LAW OF NATURE, THERE REALLY IS RIGHT AND WRONG
CS Lewis was arguing against the notion that right and wrong is relative; but how can that be, since Nazism is so evidently evil? CS Lewis proclaims, “We are forced to believe in a real Right and Wrong,” this is a Law of Nature shared by all cultures.[1]
CS Lewis teaches us: “The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another, you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other.”[2]
CS Lewis has many aphorisms:
“Christians must fair, unselfish, and display decent behavior towards their neighbor.”[3]
“God puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another.”[4]
CS Lewis has “two bits of evidence that the Somebody,” whom we worship as the Almighty God, truly exists. “One is the universe he made.” “The other bit of evidence is that Moral Law which He has put into our minds. And this is a better bit of evidence than the other because it is inside information.” In the Judeo-Christian traditions, “we conclude that the Being behind the universe is intensely interested in right conduct: in fair play, unselfishness, courage, good faith, honesty and truthfulness.”
CS Lewis continues: “Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness.” It says nothing “to people who do not know they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness.”[5]
Why doesn’t CS Lewis explicitly discuss the two-fold Love of God and love of neighbor at the end of Part 1? St Augustine is my favorite Catholic saint because, in every major work, he explicitly repeats this core belief. Our saint teaches us that all Scripture must be interpreted in light of this two-fold love, and when the literal reading of the Scriptures appears to violate this two-fold love, then it should be interpreted allegorically. This principle can be extended to our relations to our neighbors, that we should think the best of our neighbor, so we can bring out the best in our neighbor, and that everything we think, say, or do should be beneficial to all concerned.
St Augustine: On Christian Teaching, aka On Christian Doctrine, How To Read Scripture
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustine-on-christian-teaching-how-to-read-scripture/
https://youtu.be/uQCnAJMPoos
If you lose sight of this foundation of Christianity, you risk becoming judgmental, you risk losing your compassion. One telling criticism that many agnostic liberals level against evangelical Christianity is that not only does it embraces cruelty rather compassion, but that “Cruelty is the Point.”[6]
WHAT IS MORALITY?
CS Lewis begins the third book of Mere Christianity: “There is a story about a schoolboy who was asked what he thought God was like. He replied that, as far as he could make out, God was ‘the sort of person who is always snooping around to see if anyone is enjoying himself and then trying to stop it.’” Is that what morality is: “something that stops you from having a good time?”[7]
Here CS Lewis is sharing his prior childish misconception of Christianity, a misconception that deceived him to turn his back on the faith and profess atheism for a time in his youth. Jesus does not seek to eliminate joy from our lives, Jesus scolded his disciples when they sought to keep the little children from Him, for children bring joy! But children also bring chaos.
But such attitudes mirror how far society has receded from monastic ascetic ideals, monasteries that stressed the seriousness of the spiritual life, the seriousness that focuses on the daily spiritual disciplines that improve our soul. Many of the original monasteries in the Egyptian desert banned women and children, women had their own convents. To this day, women and children visiting the monasteries on Mount Athos in Greece are required to leave the peninsula at dusk.
Should Christians joke? The Greek Orthodox Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos, compiler of the Greek Philokalia, argues that Christians should not joke. We must remember that in his lifetime, he may have felt the need to emphasize Christian seriousness to the severe Muslim masters who were ruling Greece at the time.
St Nicodemus: Can Christians Laugh and Joke?
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-nicodemus-can-christians-laugh-and-joke/
https://youtu.be/WAroedUiytY
But yet there is a spiritual danger when Christians laugh and joke. In the years before the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Erasmus criticized the corruption of the Catholic Church using biting satire. Though his criticisms were legitimate, the troubling question is whether his use of satire helped prepare the way for the rebelliousness of the Protestant Reformation.
Did Erasmus’ On Praise of Folly Influence the Protestant Reformation?
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/erasmus-luthers-predecessor-the-praise-of-folly/
https://youtu.be/FYuIbYlIx5U
THE CARDINAL VIRTUES
The cardinal virtues are Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude. This list of virtues was first introduced in Plato’s Republic, and was then adopted by the Stoic philosophers and Aristotle, whose Nicomachean Ethics formed the core of St Thomas Aquinas’ commentaries. Later we will reflect on these original definitions, comparing them to CS Lewis’ reflections. Here CS Lewis is refuting his prior immature misunderstanding of Christian morality.
WHAT IS PRUDENCE?
What is prudence? CS Lewis teaches us: “Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it. Nowadays most people hardly think of Prudence as one of the ‘virtues.’ In fact, because Christ said we could only get into His world by being like children, many Christians have the idea that, provided you are ‘good,’ it does not matter whether you are a fool.”
CS Lewis continues, “Jesus wants us to have a child’s heart, but a grown-up’s head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but he also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim.”[8]
Perhaps CS Lewis is suggesting that Christians should be purposely naïve. We can be wary of those who have taken advantage us in the past, to preserve our fortune and dignity; but on the other hand, we should think the best of our family, friends, and acquaintances, so we can bring out the best in them, even though they might have disappointed or even hurt us in the past.
CS Lewis is referring to this charming passage in Matthew:
“The disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”[9]
WHAT IS TEMPERANCE?
CS Lewis teaches us: “Temperance is one of those words that has changed its meaning. It now usually means teetotalism.” But in times past, temperance referred to “all pleasures; and it meant not abstaining but going the right length and no further.”
