by Ed Derby
In his essay "God in the Dock," Lewis talks through several difficulties, or surprises, in "trying to present the Christian Faith to modern unbelievers." At the start of a new school year, I'm also reminded of such challenges. Granted, as Lewis admits, the subject is entirely too large. Instead, Lewis provides his anecdotal reasons and acknowledges his limitations in the same breath.
1. Materialism is not the only adversary to the Christian message. Lewis finds that a pantheistic outlook that absorbs no particular religious narrative is common.
2. People are skeptical about history. In the Christian story, it's less that one needs to believe in miracles, namely the resurrection, but more about the simple fact of it being an old, old story. They treat other old stories with the same eye of distrust.
3. The use of language is a barrier. In some ways, Christianity needs to be discovered and decoded by the current generation. That makes presentation and authenticity key.
4. The absence of sin. Not that sin is absent, but the thought, "I'm a sinner," is not present. There is no guilt so the idea that the Christian message is "good news."
5. Instead of God being the judge, the modern person judges God (God is in the dock).
6. The simple emotional appeal to come and follow Jesus often works much more than intellectualism, something Lewis admits is where most of his work is found.
I'm certain that these challenges still exist and being aware of them might serve us to not encounter the different challenge of arrogance.
3 comments:
With regard to #3 in particular, one of the things Robert Godwin attempts to do with his blog is "desaturate" the language of Christianity.
Christians, especially those who have been brought up in traditional denominations, forget sometimes that we have a jargon all our own. We throw around what amount to technical terms -- words that are in common use but that have theologically saturated meanings for Christians. It is important to be able to define, in non-technical, unsaturated language the truth that we believe.
Not to split hairs, but the title of the book is actually "God In the Dock." It is a Britishism meaning "God on Trial," rather than a reference to a boat dock. In it, Lewis once again builds a convincing case for the existence of a good God.
Why do we call others unbelievers? Are we true believers? What kind of faith the Christian hold? is it amazing if we have the faith just as simple as Lucy has?
P.S. it is the pic from auckland?
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