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Mere christianity c.s. lewis essay
Impacts of Christianity in society
Mere christianity c.s. lewis essay
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My Peace…
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” Ephesians 2:14 (NLT).
Theologian, C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying; “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in us.” We are reminded in an almost hourly bases, that we live in a world filled with many barriers, which divide us, such as pain, hatred and sorrow just to name a few. The good news is that God sent Son Jesus, as mentioned in Isaiah 9:6 as the “Prince of Peace” to reconcile us for this very reason. Everyday Jesus knocks down the barriers of separation, to a unity in which we are called to enjoy.
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it” (Lewis, “Mere Christianity”). C.S. Lewis, a renowned broadcaster, essayist, lecturer, novelist, theologian, and Christian apologist, used his writing to create a significant effect on the Christian movement. During his lifetime, Lewis went through an amazing transformation from an avid Atheist to a strong Christian, and dedicated his career to sharing the truths of Christianity in his writing. Lewis utilized Christian apologetics to explain and defend his views of Christianity, and made the idea of Christianity more accessible to
...their own suffering, and their own lives. It is impossible to help others if we cannot try to understand them. Lastly, the concept of forgiveness coming from understanding is relevant to everyday life. Every person makes mistakes, and everyone does things that are not proud of. If you can learn to forgive what you do yourself, you can forgive others. You have to understand a person’s reasons and their suffering, and if you do not, you will never live in peace with yourself.
Forgiveness and justice are very similar than we believe them to be. We believe that justice is
C.S. Lewis begins his book, “Mere Christianity”, by introducing the Law of Right and Wrong or the Laws of Nature. This, however, arises a question. What is the Law of Nature? The Law of Nature is the known difference between right and wrong. That is, mans distinction between what is right and what is wrong. “This law was called the Law of Nature because people thought that everyone knew it and did not need to be taught it”(18). Lewis relates the law to how we treat others. We treat others the way we want to be treated and if they treat us poorly in return we become agitated and annoyed with them. He states that we become a society of excuses when something goes wrong. He goes on to say that we want to behave in a certain way when in reality we do the opposite of what is right or what is wrong. We are humans and humans have primal instincts. We are all capable of using our instincts to do right or wrong. Lewis uses an example of a drowning man to prove this point. When one sees a man in trouble two desires or instincts kick into play, to save the man or ignore him because the situation at hand could endanger you. However, there in another impulse that says help the man. With this comes a conflict of instincts. Do you run and forget about it or do you jump in and help. Most people will help even if the situation is going to endanger their life. This is just one way of seeing moral law. The right in a situation will mostly always prevail over the wrong. “Men ought to be unselfish, ought to be fair. Not that men are selfish, nor that they like being unselfish, but they ought to be”(30). We are creatures of habit and logic. Lewis believes that the moral law is not taught to us rather known by us instinctively. He also believes that the law is real. The law is our behaviors in life via good or bad. Lewis states, “there is something above and beyond the ordinary facts of men’s behavior”(30). This opens Lewis to believe that the natural law is both alive and active in mans life today. Lewis goes on to say that the law must be something above mans behavior. He begins to relate this to the creation of the world.
The Christian faith focuses on the orientation of the human heart behind human thoughts and actions. Living by faith is a beautiful alternative to the way people think of themselves and the way they live in relation to others in their daily lives (Merrick, 2014). Christians see themselves in terms of God’s profound love for them but not in terms of what they do. The teachings of the Christian faith; nonviolence, non-retaliation, inward integrity, selflessness, and love your neighbor as yourself provide the framework for ethical thinking. Although, adopting belief in Christianity can bring forth confusion in the heart and mind causing agony of learning to sacrifice one’s rightful claims for personal justice for the restoration of another (Merrick, 2014). Unconditional forgiveness is difficult to understand because spiritual forgiveness and actual costly forgiveness is viewed as the same in the gospel. If you do not forgive, then one does not have faith in God’s forgiveness as it really is. Christianity influences a person thinking and behavior developing wisdom which requires faith. The faith that is needed to reorient the heart away from selfishness to selflessness.