CS Lewis notes that “a man who makes his golf or his motorcycle the center of his life, or a woman who devotes all her thoughts to clothes or bridge or her dog, is being just as intemperate as someone who gets drunk every evening.” Perhaps CS Lewis is going too far, perhaps we should condemn only those who devote themselves to their CATS rather than to their DOGS. But certainly, the drunkard and the drug addict, who was not prevalent in CS Lewis’ day, are more threatening to their families and acquaintances than those who are obsessively devoted to their hobbies and vanities.
We are puzzled why CS Lewis did not mention the ancient Greek philosophy that all things should be practiced in moderation. Many people ask: Should Christians watch secular movies and listen to secular music? Certainly not when they directly conflict with Christian values. But surely we are not sinning when we look forward to enjoying the movies and family time on the weekends.
This tension was also felt by the ancient Greeks, in the tension between Stoicism and Epicureanism, who say that we should enjoy the pleasures of life in moderation.
Was Epicurus Really a Stoic-Lite Philosopher? Were all Epicureans hedonists?
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/was-epicurus-really-a-stoic-lite-philosopher-were-all-epicureans-hedonists/
Epicurus, Aristippus, and Lucretius: History of Epicurean Philosophy
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/epicurus-aristippus-and-lucretius-history-of-epicurean-philosophy/
Epicurus, Aristippus, and Lucretius: Were the Epicureans Stoic-Lite Philosophers?
https://youtu.be/49Qv3Be86Jw
Many wise monks of Mount Athos realized the spiritual danger of brooding, of the radical denial of pleasure. The sixth century St John Climacus in his Ladder of Divine Ascent teaches us that despondency itself can be a sin.
Ladder of Divine Ascent, Remembrance of Death, Joy Making Mourning, and Despondency, Steps 6,7, & 13
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ladder-of-divine-ascent-remembrance-of-death-joy-making-mourning-and-despondency-steps-67-13/
https://youtu.be/pFwC2nDf1CQ
JUSTICE AND FORTITUDE: IS JUSTICE THE SAME AS MORALITY?
What does the Greek word commonly translated as Justice in English really mean? In his translation of Plato’s Republic, Robin Waterfield shares that the Greek word that is customarily translated as justice in English he prefers to translate as morality.[10] The English word of Justice implies that it is something done in the courthouse, whereas the original meaning was more synonymous with loving your neighbor, particularly with those neighbors who are acquaintances or strangers. So justice here is the same as loving your neighbors, seen and unseen, including those you have never met.
CS Lewis agrees, reminding us: “Justice means much more than the sort of thing that goes on in law courts. It is the old name for everything we now call fairness; it includes honesty, give and take, truthfulness, keeping promises, and all that side of life.”
CS Lewis teaches us that fortitude includes two kinds of courage, “the kind that faces danger as well as the kind that ‘sticks it’ under pain. ‘Guts’ is perhaps the nearest modern English word.”[11]
Fortitude is replaced by courage in the ancient Greek lists. Courage was a primary virtue by Plato and Aristotle because the ancient Greek culture, like most ancient cultures, was a warrior culture. Every male citizen was expected to serve in the army because in the ancient world when the enemy defeated your city, often your property was seized, your military age men were slaughtered, and your women and children were enslaved.
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 1, The Warrior Ethos of Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-1-the-warrior-ethos-of-ancient-greece/
https://youtu.be/7QAZ_s6zw4E
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 2, Greek and Roman Armies and Navies
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-2-greek-and-roman-armies-and-navies/
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 3, World of the Old Testament
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-3-world-of-the-old-testament/
Ancient Warfare in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel. Did Joshua Massacre Pagans in Promised Land?
https://youtu.be/9xKxqAbJ2qY
CS Lewis asks, Are these cardinal virtues who we are, or are they what we do?
Certainly, our actions do influence our inner life, as much as our inner life influences our actions. This duality is seen in the vision seen by Cornelius before he approached Jesus in Acts: “Your prayers and your almsgiving have ascended as a memorial before God.”[12]
CS Lewis reflects on three wrong ideas of modern man from a Protestant perspective, to which we add the Catholic perspective.
- “We might think that, provided you did the right thing, it did not matter how or why you did it.” Although if you do the right thing, it may become a habit, improving your soul.
- “We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules: whereas He really wants people of a particular sort.” What sort of people? Those who are obedient.
- “We might think that the virtues are necessary only for this present life, that in the world to come we could stop being just because there is nothing to quarrel about and stop being brave because there is no danger.”[13] All Christians agree that virtues improve our soul, leading us to perform good works.
[1] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, included in volume containing Mere Christianity and the Screwtape Letters (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003, 1944), Book 1, Chapter 1, The Law of Human Nature, pp. 3-7.
[2] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 1, Chapter 2, Some Objections, p. 13.
[3] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 1, Chapter 3, The Reality of the Law, pp. 18-20.
[4] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 2, The Invasion, p. 41.
[5] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 2, Chapter 4, The Perfect Penitent, p. 57.
[6] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/
[7] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 1, The Three Parts of Morality, pp. 74-75.
[8] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 2, The Cardinal Virtues, p. 76.
[9] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+18%3A1-4&version=RSVCE
[10] Plato, The Republic, translated by Robin Waterfield (London: Oxford University Press, 2008, 1993, originally 375 BC), Preface, p. xii.
[11] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 2, The Cardinal Virtues, p. 79.
[12] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+10&version=RSVCE
[13] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book 3, Chapter 2, The Cardinal Virtues, pp. 80-81.
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