Integrative Essay

I find it very hard to sum up all I learned in this class into one essay. We looked at passages from C.S. Lewis that dealt with lots of areas of life, such as happiness, love, truth, pain, morality, temptation, and much more. We also read a book by Cornelius Plantinga that dealt primarily with the creation, fall, and redemption of man, as well as what Christians are called to do. I have decided to divide what I learned in this class into three categories: what we believe, how we find truth, and what we are called to do.

Both Lewis and Plantinga wrote a lot about what we as Christians believe. Plantinga includes three chapters on what Christians believe about creation, the fall, and redemption. He writes mainly about what Christians believe rather than why. His main points, which I agree with, were that God created us as beautiful creatures, that we fell beginning with the sins of Adam and Eve, and that we are redeemed through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Because I have already been exposed to most of what Plantinga wrote in these chapters, I did not learn much from reading it. However, these chapters could be very useful to someone who is not as familiar with what Christians believe.

Lewis, in talking about our beliefs, takes it to a very basic level. Unlike Plantinga, who simply wrote what Christians believe, Lewis gives us logical reasons for why we should believe in God. In Mere Christianity, Lewis essentially argues with atheists, proving that there is a God. He proves the existence of God saying that “The only packet I am allowed to open is Man. Where I do, especially when I open that particular man called Myself, I find that I do not exist on my own, that I am under a law; that somebody or something wants me to behave in a certain way.”₁ He says that from his experience as a man, he sees that he didn’t make himself, and that a higher force made him to behave in a certain way. He then assumes that the rest of the world was made in a similar way by a higher power. I find this to be a very interesting way to prove the existence of a god to an Atheist.

The second major category that I learned a lot about was how we find truth. This was an area that was covered much more by Lewis than Plantinga. Lewis wrote a lot about the truth as well as common ways we obstruct the truth. One of the things that Lewis sees us doing that corrupts the truth is a thing that he calls Bulverism. In his essay on Bulverism, Lewis explains that “…you must show that a man is wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong. The modern method is to assume without discussion that he is wrong and then distract his attention from this (the only real issue) by busily explaining how he became to be so silly.”₂ In what Lewis refers to as the “modern method”, we try to attack the flaws of a person rather than weigh up what he is saying and decide whether or not he is right. In doing this we never actually think about the issue itself, but only about the people who argue for or against it.

Lewis also introduces us to subjectivism, which is another fallacy that people commit a lot. Lewis, referring to subjectivism, says that “[The modern view] does not believe that value judgements are really judgements at all. They are sentiments, or complexes, or attitudes, produced in a community by the pressure of its environment and its traditions, and differing from one community to another.”₃ Our society is beginning to think that values are something that people can decide for themselves. Lewis logically explains that in all humanity, there is a moral right and wrong that can’t be changed by anyone’s preferences. What is wrong will always be wrong no matter how many people want to think that it is right. I found this to be an issue that is very relevant in today’s culture.

One of the most important things that we learned about was our calling as Christians. Plantinga wrote a lot about this in the fifth chapter in his book. According to Plantinga, we need to be a “prime” citizen of the kingdom of heaven, one who “passionately yearns for the kingdom.”₄ God calls us to be active Christians who are committed to the faith. We can choose to follow that calling or choose to be passive Christians. By being passive, we are still part of the kingdom, but we miss a big part of the meaning of Christianity. We don’t experience much of the satisfaction we get from working for the advancement of Christianity. We also don’t do a very good job of spreading Christianity when we aren’t committed to it. I think that this is one of the biggest problems with Christianity in America. People don’t see the vibrance of an active faith because many of us don’t have that. Outsiders commonly view Christians as hypocrites which is sadly true. This is an issue that I struggle with a lot. I find it to be very easy to just push Christianity to the side and concern myselve more with the “pressing” issues of Earthly things. As Christians, our primary concern needs to be for the kingdom of God. When all on Earth passes away, only the kingdom of heaven will remain. I think that many Christians, myself included, need to set our priorities straight.

When we talk about being active members of the kingdom, we usually think about missionaries dedicating their lives to spreading the gospel. Lewis, in his essay, Learning in Wartime, explains that “We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation. A man's upbringing, his talents, his circumstances, are usually a tolerable index of his vocation.”₅ The truth is that anything that we do, if done for the glory of God, glorifies God. Whatever career we choose can be done for the kingdom. We need to keep the kingdom of heaven in the front of our minds, but it does not matter what we decide to do. I find this to be especially comforting because my major is not one that is directly related to Christianity. I can still use my career, as well as the other parts of my life, to glorify God.

In conclusion, I thought that this was a very valuable class which I don’t regret taking at all. We were able to discuss lots of real issues from a Christian perspective. C.S. Lewis in particular wrote about a lot of different issues and offered an interesting perspective on them. Plantinga also had some very good points, especially about our vocation as Christians. What I especially enjoyed was a class full of people who were each willing to contribute their own ideas to the discussion, offering lots of different views. Through these discussions, I was able to form my own views about these issues, often changing them from what they were before. I will remember all that I learned in this class for a very long time.

