Why C.S. Lewis Is as Influential as Ever

Summary

本视频剧本深入探讨了C.S.路易斯对现代世界的影响，强调了其作品的广泛传播和深远意义。剧本提到路易斯的书籍销量巨大，其《纳尼亚传奇》和《纯粹的基督教》等作品对基督教信仰的阐释，对理性与信仰的关系，以及对现代主义和自然主义的批判，展现了他对个人自由和道德真理的坚持。同时，剧本也讨论了路易斯对儿童文学的影响，以及他如何通过故事和想象力来传达深层的真理和价值观。

Takeaways

• 📚 C.S. 路易斯的书籍影响力巨大，其作品被翻译成40多种语言，销量达数百万册。
• 🦉 《纳尼亚传奇》系列书籍销量估计约1.5亿套，被搬上舞台、电视、广播和电影。
• 🔢 路易斯的《纯粹的基督教》和《魔鬼家书》销量分别达到300万和200万册，年销量高达600万册。
• 🏆 《纳尼亚传奇》在《哈利·波特》系列之前，是最具影响力的儿童书籍系列。
• 🌏 全球有超过300个C.S. 路易斯学会，并且正在马萨诸塞州筹建以他命名的大学。
• 🎨 路易斯展示了基督教如何激发人们的想象力和心灵，改变了他对世界和其中人们的看法。
• 🤔 路易斯认为理性是信仰的锚，通过合理的辩护消除了人们对信仰的障碍。
• 📖 他强调故事或叙事的重要性，认为基督教的想象力可以扩展我们对可能性的理解。
• 🧐 路易斯指出现代精英知识分子的自负和虚伪，认为不能信任完全由随机机会进化产生的理性。
• 🛡️ 他恢复了对人类的基督教视角，反对现代文化使人失去人性的方面。
• 🕊️ 路易斯的转变从无神论者到虔诚的基督徒，展示了他深刻的思想转变和对基督教辩护的影响力。

Q & A

C.S. 路易斯的影响力在今天比约翰·F·肯尼迪更大吗？

是的，根据演讲者的论述，C.S. 路易斯的书籍被翻译成40多种语言，销量达到数百万册，而《纳尼亚传奇》系列更是估计售出了大约1.5亿套，这使得他的影响力在今天可能比约翰·F·肯尼迪更大。

