Over the past few weeks we have looked at various topics written by both Plantinga and C.S. Lewis. Throughout all of the essays and books that we have read there have been many common themes. One of these themes that I found very helpful to my understanding of the world and myself was the nature of human beings . Both Plantinga and Lewis have their own views on what it means to be human but they agree on many issues.
Once particular aspect of human nature that I found particularly interesting was the human nature that makes us search, to better ourselves by searching both in God’s word and within ourselves. This is done through endless searching for morality and virtue through learning. In Plantinga’s Book he says “ A little reflection tells us that Christians want such skill not to impress the less skillful and simply to become more employable. Christians hope to increase the net amount of shalom in the world.” This means that Christians search for skills and virtues should be done simply to further Gods kingdom. Instead of what happens many times, which is a search for knowledge and skill for personal gain. This is slightly different from Lewis, who said that “Human life means to me the life of beings for whom the leisured activities of thought, art, literature, conversation are the end, and the preservation and propagation of life merely the means. That is why education seems to me so important: it actualizes that potentiality for leisure, if you like for amateurishness, which is man's prerogative.” Lewis’s view of learning is directed toward learning as an end in itself. Lewis would say that learning should be done simply for the sheer joy of learning. Even through Plantinga and Lewis have different views on the education aspect of learning they would both agree in the importance of learning to understand Gods world and to Bring Gods kingdom.
Another part of furthering oneself that both Lewis and Plantinga look into is the quest for morality. Plantinga says that “As we’ve noted before, good and evil seldom appear alone, and a Christian response to them is therefore bound to be mixed. Part of the goal of Christian higher education, then, is to “test the spirits,” including all the spirits that are in competition with the Holy Spirit.” Plantinga also says that “Scripture and the confessions give us solid principles and directions for reforming life, but they also invite us to find creative ways of applying them in the contemporary world. This is one of the reasons why a Christian college education is such an adventure for believers in Christ. In a community of faith, blessed with an abundance of intelligence, devotion, and experience, bound together by mutual respect and accountability, Christians can explore “the heights and depths” of the contemporary world.” Plantinga’s view of morality is always within the greater context of the Christian faith but even though we are saved we must test everything to see where it stands. Some things will be always immoral and others will be bad only in curtain contexts. This means that as long as we are within God’s law we have a little elbow room to move around, as long as we are careful and within Gods word. Lewis takes a similar approach to his view of morality, although coming from an atheist background he first addresses them. He proposes the question can a man be good (moral) without Christianity. Ultimately, the answer is no not really. The first reason is that the man who doesn’t address Christianity is a coward for not looking into Christianity, which promises a moral life if followed correctly. Another reason is that non-Christians can’t save the world with only a sliver of truth. They need the whole truth otherwise they will only treat symptoms instead of the sickness. Lewis gives the example of the mountain climber to explain morality, he says “Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying.” So Lewis and Plantinga are in agreement that morality can only be understood once a person is within Christ. So once we are in Christ how should we go about studying morality? Firstly, the bible should be our guide for interpreting the morality of our experience s, but Lewis gives us another method in addition to be used with the bible. He calls the different ways to view an experience, the along and looking at method. Lewis says, “One must look both along and at everything. In particular cases we shall find reason for regarding the one or the other vision as inferior.” This method gives us an additional view to the one that we have already experience so that we may use are new vantage point to determine whether what we are doing is right or wrong. So now we have a good basis to choose to continue or change our behavior.
Both Lewis and Plantinga would agree that humans do indeed need to change our behavior because we keep falling into the same traps. These include corrupting ourselves, loving eros in a distorted way, setting in place an inner ring to exclude others. All of these things are some of the worst parts of human nature and Lewis and Plantinga devise ways to overcome them. Plantinga says that because of Adam and eve’s original sin every single human is now corrupt in nature. He describes a personal corruption as “ A corrupted person turns God’s gifts away from their intended purpose. She perverts these gifts. For example, she might use her excellent mind and first-class education not to extend God’s kingdom but just to get rich.” Then Plantinga gives another example that describes the corruption of the our relationships. “He pollutes his relationships with foreign elements that don’t belong in them.” Many cases of corruption come from either a conscience or unconscious choice to put one’s self ahead of God. After this choice is made then all different kinds of evils follow. This is because man must have a master. In Joshua 24:15 its says “ If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or (A)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." This shows that since human nature tends to push us toward being corrupt. We must place God in the place of master otherwise, we will end up corrupting our selves.
Another form of sinful human nature that also stems from putting ourselves first, is the act of distorting eros. The first example of this that Lewis gives is an addiction to the act of love. When someone becomes addicted to sex, the women ceases to be a person, she is now only a means of pleasure. Lewis says “ one doesn’t keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes” This is the most distorted view possible of eros but not the only view. Another distortion is falling in love on eros alone. This can also stated as loving being in love. When people base their relationship on only this, their relationship is almost always doomed to fail unless major changes are made. This is because this form of love is fast to wear off, and when it does if the relationship isn’t based on anything stronger, it will fail. The final type of a distortion of eros is similar to the first because it is also an addiction but this form is also the result often of the first. It is an addiction to being loved, what some would call being clingy. This is often a result of an unbalanced relationship where one person needs the other more than the other needs the person. Even though this is the least distorted view of the nature of eros, it still causes huge problems in relationships because the balance between man, woman, and God is uneven. In addition, clinginess is the most easily fixed of the three distortions because all it requires is more attention focus on God in order to rebalance the scale.
