspect of development, Lewis’ “Our English Syllabus,” distinguishes between education and learning. He describes education as the skills and knowledge we gain, which prepares us for the real world[3]. On the other hand, learning involves using these skills to actively pursue what we find interesting. This idea is further echoed in Lewis’ “The Weight of Glory,” as he gives an example of a schoolboy that enjoys literature. The boy’s education equips him with skills to read, and he utilizes them in the learning process as he enjoys English literature. Unfortunately, the boy neglects his education of Greek, which will open him up to even greater pieces of literature. Instead he simply settles for “English poets and romancers suitable to his age”[4]. Lewis uses this illustration to show that we often have the correct desires for God, but are too easily distracted or satisfied. Cornelius Plantinga’s Engaging God’s World, shares a quote from Lewis’ “The Weight of Glory,” which reads:

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. [5]

In these first steps of developing a Christian Mind, the readings have reminded us to examine our attitudes and motives in engaging the world around us.

            The second stage in the development covers the theme of understanding ourselves. From an unconventional perspective, C.S. Lewis gives an account on human behavior from a devil’s point of view in The Screwtape Letters. In the twelfth letter, Screwtape the devil writes to his nephew Wormwood, “My only fear is lest in attempting to hurry the patient you awaken him to a sense of his real position”[6] Wormwood has been provoking little changes to the person he is in charge of tempting, and as Screwtape describes, “it does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. … Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” Lewis’ innovative literary technique in The Screwtape Letters illustrates and points out the many dangers the reader can face.

Another aspect of understanding ourselves is given through the reading of the first chapters of Lewis’ Mere Christianity. He begins by establishing the idea that everyone acts under a Moral Law, which is different from the laws of nature in that we have the free will to choose to ignore it. Furthermore, the Moral Law is not the instincts we have. A recurring analogy Lewis brings up is of comparing the Moral Law to music. “The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys. … The Moral Law is not any one instinct or any set of instincts: it is something which makes a kind of tune (the tune we call goodness or right conduct) by directing the instincts”[7]. By establishing the existence of this Moral Law, Lewis takes it further to compare how we use science to observe facts. He explains that in the same way that observing human activities will not show signs of this Moral Law, scientific observations about the physical aspect of the universe will not give any hints if there are greater powers. Lewis gives a witty example of him assuming that the packets delivered throughout his neighborhood contain letters. “I'm explaining the packets I'm not allowed to open by the ones I am allowed to open. … The only packet I am allowed to open is Man.” By exploring the Moral Law,  we can get a deeper understanding of our human nature.

From a Christian Reformed perspective, Plantinga’s chapters on the Creation and the Fall explains the theology behind these Sunday school stories. Along with the topic of corruption, John Donne is quoted, “O Lord, thou has set up many candlesticks, and kindled many lamps in me, but I have either blown them out, or carried them to guide me in forbidden ways”[8].  This truly illustrates the sinfulness of man. We often take the gifts and talents from God and use them for evil. However, a second quote by Flanner O’Connor sheds more hope onto the matter. “We have plenty of examples in this world of poor things being used for good purposes. God can make any indifferent thing, as well as evil itself, an instrument for good; but I submit that to do this is the business of God and not of any human being”[9]. Plantinga’s chapters explore the corruption and sin in all of us.

The final stage in development is to understand how to relate to the world. In the chapter “Eros,” from Lewis’ The Four Loves, Eros is the romantic love between two people. By discussing the philosophy behind romantic love, Lewis points out the significance of this love and in turn, hints at the terrible condition our society is in. “Now Eros makes a man really want, not a woman, but one particular woman. In some mysterious but quite indisputable fashion the lover desires the Beloved herself, not the pleasure she can give”[10]. In many instances, Lewis explains that Eros doesn’t simply want any woman, but the Beloved herself. This is contrasted with the sexually immoral nature of our society that glamorizes sex and encourages sexual activities based on emotional impulses rather than relationship.  In the natural romantic love, “very often what comes first is simply a delighted pre-occupation with the Beloved -- a general, unspecified pre-occupation with her in her totality A man in this state really hasn't leisure to think of sex. He is too busy thinking of a person. The fact that she is a woman is far less important than the fact that she is herself”. It also goes to show the absolute lack of true love involved in this culture of instant gratification. The reading on Eros gives readers a perspective on how to treat our relationship with others.