《纳尼亚传奇》系列电影的票房总收入是多少？

《纳尼亚传奇》系列电影的票房总收入达到了15亿美元，并且该系列电影是所有时间里票房收入最高的系列之一。

C.S. 路易斯的《纯粹的基督教》一书销量如何？

C.S. 路易斯的《纯粹的基督教》一书销量达到了300万册，显示了其深远的影响力。

为什么C.S. 路易斯被认为对现代社会的基督教理解有清晰的阐述？

C.S. 路易斯展示了基督教如何吸引那些真诚寻求今天生活中最大问题答案的人，他认为基督教能够激发想象力，充实心灵，并改变了他看待世界和其中人们的方式。

C.S. 路易斯如何反驳现代知识分子的傲慢和虚伪？

C.S. 路易斯揭示了如果你完全是由随机机会进化的产物，你不能信任你自己的理性，他将信仰和理性结合在一起，认为基督教既是信仰的也是合理的。

C.S. 路易斯如何强调故事或叙事对基督教的重要性？

C.S. 路易斯认为故事或叙事的概念对他来说至关重要，他展示了基督教的想象力如何扩展我们对可能性的理解，并重新诠释了被现代主义和科学主义限制可能性的世界。

C.S. 路易斯如何恢复对人类的基督教视角？

C.S. 路易斯强调每个人的永恒命运，并反对现代文化中使人失去人性的方面，他认为人类是上帝的创造，有着超越物质世界的精神和道德价值。

C.S. 路易斯在牛津大学的职业发展受到了他公开的基督教信仰怎样的影响？

尽管C.S. 路易斯的书籍是畅销书，他的讲座总是座无虚席，但由于他公开的基督教信仰，他在牛津大学被拒绝了相当于终身教职的职位长达20年。

C.S. 路易斯在青少年时期到30岁之间是一个怎样的人物？

在青少年时期到30岁之间，C.S. 路易斯是一个公开的无神论者，他的最大愿望是成为一个诗人，但在阅读了一些基督教作家的作品后，他开始对基督教产生了兴趣。

C.S. 路易斯如何从绝对的无神论者转变为虔诚的基督徒？

C.S. 路易斯在牛津大学与J.R.R. 托尔金等朋友深夜讨论后，最终在33岁时接受了基督教信仰。他称自己为英格兰最不情愿和最被排斥的转变者。

C.S. 路易斯如何批判现代主义和后现代主义对道德相对主义和功利主义的看法？

C.S. 路易斯认为，即使是非基督徒也能通过自然法则理解道德，他反对现代主义和后现代主义否认我们内心对善恶的固有认识，他认为这种观点是自相矛盾的。

C.S. 路易斯如何认为科学应该被用作理解自然世界的工具，而不是追求权力的手段？

C.S. 路易斯认为科学是一个极其重要的工具，用于理解自然世界，但他强调科学不能告诉我们关于我们在道德、伦理以及社会和政治问题上应该做出什么选择的最终重要事项。

C.S. 路易斯如何看待自然主义和物理主义对人类自由意志的影响？

C.S. 路易斯认为自然主义和物理主义否认了自由意志的存在，因为如果人仅仅是由物理事件决定的生化事件的产物，那么我们就没有理由相信我们的思想是真实的。

C.S. 路易斯如何通过《纳尼亚传奇》系列书籍传达他的基督教价值观？

在《纳尼亚传奇》系列中，纳尼亚的土地是由神圣的深层魔法或我们所说的自然法则维系的，违反这一道德准则就是作恶，这与C.S. 路易斯的基督教价值观相一致。

C.S. 路易斯的作品如何对现代世界产生积极影响？

C.S. 路易斯的作品继续扩大其影响力，人们发现并回归他的作品，他的思想通过圣灵的影响，激发了人们对更深层次真理的探索和对基督教价值观的重新评价。

C.S. 路易斯对于现代科学和自然主义的批判有哪些深远的影响？

C.S. 路易斯在《奇迹》一书中对自然主义的批判已经被哲学家如J.P. Moreland等人进一步发展，对现代科学和自然主义的批判在哲学领域引发了一场新的革命。

C.S. 路易斯的作品为什么能够吸引不同基督教派别的读者？

C.S. 路易斯的作品因其对基督教核心真理的清晰阐述而受到不同基督教派别的读者的欢迎，他的作品具有跨宗派的吸引力，可能是因为他对'纯粹的基督教'概念的探讨。

C.S. 路易斯的作品在世俗世界中为什么能够获得认可？

C.S. 路易斯的作品在世俗世界中获得认可，因为他的作品被认为是可信的、优秀的，并且没有宗教的外在装饰，这得益于他作为学者的背景和他出色的写作才能。

Outlines

00:00

📚 CS路易斯的持续影响力

本段讲述了CS路易斯作为一位影响深远的思想家和作家，其作品《纳尼亚传奇》和《纯粹的基督教》等在全球范围内广受欢迎，销量惊人。路易斯的书籍不仅在文学上获得成功，更在思想上对现代社会产生了深刻的影响，他以理性的方式阐释了基督教信仰，使之成为现代世界中一个重要的精神支柱。

05:00

🎓 路易斯的学术生涯与信仰转变

这段文字描述了CS路易斯的学术背景和个人信仰的转变。他最初是一位无神论者，但在经历了深刻的思考和挣扎后，最终成为了一名虔诚的基督徒。路易斯的学术生涯主要在牛津大学和剑桥大学，他以中世纪和文艺复兴时期的学者身份闻名，同时也因其基督教护教作品而著称。

10:02

🗝️ 路易斯对现代主义的批判

在这一段中，演讲者探讨了CS路易斯对20世纪现代主义的批判，特别是对科学主义和道德相对主义的反思。路易斯认为，科学应当是追求知识的工具，而不是用来追求权力的手段。他强调了自然法则和道德法则的重要性，认为这些法则是普遍存在的，并且是人类行为和判断的基础。

15:04

🌟 路易斯对自由意志和道德绝对性的辩护

这段文字强调了CS路易斯对自由意志和道德绝对性的辩护。他认为，每个人都是其行为的发起者，拥有选择的自由。路易斯反对自然主义和决定论，指出如果人仅仅是物理过程的产物，那么我们就没有理由相信我们的思想是真实的。他通过《纳尼亚传奇》和其他作品展示了一个由神圣的深层魔法或自然法则维系的世界。

20:07

📘 路易斯对现代科学和自然主义的反思

本段讨论了CS路易斯对现代科学和自然主义的看法。他批评了那些认为人类仅仅是物质世界一部分的观点，并指出这种观点忽视了人的意识和自由意志。路易斯认为，科学的发展是基于基督教神学的信念，即自然界存在规律性，这种规律性源自一个立法者，即上帝。

25:09

🛡️ 路易斯对个人自由和权利的捍卫

这段文字讲述了CS路易斯对个人自由和权利的捍卫。他认为，个人应当拥有经济独立和社会自由，这是幸福生活的基础。路易斯反对任何形式的暴政，无论是共产主义、法西斯主义还是其他形式的极权主义，他都认为这些制度剥夺了人的自由和尊严。

30:11

🌈 路易斯作品的普世价值和现代意义

本段强调了CS路易斯作品的普世价值和在现代社会的意义。他的作品不仅在基督教世界内有深远影响，也受到了世俗世界的尊重和认可。路易斯的作品中所体现的价值观和思想，如对自由、真理和善的追求，对于今天的社会依然具有重要的启示作用。

35:12

📖 路易斯对幻想文学的看法及其对基督教的影响

这段文字探讨了CS路易斯对幻想文学的看法，以及这种文学形式如何与基督教信仰相互作用。路易斯认为，幻想文学能够激发读者的想象力，帮助他们探索和理解更深层次的真理。同时，他也指出了幻想文学可能带来的风险，比如误导读者追求错误的信仰或价值观。

40:13

🕊️ 对未来文化和思想运动的希望

最后这段文字表达了对那些寻求更深层次真理的个人、群体和文化运动的希望。演讲者提到了路易斯的作品如何继续影响着人们，以及他的思想如何被后来的哲学家和学者进一步发展。同时，他也提到了幻想文学和基督教故事在现代社会中的传播和接受，以及这些作品如何帮助人们在现代世界中找到意义和方向。

Keywords

💡CS Lewis

CS Lewis（Clive Staples Lewis）是一位20世纪著名的英国作家、文学学者、神学家，以其深刻的基督教神学著作和奇幻小说《纳尼亚传奇》系列而闻名。在视频中，他的作品和思想对现代社会和基督教信仰的影响被广泛讨论，显示了他在文学和宗教思想领域的重要性。

