C.S. Lewis's approach to Christian theology and Scripture

Lewis

Relativist said, 'The world does not exist, England does not exist, Oxford does not exist and I am confident that I do not Exist!' When Lewis was asked to reply, he stood up and said, 'How am I to talk to a man who's not there?'" (Schultz, 1998)

Lewis: A Biography

This quote shows how, in truly CS Lewis style, the writer took the everyday questions about religion and faith, tacking them head-on. Lewis was a Christian writer who was deeply influenced by the teachings of God and His Scripture.

CS Lewis was born, in 1898, in Belfast, Ireland. He was educated at various schools throughout England (Hooper, 1996). In 1914, he began studying Latin, Greek, French, German and Italian and later moved to Oxford. His education was disrupted by the first World War but within two years, he resumed his studies.

In 1924, Lewis became a teacher of Literature and Language at Magdalen College in Oxford, where he remained until 1954. During this time, he wrote the majority of his work. Lewis later moved to Cambridge where he spent the rest of his life teaching Medieval and Renaissance Literature.

C.S. Lewis is known as a man who was dedicated to the pursuit of truth. He "believed in argument, in disputation, and in the dialectic of Reason." (Schultz, 1998) At the beginning of his search for truth, Lewis was an atheist. He ended up becoming a Christian, which influenced a great deal of his writing.

Lewis' writing is not known for its reformation of or separation from the popular religious beliefs. He merely defined, defended, and united the community of Christianity on what it "purely" is. (Schultz, 1998)

However, in many of his works, Lewis separated himself from popular religious views about Christianity, particularly from the traditional schools of thought within modern and historical Christianity.

Lewis took on a liberal view of Scripture and distanced himself from a Fundamentalist view of the Bible, which is a verbal, literal inspiration of Scripture. Instead, he presented a new approach to Christianity, which was no doubt inspired by the Scriptures that praised the Bible's use of myth.

Views of Scripture

Lewis reinforces in many of his works that he had a high view of scripture and believed in miracles.

In the Bible, it says," Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book" (22:7-11). The books of Revelation say that God will bless those that obey the faith and curse those who do not. The Bible also discusses heaven and hell. (Hooper, 1996)

In the Bible, John saw angels as staunch defenders of the regulative principle of worship, who did not tolerate false worship. CS Lewis was inspired by this passage and he wrote about the "shadow side" as a result. (Hooper, 1996)

He basically wrote that people who respond in faith are blessed forever, while those who do not will suffer forever. This is a harsh theory, as Lewis says that the gates of hell are locked for the inside.

Scripture does not make it clear to readers whether or not they will recognize their loved ones when they die. The Bible merely tells us that will be taken into Christ's own body. Lewis expands on this theory in "The Great Divorce." (Schultz, 1998)

The Great Divorce" talks about the resurrection bodies, saying that the old will look young, while the young will look old and wise. He also said that some bodies would wear clothes, as a sign of special grace of God while others would be naked, but fully clothed in righteousness. Revelation is the only book that talks about clothing in the afterlife, so Lewis was obviously inspired by these books.

As for repentance, Lewis holds that it "is not something God demands of you before He will take you back...; it is simply a description of what going back is like." (Schultz, 1998)

Lewis believed in an evolutionary animal ancestry of man. "For long centuries God perfected the animal form which was to become the vehicle of humanity and the image of Himself" (The Problem of Pain)

He accepted that the Book of Genesis account came from pagan mythical sources. "I have therefore no difficulty accepting the view of those scholars who tell us that the account of Creation in Genesis is derived from earlier Semitic stories which were pagan and mythical" (Reflections on the Psalms) (Cunningham, 1967)

Lewis did not believe in a bodily resurrection (C.S. Lewis: A Biography). He rejected the theory of the total depravity of man. "I disbelieve that doctrine" (The Problem of Pain) (Cunningham, 1967)

His view of Scripture was woeful. He believed that the Book of Job was "unhistorical." He also believed that the Bible contained "error," and asserted the Neo-orthodox concept that the Bible "carries" the Word of God and is "human material" (The Problem of Pain).