On a similar theme, “The Inner Ring,” is Lewis’ personal advice for university graduates on entering the working society. Lewis addresses the social phenomenon of Inner Rings, where groups of people join together and others are left out. He explains that while Inner Rings themselves can be a good place where friendships are nurtured, “let Inner Rings be unavoidable and even an innocent feature of life, though certainly not a beautiful one”[11]. Lewis’ main warning is against the desire to be included in these Inner Rings. “This desire is one of the great permanent mainsprings of human action. … Unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life, from the first day on which you enter your profession until the day when you are too old to care.” As a result of the pressure to advance in your career, people will challenge your integrity. They will not deliberately approach you as evil men. Instead, as described in The Screwtape Letters, the desire to be included in the Inner Ring will have you make gradual changes. “Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.”

On relating with the society and our future careers, Plantinga’s final chapter places an emphasis on the vocation that God has for us in these areas. As intended for college student readers, Plantinga urges us to continually think of God’s calling. “Thinking of college as no more than job training is a narrow-minded impoverishment of the kingdom of God”[12]. After being called to go to college, one must further this calling and be equipped to contribute to God’s kingdom. Plantinga explains that “we must not only find an occupation to bring to the kingdom; we must also shape it to suit its purpose”[13].

The development of a Christian mind is evident in the readings, from the foundation of a worldview, to understanding our human nature, and finally relating it to the world around us. In my favorite quote from the readings in this course, Lewis writes, “Knowledge of the facts must make a difference to one's actions.”[14]

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[1] Lewis, C.S. Meditation in a Toolshed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/~pribeiro/DCM-Lewis-2009/Lewis/meditation-in-a-toolshed.pdf>.

[2] Lewis, C.S. Bulverism. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/~pribeiro/DCM-Lewis-2009/Lewis/Bulversim-rev1.doc>.

[3] Lewis, C.S. Our English Syllabus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/~pribeiro/DCM-Lewis-2009/Lewis/our-english-syllabus.pdf>.

[4] Lewis, C.S. The Weight of Glory. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/~pribeiro/DCM-Lewis-2009/Lewis/weighofglory.pdf>.

[5] Plantinga, Cornelius. Engaging God's World. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002. 5. Print.

[6] Lewis, C.S. The Screwtape Letters. New York: HarperOne, 2001. Print.

[7] Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: HarperOne, 2001. Print.

[8] Plantinga, 54.

[9] Plantinga, 55.

[10] Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1991. Print.

[11] Lewis, C.S. The Inner Ring. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/~pribeiro/DCM-Lewis-2009/Lewis/the-inner-ring.doc>.

[12] Plantinga, 117.

[13] Plantinga, 122.

[14] Lewis, C.S. Man or Rabbit?. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.calvin.edu/~pribeiro/DCM-Lewis-2009/Lewis/man-or-rabbit.pdf>.

The Problem of Pain: Human Pain

Lewis' chapter on Human Pain is an insightful read on why we have pain, and what our response should be to it. I've always considered pain as something that is bad, and does not belong. But his ideas were eyeopening, as he describes the value that pain has.

We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. A bad man, happy, without the least inkling that his actions do not 'answer,' that they are not in accord with the laws of the universe.

Lewis gives a great example of him and his brother drawing at a table when he bumps his brother's arm, forcing him to draw a line across the page. In fairness, his brother draws a line across Lewis' page. This simple analogy presents the truth of the justice that people must suffer for their wrongdoings. Lewis' describes it, in a more serious level, as retributive punishment. In the same way, pain puts us in our place and reminds us of our evil.

Until the evil man finds evil unmistakably present in his existence, in the form of pain, he is enclosed in illusion. Once pain has roused him, he knows that he is ill some way or other 'up against' the real universe: he either rebels (with the possibility of a clearer issue and deeper repentance at some later stage) or else makes some attempt at an adjustment, which, if pursued, will lead him to religion.

Another point on the value of pain that Lewis writes about is how God uses it to remind us that what we do to try to erase the pain we feel and the evil we commit is not enough.

Let me implore the reader to try to believe, if only for a moment, that God, who made these deserving people, may really be right when he thinks that their modest prosperity and the happiness of their children are not enough to make them blessed:  that all this must fall from them in the end, and that if they have not learned to know Him they will be wretched. And therefore He troubles them, warning in advance of an insufficiency that one day they will have to discover.

