What Christians Believe
Book Club | Mere Christianity: Book 2
Welcome to week two of the Book Club, friend.
The central Christian belief is that Christ’s death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start. (p. 54)
The center—the core—of Book 2, and the whole of Christianity, is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The man born a couple thousand years ago, who claimed to be God and whose followers resolutely believed he rose from the dead. They say he is still alive, has gone to be with his Father, is coming back to judge the Earth, and all kinds of other wild things about him.
These wild things, along with the salvific work that Jesus claims to have accomplished, have spread throughout time and the world. Many have come to believe the words of Jesus were not just prideful lunacy, but True. Lewis is counted in this “many” who have decided to take Jesus at his word.
The claim of Christianity is that Jesus is the Good Power Lewis describes in Chapter 2. This Good Power is the Creator and Source of all that exists. He is outside of the universe as a painter is outside of his painting—he has made it, and it is totally dependent upon him to exist, but he is not the painting.
However, when we look at this universe, we are faced with a glaring reality. Evil runs rampant, people are suffering, the weak are oppressed by the wicked, the innocent are condemned, and the guilty go free. We are confronted with injustice like a punch in the gut.
But real Christianity validates our perception of evil, while giving us hope for something better that transcends the present state of things.
“this is a good world that has gone wrong, but still retains the memory of what it ought to have been.” (p. 42)
Christians and atheists alike feel that sharp disgust in the face of injustice. The injustice is real, and we all know it in the depths of us. Christianity allows us to see evil, and call it what it is. We are forbidden from subscribing to what Lewis calls “Christianity in water,” which says “there is a good God in Heaven, and everything is alright,” while leaving out all the bad and hard things like sin and death and hell and the devil and redemption.
But real Christianity does not leave us with so dismal an outlook on life and the future.
Though much in the world is terribly wrong now, the world was created good and is being made good again.
Lewis points out that even the bad we see in the world “turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way.” Augustine wrestles with this same idea in his Confessions. The things desired—money, power, pleasure, safety— and the impulses to pursue them are in themselves, good things. The trouble comes when we pursue them with the wrong method, too much, or too little. Virtue lies in the proper balance of impulse gratification.
The highest of all to be desired is God, Himself.
“God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.” (p.50)
In his Confessions, Augustine writes: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” We are looking for peace, satisfaction, joy, pleasure, fellowship, love, and rest in all the places that cannot truly give them to us.
But Jesus calls:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
“whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.”
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Jesus bore the punishment that brought us peace. Jesus eternally satisfies the longings of our spirit and flesh. In the presence of Jesus, there is fullness of joy. At the right hand of Jesus, are pleasures forevermore. Jesus restores us to fellowship with our God and Father. Jesus shows us what love is and subsequently enables us to love others. Jesus gives us rest from all our efforts to secure righteousness on our own.
Lewis ends Book 2 with a call of his own:
“Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.” (p. 65)
It is a call to repent, not as a prerequisite to God accepting you back, but because repentance is what it looks like to go back to Him. To believe in Jesus is to forsake my own way and follow Him—to walk the path he leads us on.
There are only two sides in the universe. One that leads to eternal Death, the other that leads to eternal Life. One that follows the Bad Power, one that follows the Good Power.
And why would you want to follow the Bad Power?
For, “even to be bad he must borrow or steal from his opponent,” the Good. (p. 45)
Clearly, I barely scratched the surface of all that Lewis covers in this section. But what were the ideas that stood out to you?
Did you agree with his perspective on the state of the world?
What did you make of all his talk of the devil?
Did his description of the difference between Christianity and Dualism make sense?
What did you think of his appeal to the strangeness of Christianity as a proof of its authenticity in chapter 2?
Share your thoughts in the comment section, and feel free to respond to the insights and questions of everyone else!
I'm with you. Time with the Savior, who is Himself our daily bread, is the primary way to recharge spiritually. And that sounds like a super beneficial practice before going into the Word. I do something like that every now and then, but maybe implementing a more regular practice of prayer before reading would be best.
Love how deeply you self-reflect. Thanks for sharing!
"[The christian] does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us..." (p. 63).
This is a difficult thing to comprehend sometimes especially with a performative mindset that keeps us striving to be good. It is an exhaustive cycle and we can fall into it easily. Whether you grew up feeling like you had to be good to receive love or praise, the examples and lists can go on I'm sure. Feeling like our relationship with God is more check-listy and transactional than resting and knowing that we are loved therefore wanting to do good because of the love He gives. It reminds me of Romans 2, where Paul speaks of God's kindness that is meant to lead us to repentance. God's grace should lead us to repentance and produce fruit in our lives as evidence of salvation. Not because we are wanting to work to earn His favor but because of the kindness, forgiveness, grace, mercy, love He offers.