Lewis is now talking about forgiveness. Forgiveness sounds easy until you find yourself having to forgive someone who has done you wrong. When forgiving someone you don’t have to like them or agree with what they have done, but you do have tell yourself to stop holding a grudge when you think about what that other person has done. But when forgiving someone you have said that you no longer hold that against them. Also God says that we should forgive others like he forgave us and we have done more wrong to him that the other way around.
In Christianity, the emphasis is placed on love of God rather than on obeying his will. People must believe that God is merciful and loves them as well. As a reflection of God’s love, people must also love other people (and the whole humanity in general) and forgive their enemies.
One of the main elements of forgiveness would be to let go of the hatred of someone or a group of people. For example, take the Christian faith, when someone has committed an act against a Christian, the Christian is required to forgive. The reason why Christians are required to forgive is so they can be a more like Jesus. “If the Kingdom of God is within you, then everywhere toy go, you ought to leave a little Heaven behind” (Cornel West pg 5). It is not just that, it is a matter of releasing a grudge that you have against someone and the offense that they have committed against you. Forgiveness helps the Christians and everyone else who forgives to heal from their wounds. There are global issues where forgiveness has a central place.
Again in John 14:27 Jesus speaks of his inner peace- “I am leaving you with the gift of peace in mind and heart. The peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.” From this the Christian then has the obligation to take this message of peace and apply it to their lives in the way they act towards themselves and others.
Both Christianity and Islam use their respective sacred texts to obtain information about peace and through principal teachings adherents are able to demonstrate what each teaches about peace. Inner peace can be found through prayer, as it is personal and helps one to find a tranquil state of mind. Global or world peace is achieved through finding serenity and using it to benefit others. For Christians, the Bible, in particular the New Testament, guides adherents to a life that is with God, which can only be achieved by finding peace with those around them. The Gospels state the importance of peace with those around them as expressed through the ‘Ten Commandments’ and ‘Beatitudes’. The Islamic faith teaches through the Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith that by submission to Allah, adherents are enabled to live peaceful lives. Living a life that is Halal will only be achieved by following the six articles of faith, which are the core ethical teachings that are highlighted in the Qur’an and the five pillars, practices.
Central to Christian belief, is the impact of death and rebirth of Jesus Christ. It is believed the world was redeemed for all of their sins, through the death of Jesus; the price they had to pay to be forgiven by God. Another evident example of forgiveness in Christianity, the practice of confession. In order for one to be forgiven for their sins, they must go to confession and confessed their sins to a priest, who then prays so God can forgive the sinner. Every sin they have committed must be confessed, otherwise they will not receive the forgiveness of God. Furthermore, reconciliation is the idea of mending bonds between two people, and forgiving each other for whatever has come between them. This act is encouraged by God, who wants His followers to forgive each other, as He forgives them. Another example of the prominence of forgiveness within the Christian faith, is reconciliation.
Christianity has a strong emphasis on peace and peacemaking. The quest for inner peace is one of the main messages in the New Testament. The New Testament gives Christian adherents some extremely useful guidelines for individuals who wish to seek peace, both inner and external. Matthew’s Gospel states “blessed are the peace makers” , these words make allow Christians to believe that if they follow the word of God and live peaceful lives they will be blessed. Adherents are advised to pursue peace by not reacting badly to their enemies, by following authorities and by obeying God. Christian’s are taught that they will be able to attain inner peace if they faithfully dedicate themselves to God. Peace is mentioned over 90 times in the New Testament. Many other passages also address the quest for peace without specifically using the word ‘peace’. Christians believe that they can find individual peace through living out their role as followers of Jesus Christ and guiding their lives towards following his teaching. Jesus is regarded as the ultimate peacemaker and living in close connection to him and his teachings will allow the adherent to experience peace. Jesus' life is seen as the ideal way of ...
A strong Christian lesson on the true nature of forgiveness can be found in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount:
There are so many keys to peace in just these four scriptures alone. Imagine all the keys of peace throughout the Bible. I encourage you to research every scripture in the Bible on peace. It will set you free!
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”.