💡自然法则

自然法则（Natural Law）是哲学和伦理学中的一个概念，指的是宇宙和人类行为中固有的道德和理性原则。在视频中，CS Lewis强调了自然法则对于理解道德和人类行为的重要性，认为它是普遍存在的，并且与基督教的教义相辅相成。

💡想象力

想象力（Imagination）是人类心智的一种能力，能够创造和构想出不存在于现实中的事物。视频中提到，Lewis认为基督教的故事是完美的想象力展现，它超越了物质世界的限制，触及了更深层次的真理和意义。

💡现代主义

现代主义（Modernism）是20世纪初兴起的一种文化和艺术运动，强调对传统观念的挑战和创新。视频中讨论了现代主义对基督教信仰的挑战，以及Lewis如何通过其作品回应这些挑战，捍卫基督教价值观。

💡自然选择

自然选择（Natural Selection）是查尔斯·达尔文提出的生物进化理论中的一个核心概念，指的是在自然环境中，适应性更强的生物更有可能生存和繁衍后代。视频中提到了Lewis对自然选择和物质主义世界观的批判，认为它们无法解释人类对道德和意义的追求。

💡道德相对主义

道德相对主义（Moral Relativism）是一种伦理学观点，认为道德判断是相对的，取决于个人或文化的观点。在视频中，Lewis反对道德相对主义，认为存在普遍的道德法则，这些法则是客观的，并且与自然法则相联系。

💡个人主义

个人主义（Individualism）是一种强调个人自由、权利和独立性的价值观念。视频中提到，Lewis在其作品中捍卫个人主义，反对那些试图通过集体主义或国家主义压制个人自由的思想。

💡科学主义

科学主义（Scientism）是一种观点，认为科学是获取知识的唯一可靠途径，并且科学方法可以应用于所有领域。视频中Lewis批判了科学主义，认为它忽视了人类经验的非物质方面，如道德、美学和宗教信仰。

💡《纳尼亚传奇》

《纳尼亚传奇》（The Chronicles of Narnia）是CS Lewis创作的一系列奇幻儿童文学作品，深受读者喜爱。视频中提到，这些作品不仅在文学上取得了巨大成功，而且在传播基督教价值观和道德观念方面发挥了重要作用。

💡《纯粹的基督教》

《纯粹的基督教》（Mere Christianity）是CS Lewis的一部著名作品，其中他以理性的方式阐述了基督教信仰的基础。视频中提到，这本书对许多人的信仰生活产生了深远影响，并且销售量达到了数百万册。