According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "CS Lewis was essentially a philosopher, his view of salvation was defective in two key respects: (1) Lewis believed and taught that one could reason oneself into Christianity, and (2) he was an opponent of the substitution and penal theory of the Atonement." (Cunningham, 1967)

According to Dr. W.W. Shrader, a Baptist, "C.S. Lewis would never embrace the Fundamentalist view of the Bible. He would not accept the theory of "total depravity of man." He rejected the "substitution theory" of the Atonement." (Cunningham, 1967)

Lewis wondered why Christians often emphasized either good works or faith to the exclusion of the other, saying, "It does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary... If what you call your 'faith' in Jesus Christ does not involve taking the slightest notice of what He says, then it is not faith at all." (Schultz, 1998)

Scripture as Errant Source

In Lewis' eyes, the Bible was the foundational source for Christian thought and belief. The Bible was an authoritative source in all matters of faith and practice. Lewis understood the nature and authority of Scripture in a way that lined up with the convergence of centuries of Christian thought, which is why his works were so well-accepted.

The fundamentalist view of inerrancy, which made the Scriptures seem to be a textbook, was unacceptable to Lewis, which believed that the Scriptures contained error. To him, the Bible was a treasure that bore the marks of having been written by human beings who had witnessed God's message (Cunningham, 1967). Still, he believed Scripture to be the living, life altering word of God, in which God still communicated to humans.

Basically, Lewis believed that while Scripture was authoritative, it was also extremely human. He wrote, "The human qualities of the raw materials show through. Naivety, error, contradiction, even...wickedness are not removed." (Cunningham, 1967)

Therefore, according to Lewis, the result was "not the Word of God in the sense that every passage...gives impeccable science or history. It carries the Word of God; and we (under grace, with attention to tradition and to interpreters wiser than ourselves, and with the use of such intelligence and learning as we may have) receive the word from it not by using it as an encyclopedia or an encyclical but by steeping ourselves in its tone or temper and so learning its over-all message." (Cunningham, 1967)

Issues With Christianity and Scripture

Two of Lewis' works, "The Problem of Pain" and "Mere Christianity" address issues that he struggled with in Christianity (Beversluis, 1985). "Mere Christianity" talks about the core set of beliefs surrounding Christianity. According to Lewis, Jesus is what He claimed to be in the Bible, which is the Son of God.

Lewis says that according to the Bible, Jesus was literally born of a virgin, crucified, buried, and physically rose from the dead. "Mere Christianity" supports the Bible strongly, teaching the basics of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all of one God.

Lewis believed that the gospel accounts are accurate and written by men who were witness, such as the apostles (Beversluis, 1985). He believed that God promised through the Old Testament prophets that He would send His Son to die for the sins of His people. Lewis was obviously inspired by the Bible and tried to convince his readers that the supernatural does exist and miracles do occur.

Mere Christianity" consists of three separate broadcasts, one of which is called "The Case for Christianity" (Beversluis, 1985). In this broadcast, Lewis addresses a major issue in defense of his religion. Because the Bible scriptures can be confusing, Lewis addresses many questions that can come to mind when trying to find the truth in it.

This issue, which he labels as "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe," deals with the existence of moral law; the idea of a power or mind behind the universe, and that this power, which is God, is good; and the attributes of Christianity.

Law of Nature

According to Lewis, the law of nature attaches humans to a falling stone, much as gravity does. The law of nature does not need to be taught. Lewis says that someone may exist "here and there who didn't know it, just as you find a few people who are color-blind or have no ear for tune. But taking the race as a whole, they thought that the human idea of Decent Behavior was obvious to every one." (Adey, 1998)

Lewis defends his statement of natural law's existence. Two arguments, which argue for relativity, posted against him are the "herd" instincts or genetic inborn in all humans, which is taught socially or learned (Beversluis, 1985).

Lewis believed that a natural law or the existence of a system of absolutes was crucial in religion and especially in Christianity. He argued his point through the comparison of moral systems and what is judged as right or rather what should be.

Using extremes, such as comparing Christianity to Nazi regimes, he concluded that Christian morality is preferable to Nazi morality because the absolute system is based on things that should take place.

In conclusion, Lewis says that the law of nature exists, dictating what humans ought to do or dictating right and wrong. This is one of the main points of the Bible.

Questioning the Scripture

Lewis believed that the best way to examine prayer and the purpose of prayer was to ask certain questions about prayer. In "The World's Last Night," Lewis asks a variety of questions, including "What evidence would prove the efficacy of prayer?" And "If a prayer is "answered," "how can you ever know it was not going to happen anyway?" (Cunningham, 1967)

Lewis believed that prayer does not function as a machine that could be plugged in and used for answers. His definition of prayer was that it was a "sheer illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete persons and the utterly concrete person."

When studying Revelation, these questions often arise, especially when considering details of the prophesied events. Lewis' stories in "Mere Christianity" avoid defining exactly what the scriptural story means, because he believed that myth was the best language for truth and understanding.

