Lesson Four *Mere Christianity* C.S. Lewis Through the Lens with C.S. Lewis Johnson Ferry Christian Academy Mrs. Stephanie Loomis

1. Through the Lens with C.S.
Lewis
November 2012
“the instrument
through which you see
God is your whole self.
And if a man's self is not
kept clean and bright,
his glimpse of God will
be blurred”

2. Mere Christianity
Book Three
CHRISTIAN
BEHAVIOUR

3. Three Parts of Morality
 What is the purpose
of the moral law?
(45)
 Is it possible to
maintain?
 Is it important to try?
Why?
 What is the danger of
considering oneself a
person of high

4.  We focus on “fair play and harmony” and
forget about internal harmony and the
purpose of life. Why?
 What IS the purpose of this life?
 What would it take to really reform society?
(46)
 What is the implication of eternal life?
 What are the three parts of morality then?
“…think of humanity
(47)
as a band playing a
tune. To get a good
result, you need two
things. each player‟s
instrument must be in
tune and also must
come in at the right

5. the “cardinal virtues”
Prudence (48)
 What has happened Temperance (49)
to common sense?  What is one of the
 How does marks of a certain
intelligence factor type of “bad man”?
into prudence? Isn‟t it a good thing
to make others give
up what you choose
to relinquish?
 Is temperance
limited to alcohol?
What modern things
tempt us to
intemperate
behavior?

6. Justice (49)
 What does “justice” include?
 What do we often use the word for
instead?
Fortitude (49)
•Why is “guts” a good synonym for
fortitude?
•Why is fortitude important?

7. Being and Doing
 What is the difference between “doing
justly” and “being a just person”? (49)
 What sort of people does God want?
(50)
 How do we become that sort of
people?
 Why are these virtues necessary in
the eternal sense?

8. Social Morality
 What is the job of
every moral teacher?
(51)
 Why is it critical to
consider culture in
evangelism?
 Whose job is it to
apply the “golden
rule?”
“christianity…is meant for all men at
all times and the particular programme
which suited one place and time would

9. We have all
departed from
that total plan
in different
ways, and
each of us
wants to make
out that his
own
modification of
the original
What would the perfect Christian
society look like? (52) plan is the
Would YOU want to live there? plan itself….
(52)

10. HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU GIVE? (52)
For many of us the great
obstacle to charity lies not
in our luxurious living or
desire for more money, but in
our fear---fear of insecurity.
(53)

11. MATTHEW 6:25-34
LEST WE FORGET
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or
drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a
single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not
even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how
God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown
into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do
not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall
we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father
knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do
not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.

12. Morality and
Psychoanalysis
People often think of Christian
morality as kind of bargain in
which god says, „if you keep a lot
of rules i‟ll reward you, and if you
don‟t i‟ll do the other thing…. i
would much rather say that every
time you make a choice you are
turning the central part of you,
the part that chooses, into
something a little different from
what it was before. And taking
your life as a whole, with all your
innumerable choices, all your life

13. Forgiveness
 Why is it so hard to
forgive?
 How does one
“hate the sin and
love the sinner”?
(67)
 How do we know
it‟s possible?
 How does
punishment fit with
forgiveness?

14. PRIDE
The Great Sin

15. Did anyone think “ouch”?
•How is pride the total anti-
God state of mind?
•How is pride essentially
competitive?
•What does pride enjoy most.
•How do you see this working
in contemporary culture?
•How do you see this
infiltrating the Church?
“there is no fault which makes a man
more unpopular, and no fault which
we are more unconscious of in
ourselves. And the more we have it
ourselves, the more we dislike it in

16. When asked once, "How
much money is enough
money?" He replied,
"Just a little bit
more."
John Davidson Rockefeller (July 8, 1839-May 23,
1937)
Industrial Tycoon, one of the „robber barons”, Standard Oil
Philanthropist ,faithful tither (Northern Baptist), self-made

17. “…it is Pride which
has been the chief
cause of misery in
every nation and
every family since
the world began.”
(70)
Why?
•Why can‟t the proud know God?
•What is the test of pride?
•Why is Pride the worst of all the vices?
•What is Pride NOT?
•Does God forbid because it offends Him? (71)
•How does one acquire humility?

18. CHARITY Why are the poor the
most charitable?
And now abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three; but the What is the purpose
greatest of these is charity. of charity?
1 Corinthians 13:13
What is the essential
element of charity?
(73)
How are charity and
love the same thing?
What is the greatest
evidence of love?
How does one
develop charitable
“feelings” toward
others? (74)

19. "But the great thing
to remember is that, THE IRRATIONAL SEASON
though our feelings
come and go, His
love for us does not.
It is not wearied by
our sins, or our
indifference; and
therefore, it is quite
relentless in its
determination that
we shall be cured of
those sins, at
whatever cost to us,
at whatever cost to
Him."

20. Hope
 How does Lewis define “hope”? (75)
 How should this hope affect our
actions every day?
 How does one train himself/herself to
want that which cannot be seen?
 What is the purpose of earthly
pleasures?
 How does one maintain a desire for
the unseen and eternal? (76)

21. Faith
“Faith and reason are
like two wings on which
the human spirit rises to
the contemplation of
truth; and God has
placed in the human
heart a desire to know
the truth – in a word, to
know himself – so that,
by knowing and loving
What is wrong with this image? God, men and women
may also come to the
fullness of truth about
themselves.”
– Pope John Paul II

22. What IS
faith? 11
 Hebrews
Now faith is confidence in what we hope
for and assurance about what we do not
see.
 James 2
For just as the body without the spirit is
dead, so also faith without works is dead.
 Romans 10
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing
by the word of Christ.

23. What is the purpose
of faith? (78)
Confident expectation based on reason,
unaltered by emotion or imagination.

24. Doing
and
Being
 What is the difference between “being” and
“doing?” (80)
 What is one clear evidence of faith? (81)
 How does Lewis address works and faith
together? (81)

25. Read Book Four “Beyond Personality”
No presentation
Write a response to Book Four (2-3 pages)
Art Project due 12 (W), 14 December (T/F):
Create a piece of artwork that incorporates a
quote from any book we have read so far. Must be
4”x12” in digital form. This is the size for a Facebook
cover/header. Post to the group AND email to me.
(stephanie.loomis@jfca.org)
HOMEWORK