Highlights

C.S.路易斯的影响力超越了肯尼迪，他的书籍销量和文化影响证明了他作为思想家的重要性。

《纳尼亚传奇》系列书籍销量高达1.5亿册，被改编成电影后，票房收入达到15亿美元。

《纯粹的基督教》一书销量达300万册，显示了C.S.路易斯在基督教辩护方面的深远影响。

C.S.路易斯的书籍年度销售量高达600万册，显示了其作品的广泛受欢迎。

全球有超过300个C.S.路易斯学会，以及正在筹备中的C.S.路易斯学院，彰显了其思想的持续影响力。

C.S.路易斯展示了理性是信仰的锚，他通过合理的辩护吸引了寻求答案的人们。

路易斯批判了现代精英知识分子的傲慢与虚伪，强调了信仰与理性的结合。

C.S.路易斯强调了想象力在传达基督教真理中的重要性，认为故事或叙事是关键。

C.S.路易斯恢复了对人类的基督教视角，强调了每个人的永恒命运。

路易斯在牛津大学和剑桥大学的学术生涯，以及他作为公开基督徒的身份，反映了他的信仰和学术追求。

C.S.路易斯从无神论者转变为虔诚的基督徒，这一转变过程体现了他对基督教真理的深刻理解。

路易斯的书籍《反叛的废除》和《那可怕的力量》对现代道德相对主义和功利主义进行了批判。

C.S.路易斯在《奇迹》一书中对自然主义进行了深刻的批判，展示了其自相矛盾的本质。

路易斯强调了自然法则的重要性，认为它是所有道德判断的来源，并且是普遍存在的。

C.S.路易斯反对现代主义和后现代主义对客观道德标准的否定，强调了我们内心的道德认知。

路易斯认为科学应该追求知识，而不是作为某些人追求权力的工具。

C.S.路易斯警告了现代主义对个体的压制和对集体及国家至上主义的推崇。

路易斯强调了个人自由的重要性，包括社会自由和经济自由，反对任何形式的暴政。

C.S.路易斯的作品在基督教和世俗世界都受到尊重，显示了他的思想具有普遍的吸引力。

路易斯的作品继续扩大其影响力，人们不断发现并回归他的思想。

Transcripts

I want to express my gratitude for the

opportunity to be the first of the

speakers my talk is entitled ycs Lewis

is as influential as ever

CS Lewis died on the same day that

President John F Kennedy was

assassinated the news of Kennedy's death

swamped what would otherwise have been a

major story on the death of one of the

most influential men of his time fifty

years later Lewis is today arguably far

more influential than Kennedy Lewis's

books have been translated into more

than 40 languages and have sold millions

of copies the seven books that make up

the Chronicles of Narnia first published

more than 60 years ago have sold the

most estimated at around 150 million

sets and have been popularized on stage

TV radio and the movies since 2001

Lewis's book Mere Christianity has sold

3 million copies and the script eight

Screwtape Letters two million copies it

is estimated that annual sales of

Louis's books range as high as six

million copies in all there are about a

hundred and ten authored or edited books

by Lewis and about 300 books that

discuss him at his work with additional

new ones published every year many

becoming bestsellers the combined box

office sales for the three Narnia films

so far totals 1.5 billion dollars and

the film series is the 24th

highest-grossing series of all time a

fourth film based on the Silver Chair is

now in production until the Harry Potter

books series the 7 volumes of Louis's

Chronicles of Narnia were the most

influential children's books of all time

in the world

voted so by successive polls of parents

librarians tea

cheers and also by their sales and the

Potter books haven't cut into Narnia's

market indeed they've greatly expanded

it as sales of the Narnia ad have

increased by 20% during this time today

there are also over 300 CS Lewis

societies around the world and a CS

Lewis College is in the works in

Massachusetts for me Lewis provides a

clear articulation of what it means to

be a Christian in today's modern world

for Lewis Christianity was something

that captured the mind fired the

imagination and filled the heart and

becoming a Christian changed the way he

viewed the world and the people in it

there are several reasons why Lewis we

think is so important number one Lewis

showed that reason is the anchor of

faith by presenting a defense of the

Christian faith that appealed to reason

Lewis removed obstacles to faith that

most people in our world face today

Lewis removed obstacles to faith by

restoring reason to its price its

rightful place Lewis showed how

Christianity could appeal to those

earnestly seeking answers to today's

greatest questions of life as Lewis

noted quote Christ never meant that we

were to remain children in intelligence

he wants a child's heart but a grownups

head unquote number two Lewis punctured

the pomposity and the pretension of

modern elite intellectuals for example

Lewis revealed that you cannot trust

your own reason if you are solely the

product of random chance

evolution Lewis tithe faith and reason

together in which Christianity is both

faithful and rational number three Lewis

noted that quote reason is the natural

organ of truth but imagination is the

organ of meaning unquote the concept of

story or narrative was crucial for Lewis

he showed that Christian

imagination could expand our sense of

what's possible Christian imagination

could reinter world that has been

disenchanted by the limited

possibilities of modernism and scientism

he showed that speaking about God in

non-religious terms is vital

making the truths of Christianity fresh

and novel and number four

Lewis restored a Christian vision of

humanity the eternal destiny of every

human being as a result he fought

against the dehumanizing aspects of

modern culture Louis spent most of his

career as a medieval and renaissance

scholar at Oxford University in England

then as today being an avowed Christian

in academia or indeed in the public eye

at all was not a good way to advance

one's career and he was accordingly

denied the English equivalent of a

tenured position at Oxford for 20 years

despite the fact that his books were

bestsellers and his lectures

consistently drew standing-room-only

crowds he eventually moved to Cambridge

University when he was offered a tenured

position today few people are aware that

Lewis was a medieval and renaissance

scholar beyond Narnia Lewis is best

known as a Christian apologist but he

certainly didn't set out to be such in

fact from his teenage years until his

30s he was an avowed atheist and his

greatest wished had been become a poet

as the young child Lewis was tutored at

home by his mother including in French

and Latin her death when he was nine had

a devastating effect on him and may well

a plan of the seed of his subsequent

atheism he prayed for his mother's

recovery from cancer and his prayers

were not answered as he desired this

problem of pain quote unquote if God is

good and all-powerful why do bad things

happen to good people maybe the root of

more people turning away from belief

than any other

lewis's father reacted to his beloved

wife's death by drawing into himself and

Lewis and his older brother Warren were

especially and essentially left bereft

following a disastrous time at a brutal

boarding school in England Lewis's

father moved him into a home of a

private tutor by the name of William

Kirkpatrick or the great knock the great

knock was characterized by Louis as

quote a hard satirical atheist who

taught me to think unquote Lewis was the

set on a path of strict rationalistic

atheism he came to believe in in the

meaninglessness of life and that we need

to build their lives on the basis of

quote

unyielding despair unquote as he put it

Lewis's way of stating it was quote

nearly all I loved I believed to be

imaginary nearly all that I believed to

be real I thought grim a meaningless

unquote in his imagination he loved to

read about truth goodness and beauty but

in his reason he held to a rather dark

view of life this tension between reason

and imagination continued to increase

despite his best intention to be a

strict atheist the things he liked best

to read and the people he liked best to

be with turned out to be Oh No

Christian at the age of sixteen waiting

for a train he bought a copy of the book

fantasies by the Scottish writer and

former Presbyterian minister George

MacDonald the book was in the train

bookshop its deeply Christian themes

