The first four chapters of Lewis' summary of the core values of Christianity seem to be taken from a philosophical perspective rather than a theological one. He spends most of his time writing on the "law of human nature", an idea found nowhere in the Bible, yet Lewis seems to think it is an important foundation for the Christian notion of a God.
An idea that really rang true with me was his statement that while it may not always seems this way, in reality every culture has a pretty similar moral code. He simply says that people "have always agreed that you ought not to put yourself first" which is true. I am trying to imagine a society now where this wasn't valued. Everyone would steal from their neighbors, lie whenever it would benefit them and act in their best interests. Basically, the society would immediately collapse under its own weight. It is easy to say society is flawed, there is so many problems with it, but really for the most part society is good. Most people follow the rules and most people have some level of respect for one of another. It is because deep down we know, its not only in society's best interests, but our own due to our dependence on society.
Another point of Lewis' I particularly liked was his explanation that when we make excuses for our behavior, it is only further proof of a moral law. Of course, I started thinking of the times I've made excuse after excuse for why I didn't do as well as I should have, or why I didn't win. In fact, I'm so good at this sometimes that I've made excuses before for why I might lose before a competition even starts(though not really anymore). If I'm about to play a game of chess, I might have said that I have a little bit of a headache before the game even started, so that later on if I lost it didn't seem like I was just making excuses (even though I really was). Excuses come naturally to people, and I know it is something I am especially guilty of. However, the fact that we make excuses just means there is something to excuse, some standard in which we should live by. In the example of competition, we are instilled with the desire to win, it is natural. We are also instilled with the desire to care about other people, if only we are not too proud to realize it.
An idea that really rang true with me was his statement that while it may not always seems this way, in reality every culture has a pretty similar moral code. He simply says that people "have always agreed that you ought not to put yourself first" which is true. I am trying to imagine a society now where this wasn't valued. Everyone would steal from their neighbors, lie whenever it would benefit them and act in their best interests. Basically, the society would immediately collapse under its own weight. It is easy to say society is flawed, there is so many problems with it, but really for the most part society is good. Most people follow the rules and most people have some level of respect for one of another. It is because deep down we know, its not only in society's best interests, but our own due to our dependence on society.
Another point of Lewis' I particularly liked was his explanation that when we make excuses for our behavior, it is only further proof of a moral law. Of course, I started thinking of the times I've made excuse after excuse for why I didn't do as well as I should have, or why I didn't win. In fact, I'm so good at this sometimes that I've made excuses before for why I might lose before a competition even starts(though not really anymore). If I'm about to play a game of chess, I might have said that I have a little bit of a headache before the game even started, so that later on if I lost it didn't seem like I was just making excuses (even though I really was). Excuses come naturally to people, and I know it is something I am especially guilty of. However, the fact that we make excuses just means there is something to excuse, some standard in which we should live by. In the example of competition, we are instilled with the desire to win, it is natural. We are also instilled with the desire to care about other people, if only we are not too proud to realize it.
I like your perspective on moral code and our society. I am always told that our society is so bad and it just keeps getting worse and worse, it was comforting to hear that someone thinks that our society really isn't that bad, and I agree with you. I can't even imagine if lying and stealing were normal in a certain society, yes it does still happen in our society, but not everyone does it, there are those that have good morals in our culture and society.
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