What rival conceptions of God does C.S. Lewis present in "Mere Christianity," and how does he connect these to the issue of free will and the need for a right spiritual relationship with God?
Books 1 and 2 of C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity are mainly concerned with arguing two points: (1) God exists and (2) God is opposed to evil. Book 1 asserts that the natural universe was created by a spiritual being. In book 2, Lewis discusses Christian beliefs about this being.
Book 2's opening chapter, “The Rival Conceptions of God,” points out that Christians can see some truth in all religions because any religion acknowledges the existence of God. Atheists, in comparison, view all religions as fundamentally incorrect. While Lewis maintains that Christianity is the truly correct religion, he says, "If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all these religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth" (Lewis, 1952).
Lewis then discusses God’s relationship with evil. Many Eastern religions believe the divine presence of God resides in all things and no...
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separate, independent manifestation of God exists. In this view, God is beyond evil because he is all things—both good and bad. For Christians, God is opposed to evil. This stems from the Christian view of God as separate from the world He created. Theanalogy used is that of a painter and painting: God is the painter, and His creation is the painting. God is not both the painter and his painting.
Lewis now turns his focus to the issue of free will. If Christians view God as being opposed to evil, why does evil exist? The answer is free will. Lewis says,
Though it makes evil possible, [free will] is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating.
Lewis concludes by outlining a correct spiritual relationship with God. Lewis places repentance and surrender at the core of this relationship. To Lewis, man must actively surrender his evil ways and allow God to guide him in goodness. A right relationship with God is knowing any goodness within one’s self comes from God. As Lewis says,
The Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.
What rival conceptions of God are presented in Mere Christianity? Why does Lewis address free will?
In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis presents some rival conceptions about God in order to clarify what Christians believe. He also addresses free will and the need for a right relationship with God. Let's look at these points in more detail.
In the first chapter of the book's second section, Lewis talks about the different ways people have viewed God. Most people, he notes, do “believe in some kind of God or gods.” Only a minority do not. Among those who believe, some think that God is “beyond all good and evil,” that He stands outside of all that somehow, while others believe that God is perfectly good and perfectly love. The first group of people are pantheists. The second group includes Christians and Jews and Muslims. Lewis goes on to identify further distinctions between the beliefs of the two groups.
Lewis also speaks about how, if a good God has made the world, as Christians believe, the world could go so wrong. Herein lies the issue of free will. People make wrong choices. They are often unjust and sinful and wicked. And they have the free will to make those choices as part of God's design. Free will is what makes evil possible, but it is also what makes people able to love.
Finally, people are given free will and the ability to love so that they can love God and other people and live in a right relationship with God. People are also given the responsibility, Lewis insists, of putting right the things that have gone wrong in the world.