resonated with him and he later said of

the book quote that night my imagination

was in a certain sense baptized the rest

of me not unnaturally took longer I had

not the faintest notion what I had let

myself in for buying fantasies unquote

in a similar way he loved GK

Chesterton's books

quote in reading Chesterton as in

reading George MacDonald I did not know

what I was letting myself in for a young

man who wishes to remain a sound atheist

cannot be too careful of his reading

there are traps everywhere God is if I

may say it very unscrupulous unquote at

Oxford his greatest friend was j.r.r

tolkien and one night after walking and

talking with talking and another friend

Hugo Dyson they talked and walked until

3:00 in the morning Lewis finally came

to accept Christ and Christianity at the

age of 33 at 17 Lewis had written to his

best friend quote I believe in no

religion there is absolutely no proof

for any of them and from a philosophical

standpoint Christianity is not even the

best unquote fifteen years later he

wrote the same friend quote Christianity

is not the best Christianity is God

expressing himself through what he

called real things namely the actual

Incarnation crucifixion and resurrection

Lewis called himself the most ejected

and reluctant convert in all England

so within fifteen years he moved from

being an an absolute atheist to being a

devout convert he clearly became the

most influential in England and

certainly the fact that he was such a

disciplined thinker and had spent so

many years working through the case

against Christianity to finally Reason

himself into knowing it to be true

provided him the basis for which to

communicate those arguments to the world

and Lewis had a profound impact on the

world but again what accounts for this

influence which continues to grow the

20th century has been described as the

century of modernism the development of

the narrative that under the centuries

of belief in Christianity

humanity had lived in a dark ages of

prescience and superstition the so

called

Flat Earth era this modernist narrative

claims that the so called enlightenment

of the 17th and 18th century represented

the triumph of secular science over

superstition assuring an a new era of

progress and reason further the belief

in undirected evolution replaced that of

a purposeful creator God

now ISM as a medieval and renaissance

scholar Lewis knew that the university

science and reason had been products of

Christianity including the producing of

primary medieval astronomy book named

sphere which was used in almost all the

schools as a sociologist rightie stark

discusses in his books the victory of

Reason and how the West won early and

medieval Christianity displaced paganism

and it's widespread slavery infanticide

repression of women disregard for the

suffering and a world of chaos and

superstition assuring in Western

civilization in which the secular and

the sacred were unified producing a feel

political worldview of hope joy liberty

justice and purpose from the loving

grace of God that enable them to

discover the objective natural law

principles of ethics science and

theology stark shows that the result

created a bountiful culture of art and

literature plus an immense human

flourishing from individual liberty

personal responsibility free-market

entrepreneurship civic virtue limited

government and the rule of law Lewis was

alarmed by his firsthand witnessing of

the results of modernism including the

development of the total state and total

war in which man became simply a cog in

a galactic wheel the themes of both his

and Tolkien's writings reflect their

directly seeing the growth

to tell 't Arianism and the subjugation

of the individual to the collective and

the almighty state Lewis wrote his book

the abolition of man in response to has

seen the rise of moral relativism and

utilitarianism quote the end justifies

the means unquote and it and his

novelized treatment of the same themes

in his book that hideous strength are if

anything more relevant today than when

he wrote them decades ago in the

abolition of man Louis presented the

case for the existence of a moral law a

natural moral law known by all he called

it the Dow as in the way or the path not

to be confused with the Chinese

philosophy Taoism now this natural moral

code as Louis shows cannot be escaped it

is the source from which all moral

judgments come its fundamental truths

Maxim's like good should be done and

evil avoided that caring for others is a

good thing that dying for a righteous

cause is a noble thing our note

independently of experience they are

grasped in the same way that we know

that two plus two is four here's Louis

quote if a man will go into a library

and spend a few days with the

encyclopedia of religion and ethics he

will soon discover the massive unanimity

of the practical reason of man from the

babylonian him to Samos from the laws of

Manu the Book of the Dead the Analects

of Confucius

the Stoics the platanus from ad from

Australian Aborigines he will collect

the same triumphantly monotonous

denunciations of oppression murder

treachery and falsehood the same

injunctions of kindness to the aged the

young and the weak of alms giving and

impartiality and honesty

he may be a little surprised I certainly

was as Louis continues I certainly was

to find the print that the precepts of

mercy are more frequent than the

precepts of justice but he will no

longer doubt that there is such a thing

as the law of nature unquote louis lesce

rejected the idea that only those who

were Christian could understand to be

moral because the natural law is

fundamental to human existence and

serves as the basis for human choice he

noted that if only Christians could

grasp the natural law or understand

morality then there would be an

irresolvable dilemma in which no one

could be persuaded to morality who was

not already Christian and hence that no

one could ever become Christian the

Apostle Paul put the same idea this way

quote when Gentiles do by nature things

required by the law they are a law for

themselves but even though they did not

have the law since they show the

requirement of the law written on their

hearts their consciousness also bear

witness and their thoughts now accusing

now even defending them unquote that's

from Romans to 14 to 15 modernism and

post-modernism deny this truth the fact

that we all know in our hearts when

something is right or wrong and replace

it with the theories of moral relativism

there's no objective good

there's just what's good for me and

what's good for you and neither is

better than the other and utilitarianism

on the former utilitarianism Louis

pointed out that the person who claims

there's no objective standard of good

will be the loudest to cry when his seat

is stolen on the bus crying that's

unfair where does the concept of

fairness spring if there's no objective

standard or morality

hence the link between utilitarianism

and moral relativism

as Lewis noted in critiquing the modern

view that only a material purposeless

world exists quote you cannot go on

seeing things forever you cannot go on

seeing through things forever the whole

point of seeing through something is to

see something frit through it if you see

