Clive Staples Lewis - Research Paper Example

Religion, Faith, and Clive Staples Lewis Introduction When Charles Darwin theorized that man came from chimps and evolved into an advanced form of creature after years passed, religion has clearly established its position into explaining the “humanity” and “human nature” (Kunin 1). Religion does not only serve as a structured basis for following its various teachings, but it also serves as a guide for understanding the mysteries behind man’s existence. A lot of theorists and noted historical figures such as Karl Marx interpreted religion as a link to another component of the society or as a product of one particular component. No matter how experts interpret the existence of religion and its foundation, it is safe to assume that religion’s aim is to mold us into humans with moral values. Thus, this essay follows analytic and reflective views in understanding religions by highlighting an important man’s transition from being a Christian to an atheist then back to being a Christian. He is in the person of Clive Staples Lewis. The Quest for Religion Man’s pursuit of religion is an undertaking performed in order to achieve spiritual happiness, the kind that transcends believers’ perception of reality towards the goodness and promises of the life hereafter. It is so-called a pursuit because no one is born with religion served on a silver platter. Perhaps you might think about religion that is based on blood and race. Religion is something that should be taken as even deeper; its meaning is significant and highly philosophical. Any Jordanian man born can have the choice of believing in Jesus Christ, which is equally the same as an American believing Allah and Mohammed. However, social conventions, norms, and fundamental laws of some countries prohibit its citizens from believing in outside ‘religions.’ However, it is not just of sound judgment, but wise to discover our true faith as we go along on our journey to life. Man is endowed with certain abilities, one of which is to search for truth that he will use in order to arrive at individual fulfillment and genuine happiness. It is also assumed to be logically true that faith is greater than religion, for without faith, religions collapse and all the things associated with it perished. When there is faith, there is a belief. That is why, when one has faith in a supreme being, he believes that his actions are in accordance with what must please with his master; otherwise, he will be punished. This is Gandhi’s mantra that karma strikes to deserving people because it is the universal law of nature. It is noteworthy to know that even brilliant personalities in history acknowledged the moral bearings of their actions because there is someone who creates the law of morality (Edwards 10). One of which is Clive Staples Lewis. Reflections to Lewis’ Works Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was a Christian apologist born in Belfast, Ireland (qtd. in Stone 3). He was an author of various philosophical and Christian books, but his famous masterpiece Chronicles of Narnia marked his name into literature. Along with his friends at Oxford, namely Barfield and Harwood, Lewis lived a frugal life (Harwood 6). Along his list of literary works and professorial stints at both Oxford and Cambridge, Lewis was an atheist after having read of Sigmund Freud’s works and used them to defend his disbelief in God (qtd. in Nicholi 4). Later, he renounced his faith and became a Christian. Unlike Sigmund Freud’s view that there is no entity that governs the universe except ourselves, Lewis’ works suggest that his miseries following the deaths of his grandparents and mother were mere challenges that would not stop him from believing that there is hope and heaven (Nicholi 30). One of his writings responded to Freud’s claim “the world is no nursery,” and that we live and die alone in this world (Nicholi 36) by saying quoting Immanuel Kant’s idea that the intelligence behind the accurate creation of the world can be seen in the “starry heavens above and the moral law within” (Nicholi 37). A collection of Lewis’ essays compiled in a book entitled Rehabilitations and Other Essays was influential in instilling into the minds of his readers the truth behind the Christian faith (Downing 64). This compilation included Lewis’ worldview “There is one God... Jesus Christ is His only Son” and that He was once part of our history (Nicholi 39). To non-believers such as Freud, God is merely a part of our illusion for someone to protect us, and the belief in God in a product of mankind’s “deep-seated wishes” (Nicholi 41). In his A Grief Observed, Lewis detailed his sorrows following his wife’s death and his mother’s demise due to cancer when he was nine years old (Conn 8). He first questioned the existence of God that gives immense sufferings to people. Later then, he realized that the trials resulted to pain were given by God to test and mold us into better individuals (Conn 8). In Christian faith, it is part of the “human condition” to suffer (Brodd and Sobolewski 13). This view is very much contradictory to Freud’s who believes in self-determination, that we alone are endowed with the knowledge to handle our daily undertakings and only ourselves are responsible for our miseries based on the choices we made. Knowledge, as defined by Freud, as something that is attained through research and this knowledge is used to discern objects present only in the universe and not to the invisible such as God. Lewis might have agreed fully with Freud had he not reclaimed his Christian faith. Freud’s points, based on his reliance to intelligence that is achieved towards research and is practical, appeared to be convincing, eye-opening, and mind-boggling at the same time to those who are atheists; Lewis’ contentions as well raised an alarming tone to those who do not believe that there is God and the universe is created by him. The reconciliation of these beliefs, I believe is the mere acknowledgement that there are a lot of unexplained phenomenon and chain of questions about the reality of the world. Who created the human beings? Darwin had a conclusive evidence to provide that we all came from chimps and evolved millions of years ago. Who created the planets, the stars, and the moon? Well, astrophysicists and scientists created various theories to explain the existence of the universe. It is literally tough to question things in this universe without looking into the discoveries and theories of geniuses in the past. All of them were armed with years of knowledge of the universe that is hardly possible to ask causes of deaths without a prepared answer in the world of science. No matter how prolific our geniuses are in their search for scientific truths, there are still vague answers to honest questions. When is happiness achieved? Again, they perhaps will reply as to what context happiness is being described. Does anyone know about each of our deaths? Can we choose the cause of our death? If yes, how come there are