C. S. Lewis wrote, in 1945:
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
Now, I perfectly understand that, if natural science isn’t among your interests, then the fact that the world around you seems so complex, sometimes so beautiful, and “just made for us”, the fact that there is both a) a universe, and b) life, can be interpreted as evidence of a creator deity. As I said, this is understandable.
What isn’t understandable is to see all that as proof of Christianity. Why not Islam? Judaism? Hinduism? Native American creation myths? How on earth does the fact that the universe exists become evidence that, for instance, there was a Jew called Jesus about 2000 years ago who was the son of the Old Testament god and “died for our sins”? How does one follow the other?
Lewis is guilty of the same error as Pascal when the latter invented his famous wager: “it’s Christianity or nothing”. It’s a pity when you can’t see further than the limits of your own education and traditions…
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It is always interesting how people think “The universe exists, therefore you will obviously go to hell for all eternity if you have an abortion” is a sound argument…
Hey Pedro!
I happpened to stumble upon your blog (who knows how one gets to where one does in the blog world)
; and happened to notice this post. Lewis is one of my favorite authors (perhaps for that reason you’ll already discredit my soon-to-be formulated and entirely incoherent comments), so I thought I might as well defend the man a bit here! 
I do think your main point is entirely warranted: mainly, when one gives an argument for theism, one often interprets that argument with respect to one’s religion (whether it be Judaism, Islam, or Christianity). However, to defend Lewis’ comment:
Lewis has often been described as not an apologist for unbelievers, but a convincers of those who are already on the fence; not one who brings someone to the fence. To some degree I think this is accurate. But to address this particular quote, Lewis is not giving an argument for the existnece of God (nor the theistic God); he is describing how he now views the world. He is claiming, not only does he see the truth of Christianity, but he sees the reality of everything else because of this truth. It is because of the sun that we see the earth, that perception is ever possible. It because of Christianity, Lewis claims, that he can perceive the things of this world. Of our existence. Not sure if that makes sense.
So, Lewis was not presenting an argument analagous to Aquinas’ Cosmological Argument; rather, as I interpret it, he was presenting something far more similar to Anselm’s “I have so that I may understand”.
Thanks for the read! Hope to converse with you some more in the near future!
- Xan
To finish that quote, sorry, “I have fiath, so that I may understand”
- Xan
I think the explanation can partly be explained by the fact that when someone is raised a Christian they MUST defend that faith at all costs or else risk having their entire belief structure crumble before their eyes. Religion requires irrational thought — leaps of faith — and when a person’s world view is dictated by that particular faith then it’s it not good enough to just defend the existence of a Creator, you have to defend the existence of your particular Creation myth. If I’m a Christian and I believe the complexity and majesty of creation merely implies the existence of some kind of God rather than the Holy Trinity then why should I continue to go to Church and be devout? It’s a vicious cycle of self-deception that is best stopped at a young age.
Max,
Yes, most people raised within a particular belief structure will defend it at all cost. However, While Lewis was raised in a xtian household he was an atheist that converted.
Pedro, What if natural science were something that interested you? Why would that preclude these same understandable conclusion? What about natural science makes this incomprehensible?
Pedro, one more thing. The God of Christianity, Judaism and Islam are the same. There differences center on the meaning of the life of Jesus Christ.
As for the other Gods, well I personally wouldn’t go so far as to say that they aren’t all talking about the same thing just a little differently. That being said, one way still seems to me a much clearer path.
To No Way: If the gods of the three Abrahamic faiths are the same, why do they have three different holy books, which demand different things, and have followers who have spent vast numbers of years killing each other over their different gods. Isn’t a bit arrogant to say that the three faiths centre solely around the particular ‘god’ (or son of) you believe in (correct me if I’m wrong)?
Also as to the other gods, how much like Jesus or the ‘God’ is the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca who demanded human sacrifice and cannabalism?
XanderG,
Well, I don’t know anything about the Aztec god you mentioned so I can’t speak realistically on that.
As to the other part. Talk to a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim that truly know their faiths and they will tell you of a uniquely intertwined heritage that links all three to the same God. You know Jesus was a Jew, correct? Read the chapter Maryam (Mary) in the Quran (or just ask google). So no, there definately is no arrogance involved in stating that they center around the same God. I did not say they all believed the same beliefs concerning Jesus.
As to the three holy books and there differences, which of the three holy books have you read? Oh, almost forgot, which three are you talking about? There are more than three holy books across these three faiths ;>
Please don’t take this wrongly but… One should study what they are going to talk about before talking about it. Especially before calling another arrogant.
The strange thing here is that all of these different, yet the same gods are all someone’s own interpretation of what they feel to be true.
Christians disagree with one another, but killed off plenty of nonchristians in the past… and that’s just one huge general (But probably most recent) example.
However, all of these religions agree that there is this one true god. People can argue about all of the differences between religions till the cows come home. They could also talk about the similarities.
[quote post="283"]What isn’t understandable is to see all that as proof of Christianity. Why not Islam? Judaism? Hinduism? Native American creation myths? How on earth does the fact that the universe exists become evidence that, for instance, there was a Jew called Jesus about 2000 years ago who was the son of the Old Testament god and “died for our sins”? How does one follow the other?[/quote]
Pedro, I think it’s quite obvious that the only reason it’s Christianity, is that the person stating it has already come to the conclusion that Christianity is the answer to everything. They themselves are christian.
Which even when I WAS theist, I wouldn’t agree with.