through everything then everything is

transparent but a wholly transparent

world is an invisible world to see

through all things is the same as not to

see unquote for Lewis science should be

a quest for knowledge and is concerned

with that in the modern era science is

too often used instead as a quest for

power by some over others Lewis did not

dispute that science is an immensely

important tool to understand the natural

world but as larger point is that

science cannot tell us anything that is

ultimately important regarding what

choices we should make in other words

Lewis shows that what is does not

indicate what ought to be scientists on

their own are not able to address moral

ethics and all social and political

questions are exclusively questions of

morality rooted in the natural law the

DAO Louis further viewed all those

attempts to replicate the scientific

method to analyze man or humankind as a

strictly material physical phenomenon as

non science or what he called scientism

quote lets scientists tell us about

science but government involves

questions about the good for man and

justice and what things are worth having

at what price and on these a scientific

training gives a man's opinion no added

value as any student will quickly find

in most high schools and colleges today

and is embedded in much popular culture

the science has become dominated by a

naturalist or modernist or atheist or

secular

worldview that assumes that the universe

and life are purposeless and that mine

kind is simply a more complex material

version of all else in the natural world

in other words an individual human being

is viewed as no more and no less than a

system of molecular processes determined

by physical laws human beings are

claimed to be simply machines in a

galactic machine quote we are matter in

motion

unquote in this system all human

behavior and ideas are determined solely

as the product of a mechanistic cause

the process of physical events such

contemporary naturalist writers as the

evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins

and IO Wilson the philosopher Daniel

Dennett and others subscribe to a

physical ism or naturalism according to

which only the material world exists

according to Dawkins quote in a universe

of blind physical forces and genetic

replication some people are going to get

hurt other people are going to get lucky

and you won't find any rhyme or reason

to it nor any justice the universe we

observe has precisely the properties we

should expect if there is at bottom no

design no purpose no evil and no good

nothing but blind pitiless indifference

unquote lewis knows that material facts

alone cannot provide any conclusion

without some independent basis to

evaluate such information he claims that

the analysis of any world requires the

existence of people including scientists

whose views themselves are not

mechanistically determined by the world

they are examining

so if Dawkins is denying anything other

than this world and that the only thing

that frames or determines his own

thoughts

he can't conclude or know that anything

he says is true he denies existence of

truth so he's trying to have it in sort

of a schizophrenic incoherent be right

indeed if our mental processes are

simply biochemical events solely the

product of Darwinian survival we have no

basis to know if our thoughts are true

or not because there is no standard for

truth other than survival utilitarianism

becomes the sole criterion for what to

do and there are good there exists no

objective good or evil here Lewis

pointed out the naturalist determinist

profound dilemma regarding the existence

of individual consciousness and free

will including the naturalist very own

inability to argue for naturalism or any

proposition as I was suggesting quote

thus no thoroughgoing naturalist can

believe in free will free will would

mean that human beings have the power of

independent action the power of doing

something more or other than what was

involved by the total series of events

in which we exist

and any such separate power or

originating events is what the

naturalist denies spontaneity

originality action on his own creativity

is a privilege reserved for the whole

show

which he calls nature unquote

incidentally nature naturalism is a Cree

as a Creed is a very old one a number of

the pre-socratic philosophers were

probably the first to promote proposed

it as an early version of naturalism

Plato pair amenities and Aristotle

discredited by the way these

pre-socratic naturalist however and it

was not until much later as the

gentleman here was suggesting much later

that the naturalistic read resurfaced in

a major way in the 18th and 19th

centuries from the work of David Hume

Augusta comped on reducing shimon

friedrich nietzsche karl marx sequin

freud charles darwin and other modern

writers with this worldview nietzsche

logically proposed that man quote is

beyond good and evil unquote and

behaviorist naturalist BF Skinner

claimed that man is beyond freedom and

dignity

to underscore this basic problem in the

strict naturalist view Lewis quotes the

marks the spy logist JBS Haldane quote

if my mental processes a determined

solely by the motion of atoms in my

brain I have no reason to suppose my

beliefs are true and hence I have no

reason for supposing my brain to be

composed of atoms unquote this is from

someone who is a naturalist and a

determinist

but again as Lewis has shown to claim

that individuals have no viewpoints is

to present a thought that is possible

only by having a point of view in short

the denial of an of intention or

intentional States is incoherent and

this is what passes for scholarship it's

really unbelievable what is critical to

free will is each of us not being caused

to do something by causes other than

oneself to have free will means it is up

to me how I choose and nothing

determines my choice philosophers call

this agent causation each individual as

an agent is the cause of his or her

actions Adam and Eve caused their

actions

Moses caused his actions etc each

person's decisions are differentiated

from random events by indeed being done

by the agent himself or herself by

reasons the agent has in his or her mind

this understanding of free world

incidentally has relevance to the case

of God himself Jesus being divine could

not sin therefore there was no

possibility of his yielding to Satan's

temptations in the wilderness yet he

resisted sin

really because nothing external to him

determined his choices Jesus could not

have chosen to sin but he freely

resisted them and God cannot choose to

do evil yet he freely does the good

because nothing outside him determines

him to do so

he is his own agent

we in effect reflect this reality having

been created in His image what a great

significance what a huge difference from

matter Louis understood that science

arose because of the Christian theistic

believes of the original scientists

quote men became scientific because they

expected law in nature and the expected

law in nature because they believed in a

legislature try to make neg nature

absolute and you find that her

uniformity is not even possible where

does the uniformity come from unquote in

this regard