Works Cited

1. Lewis, C.S., Mere Christianity, 1952.

2. Lewis, C.S., “Bulverism.” From God in the Dock, 1994.

3. Lewis, C.S., “The Poison of Subjectivism.” From Christian Reflections, 1967

4. Plantinga, Cornelius Jr., Engaging God’s World: A Reformed Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living, 2002.

5. Lewis, C.S., Learning in Wartime. Originally preached in 1939.

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

The first thing that hit me in this movie was the extent of corruption in the leadership of Liberia as well as that in the people who were trying to overthrow the leadership. These people constantly fought each other, killing numerous citizens in the hopes of taking power. They were so absorbed in their hunger for power that they didn't care about how many innocent people died or how much damage they caused to the country they wanted to rule. I think that this shows us just how fallen and corrupt humanity is. The desire for power can lead some people to do awful things. It is depressing to see how these evil desires can claim so many innocent lives.

This movie also makes me grateful for the relatively just government that we have in the United States. While we might sometimes have our issues with the actions of our president and Congress, none of our problems can compare to those that have happened in Liberia. We have a stable government led by people who, for the most part, work for the well-being of their country and not for personal gain. I think that we often take this for granted. We need to continuously thank God for the ways he has blessed us while praying for those who don't have the same privileges that we do.

I also want to commend the women of Liberia who protested against the constant fighting that was constantly taking place. Something needed to be done to stop the fighting, pillaging, and raping that was happening in Liberia. These women used a non-violent protest to force the two sides to make an agreement and stop fighting. I think that we often need to speak up more about the injustices of this world. By peacefully protesting, we can bring attention to and fix many problems in our society.

The Problem of Pain

This passage from Lewis was probably one of the most confusing to read. I was not familiar with many of the philosophers and other things Lewis referred to. I was also especially confused before I found that a few of the pages were out of order. However, after reading it a few times, I think I understand the main ideas Lewis was trying to explain to us.

One point that I think that Lewis makes especially clear is the difference between physical pain and emotional pain. Physical pain, or pain in sense A, as Lewis refers to it, is the pain we feel in bodies. If I were to cut myself, I would feel pain A. Emotional pain, or pain B, refers to any kind of pain that is strong enough to hurt us emotionally. Pain A can also lead to pain B if it causes a certain amount of displeasure. I think that this is a very important distinction that we need to make in order to understand pain.

One point that I disagree with Lewis on is that God uses pain to warn us of our sin. While physical pain often works as a warning that we are damaging our bodies, I do not see this happening with emotional pain and sin. God does not maintain a very strong correlation between evil and pain. Evil things very often involve appear to be less painful, or even pleasurable. Also, good things can involve lots of pain, often even more pain than evil things. Many times, we have to sacrifice ourselves to pain in order to do the will of God. Pain does not appear to effectively discriminate between good and evil. I see pain more as a direct result of the fall of humanity. God never intended us to feel the great pains that we feel in our broken world. Pain is, in itself, evil. This is one topic that I don't very much agree with Lewis on.

Man or Rabbit

Like a lot of Lewis' work, I found this essay hard to understand the first time I read through it. As I read through it some more times, I began to find some points that I disagreed with. The first point I don't agree with was that people who ask whether or not non-Christians can live a good life either don't care about the truth or are ignorant. He implies that when people ask this question, they are actually wondering if they can live a good life without Christianity. I don't think that this is true most of the times that the question is asked. If I were to ask this question, it would be specifically about those who don't believe in Christianity, whether it is because they decided against it or because they never heard about it before. I think that this is a valid question when it is asked in this way.

One point from this chapter that I do agree with Lewis on is that we need to look for what is true, not what helps us most in life. I think that some people have a tendency to believe what is most convenient to them. This kind of goes to Lewis' essay on subjectivism, in which he says that there is an absolute right and wrong and that we can't decide what it is. Christianity is either right or wrong, and we need to make a completely objective decision of whether or not is right. We can't just pick whatever side is most convenient to us. While I do agree on this point, I don't see what it has to do with those who have decided that Christianity is wrong or those that haven't heard of it.

Another point that I really don't agree with is that people like Confucius and Socrates who hadn't heard of Christianity will be forgiven because they were ignorant. This is something that I would hope to be true, but I don't think that the Bible says anything about those ignorant of Christianity getting saved. I hope that I am missing something and that all those people that don't know Christianity could be saved, but I see no Biblical evidence to support it. If anyone thinks that they do, please put it as a comment to this post.