God's reminder is that no matter how hard we try to correct our evils with "modest prosperity," in the end, it is still insufficient. I find the idea of pain as God's warning to be a fascinating one.

Man or Rabbit?

CS Lewis' "Man or Rabbit?" is more of a lighter reading compared to previous ones like the Four Loves, and I tend to like more of Lewis' lighter reads. The reading is written as a response to the question, "Can't you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?" As Lewis never gives a straight answer, he explores the implications behind the question. He comments on the question, that whoever asks it is not interested in the truthfulness of Christianity, but rather they choose to believe things based on their helpfulness to their well being. 

I like Lewis' description on distinguishing between man and animals:

One of the things that distinguishes man from the other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality is like, simply for the sake of knowing. When that desire is completely quenched in anyone, I think he has become something less than human. 

Lewis makes the point that Christianity presents its views on the universe. When a man approaches Christianity's claims, he must make a decision to say whether it is true or not. One of the most important quotes I've read so far is this: Knowledge of the facts must make a difference to one's actions. The fascinating thing about Lewis' quotes is that they can be so simple, and yet so heavily convicting. Knowledge should make a difference to a person, but one does not always act as if they are knowledgeable.
Another interesting point that stood out is the part about the good things that both Christians and Materialists do for fellow citizens. However, even with a common purpose in mind, the two will clash in the way they do things because of their beliefs.

To the Materialist things like nations, classes, civilizations must be more important than individuals, because the individuals live only seventy odd yearsach and the group may last for centuries. But to the Christian, individuals are more important, for they live eternally; and races, civilizations and the like, are in comparison the creatures of a day.

The Christian and the Materialist hold different beliefs about the universe. They can't both be right. The one who is wrong will act in a way which simply doesn't fit the real universe. Consequently, with the best will in the world, he will be helping his fellow creatures to their destruction.

Lewis makes an important point that even with the best intentions, people holding an untrue belief will ultimately lead people to destruction. I think this gives much more significance to the decisions one makes regarding their beliefs.

Plantinga Chapter 5: Vocation in the Kingdom of God

In this chapter, Plantinga writes about our vocation and discusses our potential roles in the society. One of the side quotes really stood out to me.

Still, when we ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our would with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is the friend who cares (Henri Nouwen; 115)

 This quote reminded about the class we had about Screwtape Letters. At one point in the lecture, we discussed the three groups of people in a church. The groups of churchgoers are shown in times of need, or when sin is exposed. The first group are the judgmental ones, those who condemn the sinners for what they have done. The second group of Christians are the condescending ones. They'll say "I'm sorry," but speak from a higher level. The final group are the sympathetic ones. These people have gone through the problems themselves and have experienced the pain. These are the people that will truly help and support those in need.

In our small group discussions, a question was raised as to whether God calls you towards a field of work, or do you discover how God can use you in the field you're already in. While we never really came to a conclusion, as God can work in both ways, it really made me thinking about the prospective field I hope to be working in. As a student filmmaker, the industry ahead of me has one of the greatest influences on society. I wouldn't say that I'm certain God is going to have me work in this field, but I would certainly hope so. One of the quotes that brought the discussion together was by Frederick Buechner:

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.

Learning in War-Time

 While I have never really experienced what it's like to be in war-time, CS Lewis' "Learning in War-Time" still presents really good points. As the sermon was preached in 1939, Lewis begins by proposing the question of "Why should we continue to learn and educate ourselves during times of warfare?" As he continues on, the question really becomes:

He must ask himself how it is right, or even psychologically possible, for creatures who are every moment advancing either to heaven or to hell, to spend any fraction of the little time allowed them in this world on such comparative trivialities as literature or art, mathematics or biology.

I think this is an important question, in one form or another, that everyone asks themselves in one point in their lives. Its also these types of questions that makes people grow as they reexamine and reevaluate their lives.
Lewis answers the question by making a point in its simplest and most effective way: "We are mistaken when we compare war with 'normal life.' Life has never been normal." Included in the idea, he writes

The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun.

By the end of the sermon, he comes around again to address the nature of war and what people think of it.  Lewis' discussion focuses on the topic of death. He points out that death is a part of Fear, which is the third enemy we face during times of war.