To NoWay:
First, let me apologise for some of the wording in my post, as I can see how easily my words could be taken the wrong way. I do not think you are arrogant. Not knowing you personally it would be unfair of me to comment on your arrogance or lack there of, but I can see how that could have been interpretated in what I wrote. For that I apologise.
But I stand by my opinion that it is an arrogant idea. The idea that Judaism and Islam are centered around Jesus, is to my mind, ludicrous. We have Judaism which existed many centuries before Jesus existed, and Islam which has a very different view of Jesus:
“19:30 He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet”
(Thank you pointing out this to me. I knew there were references to Jesus in the Qu’ran, but I did not know where they were).
The above is vastly different to most Christian’s interpretation of Jesus. Though I do take your point about differing beliefs in Jesus, Jesus is often considered ‘God’ in Christianity and thus we have differing beliefs about who is ‘God’, thus my point that it is not a belief in the same god.
When you said “Talk to a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim that truly know their faiths”, I immediately thought of the ‘No True Christian, etc’ fallacy. Who are these ‘true’ believers? Are they the ones who follow a literal interpretation of their holy books, for example stoning adulterers? Or are they the more liberally persuaded individuals, who believe the Bible is just metaphor?
You are correct in saying their is a unique heritage between the three faiths; it’s just too bad that a lot of it is senseless killing of one another. Even within denominations of Christianity, who I would say most definitely believe in the same ‘god’, there is the same senseless violence.
But really, if these faiths are all so bound together in worship of the same ‘god’, why are they different religions? The same ‘god’ must be a constant across all the faiths for it to be considered the same, and yet we do not see this. The ‘God’ of the Old Testament is vastly different to the Jesus of the New Testament. Where as Jesus was a lot of ‘He who have no sin, cast the first stone’ (I paraphrase), Yahweh positively revelled in animal sacrifice and public stonings.
As to which of the the ‘holy books’ I have read, I must admit my knowledge is not as full as I would wish. I have really only studied the Bible in any detail, and must admit I am lacking in my readership of the Qu’ran, the Book of Mormon, Dianetics, The New World Translation, The Vedas, The Tao Te Ching, etc. There are a couple of reasons for this:
1) Lack of time. With so many ‘holy books’ competing for time with all the science books I wish to read, it can often be hard to find time to burrow through the, often dense, prose of the various ‘holy books’.
2) Lack of physical copies. There are many digital copies on the internet, but nothing beats actually owning a physical copy. Couple this with a choice between a copy of the Qu’ran and the latest Neil Gaiman book, I know which I’ll be choosing.
However I would be interested in which of the books you have studied, and your interpretations on them.
So I admit my knowledge is lacking. But I have noticed that among everyone I know, I am the most knowledgeable on the Bible. And I do know several Christians (there not all atheists, honest!).
I also debated for a while about whether to write ‘three holy books’ or try and really go into detail about all the various books that have been accepted and rejected by various denominations, but I felt it was easier to just leave it in the way most people are accustomed to seeing it. But it is true that even the Bible cannot really be considered ‘One’ book, as it is made up of many different books, written by many different authors.
And yes, I did know Jesus was a Jew. In fact I have used it often to point out the idiocy of Christian persecution of Jews.
And finally (finally!), I will once again apologise for the wording of my previous post. I meant no insult to you, my writing is merely of inferior quality. I hope you will catch me in such errors, if I again make them. (Oh, and apologise for the length of the reply!)
That should be: (Oh, and Iapologise for the length of the reply!). Damn my awful writing.
[quote post="283"]But I stand by my opinion that it is an arrogant idea. The idea that Judaism and Islam are centered around Jesus, is to my mind, ludicrous. We have Judaism which existed many centuries before Jesus existed, and Islam which has a very different view of Jesus:[/quote]
To XanderG,
Thank you for the clarification. Apology accepted. Let me offer one in return for the hostility evident within my post.
[quote post="283"]But I stand by my opinion that it is an arrogant idea. The idea that Judaism and Islam are centered around Jesus, is to my mind, ludicrous. We have Judaism which existed many centuries before Jesus existed, and Islam which has a very different view of Jesus:[/quote]
You are correct, they differ in the role of Jesus. But all are based on a belief in the God of Abraham and acknowledge the existence of Jesus. In fact, the statement of Jesus that you quoted from the Qu’ran, in my mind, points to the fact that Allah and God are one and the same.
[quote post="283"]But really, if these faiths are all so bound together in worship of the same ‘god’, why are they different religions?[/quote]
I don’t know. Maybe human perspective? I wish I knew and could teach it. Then maybe I could bring peace to all the Earth.
“You ask what holy books I have studied.” First, let me apologize for my attack on your knowledge based on your writing style. That was completely uncalled for and stemmed from my need to defend myself.
I have studied, to one degree or another, the Bible, Qu’ran, Torah, Kaballah, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Book of Morman, Tao Te Ching, many Budhist books, The Bhagavad Gita, Several ancient Christian texts not included in the Bible, and I know, others I cannot think of now.
Thanks for the conversation
No Way,
By what measure does Judaism necessarily acknowledge the existence of Jesus?
I know of many Jews that still question why there is no record of this Jesus (Yeshua) from the time period the Christians say he existed.
Jah Melku
These Jews you speak of simply have not bothered to look. He is mentioned by them and by two prominent historians from around that time.
That said, the difference between a Jew and a Christian is their understanding of (or belief in) Jesus. There God is the same. Jesus was, after all, a Jew.