The question of whether or not non-Christians can live a good life still remains. Lewis does say that Christianity helps you live a better life, but he doesn't say how much worse that life is for non-Christians. My opinion is that non-Christians can live a good life on Earth in a sense of material possessions and even well-being, but they will eventually find that they are missing something. They will eventually find that their lives and all that they accomplished during them are meaningless if there is nothing else beyond the end of their lives. Also, there will obviously be a big difference between Christians and non-Christians after they die. This, at least, is my opinion.

The Inner Ring

I think that Lewis does a very good job in explaining a phenomenon that I haven't thought much about. People tend to form small groups of friends that are not official, but clearly have insiders and outsiders. People get satisfaction from being part of an exclusive inner ring while others stand outside. Outsiders long to be part of an inner ring. Inner rings may include groups of friends who share a common interest, play a certain sport, go to a certain school, work at a certain company, or share any other part of life together. They tend to hold a limited amount of members and often take pleasure in making fun of people on the outside. These inner rings occur all over the place, often without people even knowing they exist.

One problem with inner rings is that people often try too hard to get into them. People often are willing to make sacrifices, compromise their personality, and do foolish things to be accepted into an inner ring. Some people try to be accepted by buying clothes, cars, or other things that they think will make people like them. Many times people will try to alter their behavior to be more socially acceptable to the group. This can involve the way people talk to each other, the activities they do, or the attitudes they show when doing certain things. Sometimes people will smoke or drink alcohol because the group they want to get into does these things. Lewis says that most people will at some point "be a scoundrel" to be accepted into a certain group.

Another problem with inner rings is that those on the inside tend to get pleasure from keeping other people on the outside. If everyone were allowed into an inner ring, the inner ring would have lost its purpose. This can cause insiders to do some very cruel things to outsiders. They can get lots of personal satisfaction by taking advantage of the outsiders' desire to get in. This is not the way that Christians should treat each other. As Christians, we should not exclude other people from joining our groups, but instead accept people even if we don't particularly like them.

Engaging God's World, Chapter 5

I think that Plantinga did a better job with this chapter than he did with previous chapters. He still is not as interesting to read as CS Lewis, but he does make some good points. The first point that stuck out to me was that people who are doing well don't long for the kingdom as much as people who are poor, experiencing medical problems, or facing other hardships. I think that it is very true that prosperity can lead to a less vibrant faith. When we seem to have things under control ourselves, we don't see as much of a pressing need for salvation. Also, some of the strongest and most sincere Christians I have ever seen were those who I met on mission trips that lived in poverty.

One point that I disagree on is Plantinga's distinction between "good" and "prime" citizens. What this implies, although Plantinga does not actually say this, is that some citizens are better or more important to God than others. This is not true because all of us, even those of us who are most active Christians, have fallen into sin and need God's grace. I am not saying that we should not be active Christians. We still need to work hard for the kingdom of heaven, but we should do it out of gratitude for our salvation, not to be distinguished over other Christians. I think that "prime" is a bad term to describe active citizens of the kingdom.

Another point that I agree with is that many non-Christians still often seek out parts of the kingdom of heaven. They are looking for the same kind of shalom that we are, but they unfortunately can't find it outside of Christianity. That is why many non-Christians still are good people. Many of them go to great lengths to help their neighbor, beyond what many Christians do. I think that it is sad that these people are unable to find the peace that they long for.

Plantinga then goes on to explain how learning at a Christian college does more than just prepare us for a job, but also to help renew the world. While it is a good point and I do agree with it, it has been repeated so many times to me here at Calvin College that I really didn't get much new insight from reading it again. While I do think that a Christian liberal arts education is a good thing, I don't think that Calvin needs to explain it to us so many times.

The Four Loves: Eros

I think that Lewis makes some good points in this chapter, although his logic at times was very confusing. One good point he makes is that eros love that someone has is centered on the other person, not just the sex that can be attained from him or her. Loving someone solely for sex, in my opinion, does not deserve the title of love at all, but instead should simply be called a desire. Lewis bluntly says that a man who wants this wants "a pleasure for which a woman happens to be a necessary piece of apparatus." These kinds of relationships do not last, and most of the time occur as fantasies. True eros love, while it usually includes sexual desire, is an intimate love between two people that is centered on each other.

Another point I agreed with was that people can become too obsessed with eros. Eros love can drive people to push their own well-being, that of their friends, and their relationship with God off to the side. While it is good for two people to sincerely love each other, it is important that they don't lose hold of the rest of their lives in the process. I have seen people with relationships drift away from their friends, focusing entirely on their boyfriend or girlfriend. Failed relationships can drive some people to do foolish things, with a few committing suicide. We need to keep our relationships in perspective.

I also think that Lewis had a good point when he said that eros love is not naturally permanent and that it needs to be maintained. Married people tend to lose the intensity of their eros love after they have been married for a while. Many couples experience this and get divorced because of it. Married people need to understand that they won't always be feeling that intense eros love for each other. They should try to maintain it as well as they can, but they need to develop a longer lasting love that involves all four of the loves that Lewis talks about in this book. Most importantly, they need to keep God at the center of their relationship.