The final aspect of sinful human nature that I will talk about is the concept of the inner ring. Lewis describes this phenomenon in such a way that it seems almost mystical. The concept is simple in any group of friends there will always be an in-group and an out-group. The in-group has its own lingo, signs, inside jokes, that the outside group isn’t a part of. Additionally, the phenomenon is an unspoken universal, people who are in the group don’t talk about being in, and people who aren’t in the group refer to the group differently that the group refers to themselves. Now many people don’t see this as a possible evil of human nature and alone the inner ring itself is morally neutral . However, the desire to be part of the in-group causes people large amounts of pain and suffering. This is because the tendency is for those who are part of the group to remain in the group and the people who aren’t to remain on the outside. This is maintain by the in-group people giving the out-group people an extremely hard time by not allowing the out group in. Lewis says, “all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” This perfectly describes the issue of the inner ring. The desire to be excepted by everyone will only lead to disappointment. Lewis also says “As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel and onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.” The only way to overcome the evil part of the inner ring is by making an honest attempt to avoid the rings behavior and instead work on obtaining virtues. Naturally, others will see the progress and want to be part of the group that is focused of progress.
Now that this class is finished I have a better understanding of the nature of man. I understand better the different views on how to learn and obtain virtue. Also I am able to discern Gods word within its context and view personal experiences from different viewpoint. Finally I am able to recognize my fallen nature by getting rid of corruption, avoid the distortions of eros and the folly of following the inner ring.
Holy Bible New International Version. N.p.: New International Version, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua%2024:15&version=NIV>.
Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.
Lewis, C.S. "The Inner Ring." University of London. London. . Keynote speech.
Lewis, C.S. Man or Rabbit. Yes: n.p., n.d. 113. Print.
Lewis, C.S. Meditation in the Toolshed. Yes: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.
Lewis, C.S. Our English Syllabus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 83. Print.
Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. Engaging God's World. Grand Rapids MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. 54,55,101,131-133. Print.
Over the past few weeks we have looked at various topics written by both Plantinga and C.S. Lewis. Throughout all of the essays and books that we have read there have been many common themes. One of these themes that I found very helpful to my understanding of the world and myself was the nature of human beings . Both Plantinga and Lewis have their own views on what it means to be human but they agree on many issues.
Once particular aspect of human nature that I found particularly interesting was the human nature that makes us search, to better ourselves by searching both in God’s word and within ourselves. This is done through endless searching for morality and virtue through learning. In Plantinga’s Book he says “ A little reflection tells us that Christians want such skill not to impress the less skillful and simply to become more employable. Christians hope to increase the net amount of shalom in the world.” This means that Christians search for skills and virtues should be done simply to further Gods kingdom. Instead of what happens many times, which is a search for knowledge and skill for personal gain. This is slightly different from Lewis, who said that “Human life means to me the life of beings for whom the leisured activities of thought, art, literature, conversation are the end, and the preservation and propagation of life merely the means. That is why education seems to me so important: it actualizes that potentiality for leisure, if you like for amateurishness, which is man's prerogative.” Lewis’s view of learning is directed toward learning as an end in itself. Lewis would say that learning should be done simply for the sheer joy of learning. Even through Plantinga and Lewis have different views on the education aspect of learning they would both agree in the importance of learning to understand Gods world and to Bring Gods kingdom.
Another part of furthering oneself that both Lewis and Plantinga look into is the quest for morality. Plantinga says that “As we’ve noted before, good and evil seldom appear alone, and a Christian response to them is therefore bound to be mixed. Part of the goal of Christian higher education, then, is to “test the spirits,” including all the spirits that are in competition with the Holy Spirit.” Plantinga also says that “Scripture and the confessions give us solid principles and directions for reforming life, but they also invite us to find creative ways of applying them in the contemporary world. This is one of the reasons why a Christian college education is such an adventure for believers in Christ. In a community of faith, blessed with an abundance of intelligence, devotion, and experience, bound together by mutual respect and accountability, Christians can explore “the heights and depths” of the contemporary world.” Plantinga’s view of morality is always within the greater context of the Christian faith but even though we are saved we must test everything to see where it stands. Some things will be always immoral and others will be bad only in curtain contexts. This means that as long as we are within God’s law we have a little elbow room to move around, as long as we are careful and within Gods word. Lewis takes a similar approach to his view of morality, although coming from an atheist background he first addresses them. He proposes the question can a man be good (moral) without Christianity. Ultimately, the answer is no not really. The first reason is that the man who doesn’t address Christianity is a coward for not looking into Christianity, which promises a moral life if followed correctly. Another reason is that non-Christians can’t save the world with only a sliver of truth. They need the whole truth otherwise they will only treat symptoms instead of the sickness. Lewis gives the example of the mountain climber to explain morality, he says “Morality is a mountain which we cannot climb by our own efforts; and if we could we should only perish in the ice and unbreathable air of the summit, lacking those wings with which the rest of the journey has to be accomplished. For it is from there that the real ascent begins. The ropes and axes are 'done away' and the rest is a matter of flying.” So Lewis and Plantinga are in agreement that morality can only be understood once a person is within Christ. So once we are in Christ how should we go about studying morality? Firstly, the bible should be our guide for interpreting the morality of our experience s, but Lewis gives us another method in addition to be used with the bible. He calls the different ways to view an experience, the along and looking at method. Lewis says, “One must look both along and at everything. In particular cases we shall find reason for regarding the one or the other vision as inferior.” This method gives us an additional view to the one that we have already experience so that we may use are new vantage point to determine whether what we are doing is right or wrong. So now we have a good basis to choose to continue or change our behavior.