We think of the streets of Warsaw and contrast the deaths there suffered with an abstraction called Life. But there is no question of death or life for any of us; only a question of this death or of that -- of a machine gun bullet now or a cancer forty years later. What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent; 100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased.

Lewis brings up the idea that the nature death hasn't been changed at all. Everyone dies at some point, whether by a bullet or a disease.

Yet the war does do something to death. It forces us to remember it.

I think this sermon really gives us something to think about. I think, while the enemies, Excitement, Frustration and Fear, are present in war, they can also creep up on us in our daily lives. Therefore we must always be on guard to defend ourselves from these enemies.

The Inner Ring

Presented as an oration at the University of Lodon, Lewis' "The Inner Ring," is a piece of advice to graduates about the world. Even though I still have (hopefully) a couple few years until graduation, I found Lewis' advice to be helpful and even began noticing its existence around me.
What Lewis describes as the "Inner Ring," is a social phenomenon of a certain special group of people. Tolstoi calls it the second or unwritten system. Lewis points out the longing and desire that everyone has to be included.

I believe that in all men's' lives at certain periods, and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside.

Lewis really does a great job emphasizing how bad it must feel to be left out.

Often the desire conceals itself so well that we hardly recognize the pleasures of fruition. . . . A terrible bore... Ah, but how much more terrible if you were left out! It is tiring and unhealthy to lose your Saturday afternoons: but to have them free because you don't matter, that is much worse.

Lewis discusses the nature of these Inner Rings. He says that they are in themselves, not a bad thing, because through these groups, friendships are found and bonds are formed. If your group simply consists of people who share similar interests, then the group can be a good thing. However, if they exist simply to exclude other people, its a whole different matter. Lewis writes:

But your genuine Inner Ring exists for exclusion. There'd be no fun if there were no outsiders. The invisible line would have no meaning unless most people were on the wrong side of it. Exclusion is no accident; it is the essence.

In my experience, I've found myself to be on both sides of Inner Rings. My youth group back home is a youth-led ministry, with a core group of teenagers leading the weekly activities, known as the Core. As I first attended the youth group, the leaders were seen as almost elite Christians, though I'm sure they don't feel it themselves. The more I attended, the more I was involved with the youth group and was eventually invited to be a part of the new group as the seniors graduated. I must say I wasn't really drawn in by the desire to be included. But during my time of leadership there, there were moments where one or more members of the team were somewhat deliberately excluding people outside of the Inner Ring.

The Four Loves: Eros

In the The Four Loves, Lewis describes the four kinds of love: Storge (affection), Philia (friendship), Eros (romance), and Agape (unconditional). I found our reading, focused on the Eros, or romantic love, to be extremely insightful. Especially, when our culture encourage us to do everything by feeling and impulse, it's a breath of fresh air to actually read a chapter that philosophizes love.
The first point that stood out to me was the process, Lewis describes, in which people go through when they fall in love.

Very often what comes first is simply a delighted pre-occupation with the Beloved -- a general, unspecified pre-occupation with her in her totality A man in this state really hasn't leisure to think of sex. He is too busy thinking of a person. The fact that she is a woman is far less important than the fact that she is herself.

Eros singles out the Beloved from everyone else, simply because she is herself. In a poetic way, Lewis describes the first moments when one falls in love.

Eros enters him like an invader, taking over and reorganising, one by one, the institutions of a conquered country. It may have taken over man others before it reaches the sex in him; and it will reorganize that too.

 Given that this is what comes first, it really shows how messed up the society is, especially when people meet after a drink and immediately have "the leisure to think of sex." I guess it also shows the complete lack of love in these activities.
Another part that stood out is Lewis' analogy of the carton of cigarettes.

 Strictly speaking, a woman is just what he does not want. He wants a pleasure for which a woman happens to be the necessary piece of apparatus. How much he cares about the woman as such may be gauged by his attitude to her five minutes after fruition (one does not keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes). Now Eros makes a man really want, not a woman, but one particular woman. In some mysterious but quite indisputable fashion the lover desires the Beloved herself, not the pleasure she can give.

 I like how Lewis always returns to the point that in Eros, the man does not desire just any woman, but specifically the woman he is in love with.