science rests upon what's called the

dualism of a material and an immaterial

unnatural and in Supernatural a physical

and a metaphysical reality to deny the

metaphysical basis for science is to

make science itself unintelligible and

impossible how do you describe what

science is without a narrative without a

description without the mind concealing

it and choosing what is true or not

naturalism along with its consequent

scientism and collectivism were simply

matter in motion with all the other

matter that's in motion this is an

erroneous and self contradictory view

that not only fails but breeds untruths

that have led historically to repeated

human folly and unspeakable horrors

certainly in the 20th century louis

clearly laid out the danger of the

modern view of man as merely a creature

to be molded and socially engineered by

a scientific elite quote either we are

rational spirit

in the beginning there was the word

either were be a rational spirit obliged

forever to obey the absolute values of

the Dow or else we are mere nature to be

needed and cut into new shapes for the

pleasures of masters who must by

hypothesis have no motive but their own

natural impulses

that is our rulers as mere men and women

must by definition also be responding

solely to survival instinct if dark if

Dawkins is correct so what makes us

think their decision-making will be good

and what does that mean which according

to the naturalist of course does not

exist and there is no objective standard

here's Louis again only the DAO provides

a common human law of action which can

over arch rulers and ruled alike a

dogmatic belief an objective value is

necessary to the very idea of a rule

which is not tyranny or an obedience

which is not slavery the process which

if you've not checked will abolish man

goes on a pace among communists and

Democrats no less among fascists the

methods may at first differ in brutality

and extent but many am I'd a mild eyed

scientist many a popular dramatist maybe

many an amateur philosopher in our midst

means in the long run essentially just

the same as the Nazi rulers of Germany

unquote and throughout the modern world

this rule by man versus the dow has

spread across every civilization not

just those we think of as totalitarian

losses observations are even more true

today with quote with vast curtailment

of Liberty and we have grown though

crumbing Lee accustomed to our chains

our intellectuals have surrendered first

to the slave philosophy of Hegel then to

Marx as a result classical could of

political theory with its stoic

Christian and juristic key conceptions

natural law the value of the individual

the rights of man has died the modern

state exists not to protect our rights

but to do us good or to make us good any

way to do something to us or to make us

some thing hence the new name leaders

for those who were once rulers we are

less their subjects than their wards

pupils or domestic animals

there's nothing left of which we can say

to them mind your own business our whole

lives are their business unquote

throughout Louis's books he defended the

rights and sank theses of individuals

against tyranny not just because he

opposed evil but because he considered

life in freedom including both social

and economic freedom to be essential

quote I believe man a man is happier and

happy in a richer way if he had the

freeborn mind but I doubt whether he can

have this without economic independence

which the new society is abolishing for

economic independence allows an

education not controlled by government

in an adult life it is man who needs and

asked nothing of government who can

criticize its acts and snap his fingers

at his ideology google talk like that

when the state is everyone's

schoolmaster an employer unquote and the

danger of this of course is again that

garment consists solely of humans like

us quote man is so fallen that man that

no man can be trusted with unchecked

power over his fellows Aristotle said

that some people were only fit to be

slaves

I do not contradict him but I reject

slavery because I see no men fit to be

masters unquote

by showing by showing throughout his

work that the Dow is known and held

universally with Christianity providing

the highest and purest view of God's

truth Lewis makes the powerful case that

we are therefore inescapably God's

creation Lewis makes the powerful case

that we are therefore inescapably God's

creation the argument that we are

subject only to the forces of a godless

nature undirected obeying only a

survival instinct utterly fails to

account for our innate concepts of good

ought right and wrong unless we could we

want to live in a world of unchecked

government power a world in which only

might makes right it is imperative that

we learn from great thinkers like Lewis

who see and paint so clearly the

implications of a danger of the

dangerous ideas around us in the media

in academia in popular culture and the

political realm but doing so we build

upon the truths Christ taught grounding

ourselves in the knowledge of how we

should live in our modern world and now

we should regard and treat one another

in Louis's book series The Chronicles of

Narnia the land of Narnia is held in

place by the sacred deep magic or what

we would call the natural law and to

transgress this moral code is to do evil

which is what the white witch did and

others toward the end of the first book

in the series the line of which in the

wardrobe the children Peter Susan Edmund

and Lucy assume their Thrones as kings

and queens of Narnia but what can they

do as kings and queens they can only

enforce the deep magic Louis describes

how they governed during the Golden Age

of Narnia and the most important

accomplishments quote and they made good

laws and kept the peace and liberated

young dwarfs and young satyrs from being

sent to school and Johnny stopped

busybodies and interferes and encouraged

ordinary people who want to live and let

live unquote so thank you very much this

person writes neuroscientists proceed

with the assumption that mine is

physically based if this is not the case

then are we introducing supernatural to

science

how're we doing were just introducing

supernatural okay looks like the the

argument that Louis would make is that

without the existence the supernatural

there is no free will and there's no

individual agency to be a scientist all

right you can't explain reason and

freewill and the existence of objective

truth and any standard that can be

replicated unless there is that

existence so for example

multiplication multiplication tables

exists objectively or is simply our

subjective regret projection does a

number 7 exist does the idea of killing

children and torturing children is that

an objective thing that we perceive or

suggest that we happen to live here at

this time right so Louis's argument is

that two plus two equals four is the

same basic understanding as we have that

killing innocent people is wrong and we

have this sense and we can't get it out

of her head

even a Hitler does not randomly kill

people he has a theory right he applies

it in a certain way it's evil but you

know it's not everybody right so there

is a check and that's what we see you

know with all the great horrors and the

