Mere Christianity summary

We’ve just discovered that the author believes in a universal moral law that all humans share. But not everyone agrees with him. Those who disagree that a universal moral law exists are known as cultural relativists.

They believe that we learn rules about right and wrong from the society we live in, and different societies have different rules depending on their customs and culture.

So, we’ve seen the case for the existence of a moral law of nature. So what? Why does it matter?

Well, it matters because this doesn’t sit well with a purely materialistic understanding of the universe.

If you’re not convinced of the truth of Christianity quite yet, this blink presents a further argument. This argument comes in the form of a trilemma.

Lewis’s trilemma centers on Jesus’s claim, in the New Testament, to be divine.

In this blink, we’re going to tackle an objection commonly leveled against Christianity – the problem of evil.

The objection usually goes something like this. If there is a benevolent and all-powerful God, he would have both the power and the will to eradicate suffering from the world. Yet the world is full of suffering. Thus, there cannot be a benevolent and all-powerful God like the scriptures proclaim.

A lot of people imagine God as a sort of Grinch-like figure who doesn’t like it when people enjoy themselves. That’s why he came up with all those prohibitive rules, right? They’re designed to limit our pleasure and happiness.

This is an unfortunate misrepresentation of Christian morality. It’s based on the false idea that morality is principally about following rules.

Humans are capable of leading two very different kinds of life.

One, base and material, has to do with the desire of earthly things. This is the default mode of existence for human beings – it’s inherently selfish, concerned only about personal gain and survival.

So, we’ve seen that following Christ’s lead and living more virtuously can help improve our souls.

But, how exactly, does living a more virtuous life improve the soul? Or, to put it another way, why are the Christian virtues good for us? That’s the question of this blink.

When the theory of evolution by natural selection was first formulated, it sparked outrage and vehement reactions from the Christian community. Even today, many Christians believe the idea of evolution to be entirely at odds with the Christian doctrine.

This isn’t true. Christianity and evolution are not opposed at all, in fact, they even complement one another. The advent of the Christian religion is just another step in the process of evolution that has given humans an advantage and helped them to survive.