Both Lewis and Plantinga would agree that humans do indeed need to change our behavior because we keep falling into the same traps. These include corrupting ourselves, loving eros in a distorted way, setting in place an inner ring to exclude others. All of these things are some of the worst parts of human nature and Lewis and Plantinga devise ways to overcome them. Plantinga says that because of Adam and eve’s original sin every single human is now corrupt in nature. He describes a personal corruption as “ A corrupted person turns God’s gifts away from their intended purpose. She perverts these gifts. For example, she might use her excellent mind and first-class education not to extend God’s kingdom but just to get rich.” Then Plantinga gives another example that describes the corruption of the our relationships. “He pollutes his relationships with foreign elements that don’t belong in them.” Many cases of corruption come from either a conscience or unconscious choice to put one’s self ahead of God. After this choice is made then all different kinds of evils follow. This is because man must have a master. In Joshua 24:15 its says “ If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or (A)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." This shows that since human nature tends to push us toward being corrupt. We must place God in the place of master otherwise, we will end up corrupting our selves.
Another form of sinful human nature that also stems from putting ourselves first, is the act of distorting eros. The first example of this that Lewis gives is an addiction to the act of love. When someone becomes addicted to sex, the women ceases to be a person, she is now only a means of pleasure. Lewis says “ one doesn’t keep the carton after one has smoked the cigarettes” This is the most distorted view possible of eros but not the only view. Another distortion is falling in love on eros alone. This can also stated as loving being in love. When people base their relationship on only this, their relationship is almost always doomed to fail unless major changes are made. This is because this form of love is fast to wear off, and when it does if the relationship isn’t based on anything stronger, it will fail. The final type of a distortion of eros is similar to the first because it is also an addiction but this form is also the result often of the first. It is an addiction to being loved, what some would call being clingy. This is often a result of an unbalanced relationship where one person needs the other more than the other needs the person. Even though this is the least distorted view of the nature of eros, it still causes huge problems in relationships because the balance between man, woman, and God is uneven. In addition, clinginess is the most easily fixed of the three distortions because all it requires is more attention focus on God in order to rebalance the scale.
The final aspect of sinful human nature that I will talk about is the concept of the inner ring. Lewis describes this phenomenon in such a way that it seems almost mystical. The concept is simple in any group of friends there will always be an in-group and an out-group. The in-group has its own lingo, signs, inside jokes, that the outside group isn’t a part of. Additionally, the phenomenon is an unspoken universal, people who are in the group don’t talk about being in, and people who aren’t in the group refer to the group differently that the group refers to themselves. Now many people don’t see this as a possible evil of human nature and alone the inner ring itself is morally neutral . However, the desire to be part of the in-group causes people large amounts of pain and suffering. This is because the tendency is for those who are part of the group to remain in the group and the people who aren’t to remain on the outside. This is maintain by the in-group people giving the out-group people an extremely hard time by not allowing the out group in. Lewis says, “all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” This perfectly describes the issue of the inner ring. The desire to be excepted by everyone will only lead to disappointment. Lewis also says “As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel and onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.” The only way to overcome the evil part of the inner ring is by making an honest attempt to avoid the rings behavior and instead work on obtaining virtues. Naturally, others will see the progress and want to be part of the group that is focused of progress.
Now that this class is finished I have a better understanding of the nature of man. I understand better the different views on how to learn and obtain virtue. Also I am able to discern Gods word within its context and view personal experiences from different viewpoint. Finally I am able to recognize my fallen nature by getting rid of corruption, avoid the distortions of eros and the folly of following the inner ring.
Holy Bible New International Version. N.p.: New International Version, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=joshua%2024:15&version=NIV>.
Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.
Lewis, C.S. "The Inner Ring." University of London. London. . Keynote speech.
Lewis, C.S. Man or Rabbit. Yes: n.p., n.d. 113. Print.
Lewis, C.S. Meditation in the Toolshed. Yes: n.p., n.d. 2-3. Print.
Lewis, C.S. Our English Syllabus. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 83. Print.
Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. Engaging God's World. Grand Rapids MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. 54,55,101,131-133. Print.
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