things that are done better not horse so

the fundamental dilemma Louis in the

those of you have not read the book

miracles by Louis I highly recommend the

first few chapters is his critique of

naturalism showing that it's incoherent

self-refuting as I was describing

earlier that if our minds are if our

minds are simply our brains material

brain that

ideas that we have our sympathy

illusions created by biochemical

reactions in the brain and that

everything that's ever existed in the

history of the universe is simply a

sequence of events that led to this

moment when I have that biochemical

reaction I don't have any favorable

determinant I can't have no ability to

discern or infer if somebody is okay

but the person who makes the argument

has to assume that he or she is not

subject by the same metric and so it's

interesting by the way that every

determinist theorist exempts themselves

on their own theory thank you a David

I'm up here I've got another question of

this question is um kind of a practical

question for a parent who wants to ask

about about literature their children

your insight on Lois sales during Potter

popularity brought to mind concerns of

parents on how fantasy plays for or

against Christianity especially in media

or technology so maybe if you can share

maybe some I don't know some pros or

cons and response to fantasy and how

that helps Christian okay this this

relates to what Calvin was saying

earlier about imagination okay now what

Louis is talking about is the idea of we

have a mind and we try to make sense of

our of our life and reality okay we have

a narrative we have a story to explain

what is true what's not what we expect

to happen what we think is going to

happen how do we get things done we have

this explanation right now the theory is

different from data okay

the theory is how we sort of interpret

data or maybe how we look at the data so

mine before matter is the idea as

opposed to mind after matter so Louis's

point about imagination is that we

conceive of a narrative of what is true

in the history of man

there are all sorts of myths and stories

there's the Iliad there's the Aeneid

there is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and

Shakespeare and so on and so forth and

these are all imaginative narratives

right whether they actually are

historically true or not is secondary

they exist because they're expressing a

series of truths that the characters and

others are playing out okay and so what

Louis was affected by was he was loved

stories love imagination and I mentioned

he read the picked up this book as a

teenager called fantasies by this

Christian writer George MacDonald George

MacDonald is viewed as the father of all

modern fantasy and Lewis being an

atheist at the time didn't know what he

was getting in for and so it if you ever

read the book or any of other McDonald's

books you'd be surprised at what

McDonald is able to do he's able to draw

you in so Louis's way to describe this

is he called it instead of looking at

something you're looking along it you're

entering into and you're experiencing

the truths of the story so think of it

this way you pick up a book you look at

the page it has these squiggles on it

ink on this piece of wood right but I

just start reading it you enter a world

and you forget you're looking at a page

right now they try to think about the

page and you immediately leave the story

it's like you enter in this other world

which is the world of imagination right

and so Louis is saying that that is that

is what we are most completely that's

what we're doing the Christian story is

the perfect imagination the perfect

story the true myth as you put it and so

the

the story about his reading fantasies

inspired him to begin to see that the

truths in Norse mythology and Egyptian

mythology and Greek mythology their true

sin that is why they endured but the

Christian story was the perfect truth

and so these others the way he viewed it

is that they're pointing towards certain

truth now certainly people can use this

for ill to write they can they can

depict evil and say that's what we

should be you know you should be a

Wiccan or whatever might be right and

that's that's obviously catering to the

same kind of base tennessee's everybody

has right including pride itself so

that's a real problem

interesting enough with rolling rolling

after she wrote her seventh book in the

series she admitted not only is she a

Christian but she was inspired by the

Lewis and Tolkien and so Paul Ashby by

the way in our newest book club led our

discussion on Rowling's very interesting

Christian imagery in the series and

you're welcome to talk to Paul about

who's the expert on I've got a one last

question before we close this session

and it is what are some ways that you

are hopeful for movements individuals

and groups really seeking to to grasp

some some deeper truths here and to

really further some of the work that

Lewis was all about what are some areas

that that bring you hope well one thing

is the fact that Lewis's work continues

to expand its reach and people

discovering it and going are going back

to it the fact is the hits I mean Louis

thought that his books would die out and

be go out of print within it two or

three years after he died and but that

didn't happen

and

people who've been influenced by Lewis

clearly through the Holy Spirit have

gone further

for example his critique of naturalism

in the book miracles has been taken and

advanced to a very very sophisticated

extent by a philosopher felony of elven

planning and we have one of his books in

the table you're going to look at it and

planica

has created a whole new revolution in

the field of philosophy which is been

challenging this atheist modernist Locke

that it's had 400 years of something and

so there you know also the Philosopher's

have converted and they're new journals

and societies but that's just one field

and it's true in all the academic fields

some more than others and in a popular

sense the fact that the films I mean

we've we've been involved in helping as

you may know with the promotion for his

novel the Screwtape Letters on stage or

the Great Divorce on stage and they're

sold out over and over again so why

would that be well part of is because

many Christians want to see it or they

but it's they have standing in the

secular world that's the interesting

thing and this is part of what I think

Calvin is suggesting is that Louis's

work is of interest to almost every

version of Christian alright Catholic

Eastern Orthodox almost every single

Protestant denomination it's really this

ecumenical kind of reach and respect

probably because of his concept of mere

christianity but his work passes the

test of the secular world of what is

credible what is good what is excellent

and we'll present it no it hasn't

trappings why because that he was a

scholar in it and he had the great

talents to write

so it is interesting that this happens

but it doesn't mean that things may not

get I mean the recent Hobbit trilogy is

not exactly where Tolkien would have

done that tell you that but still even

even with the the distortions of it my

view is the basic message comes through

and that's why it's successful