Storytelling by Myth

Lewis viewed myth as unfocused revelation in the Old Testament. Because of his views on both myth and revelation, Lewis made some good contributions to the Christian's understanding of natural revelation. Yet the Old Testament moments of direct revelation did not fit into Lewis's idea of myth and unfocused revelation.

Since myth functions through the reader's imagination, he did not want to define the Bible's meaning, but rather address the issues that undoubtedly come to mind when reading it, especially those regarding the nature of Jesus, the nature of evil, the purpose of destruction, and the characterization of eternity.

CS Lewis was a firm believer that it is much more important what God thinks of us than we think of God. His books focus around Jesus and the Bible. Lewis referred to the Bible as the authoritative Word of God.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" uses myth to voice his religious beliefs. In this book, he is dependent on biblical reference, namely Revelation 5.5 (Adey, 1998).

C.S. Lewis struggled with a variety of religious issues in his life and these are very obvious in his writings. He often talks about the suffering and pain, which he believed to be one of the hardest issues involved in Christianity. The Bible spoke of pain and suffering, so Lewis felt it was an important thing to analyze.

If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both." This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form. The possibility of answering it depends on showing that the terms "good" and "almighty," and perhaps also the term "happy" are equivocal: for it must be admitted from the outset that if the popular meanings attached to these words are the best, or the only possible, meanings, then the argument is unanswerable. (The Problem of Pain) (Beversluis, 1985)

Revelation

Lewis believed that God is ultimately His own revelation of Himself, yet He has revealed Himself in various ways in various places. Lewis explains that this is why many of the Bible stories show different people as different creatures throughout the story.

Lewis says that God can only be known by "self-revelation on His part, not by speculation on ours. We, therefore, look for Him where it is claimed that He has revealed Himself by miracle, by inspired teachers, by enjoyed ritual." (Hooper, 1996)

In the book The Problem of Pain, Lewis points out three main stages of revelation for all religions and a fourth for Christianity (Cunningham, 1967). The first of these stages is "Numinous," which describes the feeling of awe. The second is recognizing that a moral law has been broken. The third recognizes that the source of moral law is numinous. The fourth stage is when a man is born and "claims to be the Numinous" and giver of the moral law. This is the true picture of Christianity and the incarnation of Christ.

Lewis's view of inspiration shows a sense of progression of revelation that gets clearer throughout time. Lewis shows this by recalling that the Jews were given more revelation than the pagans were. The revelation of God to the Jews was, to Lewis, a kind of direction on how to live.

Lewis's view of myth reveals a bridge from revelation to inspiration. Lewis viewed myths as stories that might be true, but did not need to be historically or scientifically true because it is meant to tell a story that is higher than history or science. According to this definition, Old Testament stories are not necessarily historical events but myths. According to Lewis, "For all I can see, it [the fall] might have concerned the literal eating of a fruit, but it is of no consequence."

Conclusion

Lewis's views differ greatly from the fundamentalist view of scripture. However, most of his writing was based on his understanding of Scripture, which was harmonious with the Church of England. Myth was a very important aspect of Lewis' views of the Scripture and of Revelation. He believed that there were errors within the literature of the Scriptures yet he ultimately believed in the story of Christianity. (Hooper, 1996)

The influence of the Bible was seen in Lewis' views of everyday life, as well as some of his greatest thoughts and questions. According to Lewis, "Science, when it becomes perfect, will have explained the connection between each link in the chain and the link before it. But the actual existence of the chain will remain wholly unaccountable." (Hooper, 1996)

The Bible's influence on his thinking led him to have religious views on how we came to be, which he believed was the right way to look at the question.

Lewis believed that the Scripture came directly from God, and that Jesus Christ was everything He claimed to be. According to Lewis, "He did not leave us that option. Christ was either who He said He was, or a demon, or worse." Therefore, we must accept Him as the Creator of the universe or reject Him as a fraud. Lewis recommends the first option.

Lewis' Faith

Lewis' views on the nature of faith, and the relationship of that faith to doctrine were explained through the use of analogy.

In "Mere Christianity," Lewis gave two chapters the same title: "Faith." Then, he wrote about faith in two different senses (Adey, 1998). In the first chapter he wrote about faith as "accepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity." This he obviously regarded as important as he was once an atheist.

The second chapter talked about faith in a higher sense. Lewis explained that faith involved putting "all one's trust in Christ" and "handing everything over to Christ."

The structure of the two chapters shows how Lewis understood the relationship of faith to doctrine. A certain amount of doctrinal knowledge, along with being convinced that these teachings were true, were absolutely necessary before one could move on to faith as trust and obedience.