C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity"

[Guest sanctification]

Hi!

For all those C.S. Lewis fans out there I have a question. I know somewhere in the book he authored called "Mere Christianity" he says something along the lines that the ying-yang theory is false.

The paisley symbol represents the Ying-yang. It means that "good" would never be good unless it were defined and given boundaries by the bad. Good cannot exist without evil.

I believe that God is good and He is good whether or not there is such a thing as evil. And C.S. Lewis makes a pretty good case why this is true.

Can anyone help me find that argument in that book or has their own argument? Thanks for the help.

By His peace,

Sanc

[Cerran]

I have the book Sanc I'll have to sift through it and see what I can find.

[mobile21]

Hi!

For all those C.S. Lewis fans out there I have a question. I know somewhere in the book he authored called "Mere Christianity" he says something along the lines that the ying-yang theory is false.

The paisley symbol represents the Ying-yang. It means that "good" would never be good unless it were defined and given boundaries by the bad. Good cannot exist without evil.

I believe that God is good and He is good whether or not there is such a thing as evil. And C.S. Lewis makes a pretty good case why this is true.

Can anyone help me find that argument in that book or has their own argument? Thanks for the help.

By His peace,

Sanc

From the christian point of view, there is no "good" and there is no "evil".

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone." (Mk 10:18)

We call "good" what is according to the Will of God and we call "evil" what is against it.

[nicholas]

Ying- Yang theory,

that is funny, I am dying here.(my stomach hurts)

ROFL

Was that mean't to be a joke?

Clarification if not.

Yin and Yang

[Guest GHOST of HENRY VIII]

please please folks it's yin and yang, not ying-yang, that is something else entirely.

yin/yang is demonic thought, that good must be balanced by evil. that is an impossibility, good is of God and is eternal, evil is nothing, it is simply nothingness,

emptiness.

[The Journey]

I laughed until I cried. CS Lewis had very little to say about the ying yang. Might try an anatomy book.

Steve

[Guest sanctification]

Sorry, I meant yin-yang.

I don't understand on what grounds Christians are just in making fun of someone else's mistakes.

Let me post some crucial conversation by Lewis on the matter....

"To be bad, he must exist and have intelligence and will. But existence, intelligence and will are in themselves good. Therefore he must be getting them from the Good Power: even to be bad he must borrow or steal from his opponent. And do you now see why Christianity has always said that the devil is a fallen angel? That is not a story for the children. It is a real recognition of the fact that evil is a parasite, not an original thing. The powers which enable evil to carry on are powers given it by goodness. All the things which enable a bad man to be effectively bad are in themselves good things--resolution, cleverness, good looks, existence itself. That is why Dualism, in a strict sense, will not work."

--Mere Christianity, chapter 2 of Book Two: What Christians Believe

[Guest sanctification]

Here is my favorite counterpoint Lewis makes about this theory, and it has shaped how I see the world since I have read it:

"If Dualism were true, then the bad Power must be a being who likes badness for its own sake. But in reality we have no experience of anyone liking badness just because it is bad. The nearest we can get to it is in cruelty. But in real life people are cruel for one of two reasons--either because they are sadists, that is, because they have a sexual perversion which makes cruelty a sensual pleasure to them, or else for the sake of something they are going to get out of it--money, or power, or safety. But pleasure, power, money and safety are all, as far as they go, good things. The badness consists in pursuing them by the wrong method, or in the wrong way, or too much. ... I do mean that wickedness, when you examine it, turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way. You can be good for the mere sake of goodness; you cannot be bad for the mere sake of badness. You can do a kind action when you are not feeling kind and when it gives you no pleasure, simply because kindness is right; but no one ever did a cruel action because cruelty is wrong--only because cruelty was pleasant or useful to him. In other words badness cannot succeed even in being bad in the same way in which goodness is good. Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled. We call sadism a sexual perversion; but you first must have the idea of a normal sexuality before you can talk of its being perverted.... It follows that this Bad Power, who is supposed to be on equal footing with the Good Power, and to love badness in the same way as the Good Power loves goodness, is a mere bogy. ... if he is bad he cannot supply himself either with good thing to desire or with good impulses to pervert. He must be getting both from the Good Power. And if so, then he is not independent. He is part of the Good Power's world: he was made either by the Good Power or by some power above them both."

I still am desperate to find the part where Lewis talks about why evil is totally unnecessary for the existence of good in our world.

[WayneB]

Sorry, I meant yin-yang.

I don't understand on what grounds Christians are just in making fun of someone else's mistakes.

I don't understand it either sister. I knew what you meant. Maybe some folks don't know how to use the Private Messenger? It is always more enjoyable to laugh with someone that at someone. Regardless, it seemed to flow off you like water off a duck's back. Well done!

Bless you,

Wayne

[The Journey]

C'mon get a sense of humor. The ying-yang is slang for that "special part of the male anatomy." It is funny when read in context with the title of the thread.

Steve