accidents? Accidents are not planned based on the world itself. Accident is unintended, unpredicted, and unwanted to many. When will the world end? A person had already predicted the world’s end recently based on calculations, but the earth did not cease to exist. We all still live up to this day. If knowledge is the key to understanding the truth about the universe, how come many experts failed in most of their predictions? Will people’s faith withstand the intelligence of our fellow human beings in proving and disproving the existence of God? Religion, Science, and Faith The world is composed of many religious denominations, all of which acknowledge that God exists. As human beings, we are endowed by the innate capacity to ask the reason of our existence. This is the spiritual part of our being (Brodd and Sobolewski 13). Humans are always in the pursuit of questioning the meaning of life. A framework then surfaced into understanding more cohesively and systematically this question. We have religions because “they offer responses that have been tested by time” (Brodd and Sobolewski 13). Religion, as a concept, has been defined in many ways. Other experts in world religions described it as a “doctrine of the origin, purpose, and end of all things,” a lifestyle because it is already part of people’s everyday lives and has a role to relate the past with the present in order to predict the future (De Vries 1). Religion, as a doctrine, therefore, has come up with a system that was based, not on hearsays, but with recorded evidence. Science is always at war with religion mainly because science’s concepts are based on research while religion’s teachings are anchored on faith alone. Faith without experience is a loose faith. Ancient people founded the various religions of the world because they experienced first-hand what and who is being described in their respective doctrines. Faith is more worthy than intelligence for it knows no boundaries. Intelligence is hampered when the brains are affected, but the heart perseveres and continues to believe despite misfortunes and tragedies. Lewis’ path towards rediscovering the Christian faith is a result of acknowledging that there is “Somebody” within our “steam” or as interpreted, there is God that hid in our moral values (Baggett, Habermas, and Walls 14). Lewis was able to seek truth in myths about religion based on what really had happened. He discovered his faith based on philosophy and “experientialism” that enabled to “pass the shallow limits of rationalism” (Baggett, Habermas, and Walls 18). Based on Lewis’ discovery, we can extract an observed result of having a religion to defend one’s beliefs. Believing in the existence of God and in religion builds humility among people in the sense that we start to acknowledge that there is a superior being that makes all things in this world possible, some of which are still unexplainable. World religions allow us to see other as ourselves that whatever we do to our fellow human beings will return to us. We reap what we sow, the famous adage goes. Truth, Goodness and Beauty These three components are written by Peter Kreeft as the things that will never perish (qtd. in Baggett, Habermas, and Walls 23). The three are observed to be the three characteristics of the ultimate creator. Truth is in reference to the “proper object of mind, goodness to will, beauty to heart, desires, sensibilities, or imagination” (Baggett, Habermas, and Walls 23). These three attributes are well-portrayed in literature; truth is bestowed upon the philosophers, goodness to “profits and moralists,” and beauty bestowed to “poets, artists, musicians, and mythmakers” (Baggett, Habermas, and Walls 24). As a result, we see these attributes in various literatures in our history. This is not a conjecture from a vantage point of view of a scientific research. This is product of the pursuit of truth based on wisdom which is far more important than knowledge. Therefore, religion is not a product of fantasy and imagination; it is anchored on truth and philosophy. The Jews are born with Judaism as their identity, and this gives them the familiar sense of “belongingness” towards their fellow people (J. Fowler et. al. 7). Judaism is both a cultural and religious concept, which means that culture and religion are always intertwined. The Jews believe that there is rationality behind the existence of these three elements: goodness, truth and beauty because they acknowledge the mighty and mystery of the Messiah who they believe will redeem them from the evils and sufferings. We see, faith allows them to see things beyond what their eyes can see, and that should be the essence of religion. Conclusion As I went through the experiences of Lewis, it made me realized the true meaning of religion. My notion about it is that religion is served to you right after you were born, but I was absolutely wrong. This is evident in his transformation from being an atheist to a Christian. It has clear my thoughts about the myth that all philosophers do not consider the existence of God. Even some brilliant people acknowledge that God exists that there is a supreme being that we do not see. This is the reason why I do not believe that the power of science is infinite. There are many life’s mysteries that cannot be explained through science. The lesson here is that religion leads us towards a direction that teaches us faith, and in faith comes an acceptance that there is a governing force behind the unexplained things on earth, and this teaches us humility. Works Cited Baggett, David, Gary R. Habermas, and Jerry L. Walls. Eds. C. S. as Philosopher: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2008. Print. Brodd, Jeffrey, and Gregory L. Sobolewski. World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery. 3rd ed. Minnesota: Saint Mary’s Press, 2009. Print. Conn, Marie A. C. S. Lewis and Human Suffering: Light among the Shadows. New Jersey: Hidden Spring, 2008. Print. De Vries, Hent. Ed. Religion: Beyond a Concept. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008. Print. Downing, David C. Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. California: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print. Edwards, Bruce L. C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy. Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Print. Fowler, Jeaneane, Merv Fowler, David Norcliffe, Nora Hill, and Diane Watkins. World Religions: An Introduction for Students. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 1997. Print. Harwood, Laurence. C. S. Lewis, My Godfather: Letters, Photos, and Recollections. Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2007. Print. Kunin, Seth D. Religion: The Modern Theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003. Print. Nicholi, Armand M. The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. New York: Free Press, 2002. Print. Stone, Elaine Murray. C. S. Lewis: Creator of Narnia. New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2001. Print. Read More