Mere Christianity Cs Lewis Analysis

C.S. Lewis, author of “Mere Christianity,” stands alone from many other authors of Christian literature. Instead of opinionated doctrine convoluted to nonsense, Lewis offers a logical approach to the Christian view of life. Yet, he does this without hardly mentioning Christianity itself in the whole first book. By then, however, he has already convinced me that he is right and that there can be no other God but the God of the Christian faith. Lewis does this by breaking down the moral law. The moral law, or, the law of human nature is essentially the way human beings are compelled to be just, fair, and kind even if it is not in their best interest. Lewis describes it as “a weight we can feel pressing on us,” because no matter how much one …show more content…
Lewis opens up his book with a lengthy philosophical talk about why humans feel the need to do good and not evil, in short, to obey the moral law. However, before he explains “why,” he tells us “what” the moral law actually is. He explains that the moral law is the instinct that man has to be fair to his fellow man, yet he tells us that the law is not an instinct at all. Lewis brings up flight and fight instinct, the instinct to consume food, and the instinct to mate; all of these instincts are more or less aiding or self-preservation and survival, but the moral law is something different. Lewis tells his readers that the law often favors the action that would not aid the survival of a human being. For example, the moral law would compel someone to put himself in harm's way to protect someone else; it would urge one to give his last piece of food to someone who was starving, even if the original man was peckish; the law would even tell you that sleeping with someone else’s wife was wrong, though it goes against your instinct to procreate. All this to say, Lewis understands that the moral law is not one of man’s primal instinct for survival, or even convenience; the law was placed in our minds by something or someone who understands what is “good.” Lewis then goes on to tell us that the certain someone is not mankind