Will This Scratch My Soul?

Just a moment ago I was about to have a thought, the negative kind that comes unbidden when you see or hear something that annoys or angers you:  "Why does it gave to be this way?" "What is wrong with him?" "Will this never end?" Etcetera.      

Then a thought hit me, "Will this scratch my surface?" I was thinking about myself like the screen of my new iPod Touch, pristine, if a little smudged. Getting upset, putting a wrinkle in my forehead, huffing to myself--in a way it would be like dragging a razor across the surface of my soul.  

So often we are careful of our "stuff", the things we own like cars and clothes and technology,  and we try so hard to keep them in great condition. Can't you see a certain guy you know who spends hours washing and waxing his "baby"? And what about that heart-wrench you feel at the sound of your favorite sweater ripping on a sharp corner? I  know all about that (I'm the girl that reads her books almost closed so that the binding won't break), and I also know that I'm not nearly so careful in making sure I don't rip or break the gentle spirit that God gave me.

In his amazing book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis laid put his theory that every action turns a "screw" inside our souls,

1. Is There a God?

To quote from my questioner:

"How are you so sure that there is a god at all? Have you ever thought about this? If so, what are your arguments for the existance of God?" 

First of all, yes, I have thought about this. I have heard that there is a supreme supernatural Being who holds the universe in His hands and Who says that I must answer to Him for everything I say and do. That is a pretty big deal and it demands my attention. I'm not one of those people (I assume they are out there) who drink in everything they're told with unquestioning naiveté and never think to substantiate their deepest held beliefs. But I'll talk about all that later.

So what are my arguments? Well, I have heard and considered many, but here I'll set down what I think is one of the most convincing evidences of the existence of Something that is constant and transcendent (beyond the natural dimension), Something rather like a mind, which is undoubtedly powerful.

We must begin with deciding where to look. If this is an omnipresent Being, then one should be able to look to science, mathematics, language, psychology, metaphysics, astronomy, etc.. But I think that one of the first places we should look is right inside ourselves. If God made us and wanted a personal relationship with us, then wouldn't He have told us of His existence?Wouldn't one of the most likely places be within our own mind and spirit? Atheists and agnostics call for signs in the sky, but I believe that if we were to find definite signs of something beyond humanity within ourselves then that would be pretty hard evidence.

So let's look for that, shall we?


Let's look at an everyday occurrence that sheds light on this subject. When someone takes the place you wanted on a bus, are you angry at them? Well no, not if you're a reasonable person. You realize that they meant no harm by it, so you let it go. But, if you had just stepped off the bus and come back to the place you were sitting, to find your purse moved to another seat and someone sitting in the one you had vacated, you would probably feel entirely different. You might keep your temper, but you couldn't help thinking that  this person had "done you wrong." Why the different reaction? The end result was the same!


First, what is wrong, exactly? From the way people talk and act it looks as if there's some sort of treaty or bargain in place, and it isn't right to break it. We need to be fair, nice, polite, and generous. We are somehow bound to forgive and forget, and to not hurt others for our own pleasure. But why? If you are an atheist, who doesn't believe in moral objectivity, then why do you not approve of the sadistic torturing of babies? Because it doesn't happen to suit you? No!

Upon serious introspection, we find that there are some things that we unequivocally deem right or wrong. upon which there can be no middle ground.

If this is not true in your case, please feel free to leave a comment below. 


So it would seem that there is a kind of standard, truths that are universally acknowledged, that all humans have stamped in their very being. Where did it come from? 


Is it merely instinct? No, because sometimes our instincts are contradictory (the urge to save a drowning man and the urge to save myself). Besides, this law tells us what we ought to do with our instincts and emotions: which ones to encourage and which to suppress (we know that we ought to save the drowning man and that we ought to squash our selfish feelings of self-preservation).


Perhaps this law is just the best system we humans have worked out; it has evolved over the years and turns out to be the best way to preserve ourselves and society. But what about our drowning example? It is a dangerous situation, and may not turn out very well. Why take a chance? Is it better for society that I die instead of the other man? It's even more likely that we will both die in my attempt to save him. Why is that praiseworthy? Because it is right.


There is a Law of Nature, the law of what we humans should do, and in fact are not doing (We've all experienced guilt and regret, why?). Who determined this Law? Certainly not humans. We break it so often, if it were merely our own invention how could it possibly have survived this long?


No, the Law of Nature, like any other law, must have been created - been engineered by something - and that Something being rather more like a mind than anything else (after all, how can you have a creating being that is not like a mind?). It is something beyond humanity, beyond our physical dimension, something powerful, and logical, which has implanted its ideas and opinions in every man and woman who has ever been born.

The existence of human conscience points to a mighty creator.

I will continue posting, elaborating on this and explaining why I believe this supernatural  Being to be, in fact, the specific God of the Christians.

-Abigail Rogers 

Book #3: The Problem of Pain

Book #3: The Problem of Pain


"All men alike stand condemned, not by alien codes of ethics, but by their own, and all men therefore are conscious of guilt."
-C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain


C.S. Lewis is one of my all-time favorite authors, a man I admire both for his strong Christian faith and his superb writing style. In his novels Lewis gives the reader a thorough sense of place and empathy with characters; his plotlines are magnificent. In non-fiction Lewis is equally masterful, and though The Problem of Pain will probably never be made into a feature film, it is a challenging, fascinating read.

Many, many people have confronted the Christian faith with the dilemma of God’s goodness in a world of pain. The argument usually runs something like this, “How can a good God allow such suffering?” This is the problem of pain. In language and reasoning that is at times deep and confusing, but eminently sensible, Lewis proves this confounding subject.

Lewis makes many profound points, I couldn't possibly elaborate on them all and risk repeating the book, so I will concentrate on one of the main subjects of POP: the Fall of Man. The book makes a very good point--why do we blame evil on God? Maybe it is the fault of mankind! God is all-powerful, some say, why doesn't He make us be good and not hurt each other? One answer could concerned with free will. The Christian doctrine of free will states that at Creation the Lord decided that He would not make man a mere automaton to do His bidding, but a creature with the power to choose between right and wrong.

Lewis describes the Fall of Man as due to the sin of pride, perhaps the most basic sin because "from the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it." Men "wanted, as we say, to 'call their souls their own.' But that means to live a lie, for our souls are not, in fact, our own." And so humans fell from a divine, spiritual state to become a spoiled species.

God was not surprised by the Fall. Lewis states it so poetically, "God saw the crucifixion in the act of creating the first nebula." And so the Lord did the only thing a truly loving God could do: he provided a way out. That way is, of course, through the sacrifice of Christ, who reversed the sin of Adam and cleared the path for the redemption of the whole world.

The Problem of Pain is full of many other arguments for a loving God in the midst of human suffering. For instance, C.S. Lewis insists that God can do anything--except the intrinsically impossible. He cannot create a society of free persons (individuals with free will and the ability to hurt others) and then stop every negative consequence before it happens; this would result in a completely meaningless universe. Another contention: That love is not incompatible with suffering. An utterly kind deity might protect man from all harm, but a loving God will do what is ultimately best for a beloved creature, even if that means that some suffering must be borne.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the gist. C.S. Lewis is at times baffling, even esoteric, but when I finished the book I felt a little more grounded in the truth of God’s goodness and mercy, even in the face of pain. If you are interested in the never-ending debates on this topic and want a bit of creative, sound reasoning from a respected Christian author, I would whole-heartedly recommend this book for you.



Thanks to a great website resource: http://catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0032.html