Chapter 9 discusses love or charity,
the central Christian virtue
Lewis stresses that love
is less about emotions than wills
As we discussed for forgiveness,
it's hard to forgive
because of our flawed will
Same with love, it is not an emotion
but something to do with a will
Our emotions
often drive us
into flawed decisions
Let's take a mother,
who loves her child that she takes care of
With this attachment to her child,
(Obsession, overprotection) emotional attachment alone
are not enough to achieve true love
She may adore the child,
and be emotionally immersed
to the child,
which makes it harder
to love the child with prudence
For example,
she may not be able to say 'no'
to teach her child about not committing sins
Therefore,
despite the devotion and love,
the fruit of this love
may not be righteous
Then, this is the wrong kind of love,
which is only in the emotional realm
because she failed to act in love
guided by a will rooted
in God’s true righteousness,
the mother's love failed
to be delivered to the child
So Lewis says,
'Christian charity [love] sounds a very cold thing'
'Though it is quite distinct from affection, it leads to affection'
Starting with affection
will not lead to love
But love
will bring out affection
He also says,
'This is a great truth'
'Trying to treat every one kindly,
one finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on'
You do not love out of affection
that drives you to love
You start with a will to love
and that will lead you to like that person
Lewis explains a logic behind this,
that both good and evil grow exponentially
Let me read it out for you
'Both good and evil grow exponentially'
'The Germans at first ill-treated the Jews
because they hated them'
'Afterwards they hated them much more
because they had ill-treated them'
'The more cruel you are, the more you will hate'
'The more you hate, the more cruel you will become'
So the hatred
by Germans towards Jews
started a massacre, which later led to
Germans hating Jews more
This is why we should love
not based on affection but on will
in order to restore
the true love
This is what God's love is
Thus, to truly obey the command
to “Love the Lord your God,”
we must embrace
God’s will
and intentions
and follow them
in order for us to truly love
Just like our love towards God
is actualized through our obedience,
when we try to love someone,
the willful love should lead our emotions
in order for a true love
Therefore, love is not about emotions
but about will
That is the point in Chapter 9
Mere Christianity Book 3 Christian Behavior
Chapter 10 Hope
Chapter 10 is discussing hope
There are numerous
memorable and widely cited statements about hope,
often referenced by historical preachers
and worth recalling
Let me start with this sentence
'The Christians who did most for the present world
were just those who thought most of the next'
'The ones who transformed the Roman Empire into a Christian state
or abolished slavery in England
left their mark on this world
because their hearts were set on Heaven'
'Since Christians have largely ceased
to think of the other world that they have become
so ineffective in this [world]'
'Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in"'
'Aim at earth and you will get neither'
This is very important
Those who hold hope for the eternal Heaven
in the next world ultimately
leave a meaningful impact and
live significant lives in the present world
One who holds hope for Heaven
becomes victorious in this world as well
Without that hope,
even the world is lost
With it, one gains both eternal Heaven
and a fulfilling life on earth
However, hope does not come naturally
Lewis points out that the reason
we lack hope for Heaven is
because we haven’t been trained to desire it
Much of our education
encourages us to focus
solely on this worldly things
Those who possess true hope
are always mindful of the nature
of the desires within them
So Lewis says this famous quote,
'If I find in myself desires
which nothing in this world can satisfy,
the only logical explanation
is that I was made for another world'
The many desires, joys, and pleasures
that we experience on this earth
serve as glimpses, tools to give us a foretaste
of the everlasting joy, the eternal pleasure of heaven
Thus, these earthly joys are merely instruments
guiding us to yearn for the eternal
Mere Christianity Book 3 Christian Behavior
Chapter 11-12 Faith
Lewis devotes the two chapters for faith
He begins by
pointing out a common misunderstanding
that faith opposes reason
Faith is often thought as irrational,
yielding one's reasons, which is not true
Faith in the Bible
and in Christianity
does not mean
for us to be irrational and cease rational thinking
It means to accept clear evidences,
which require reason for assessment
The evidence of the Bible
is something we can accept using
our reasons
And faith is the fruit of accepting this clear evidence
When we have faith in someone,
we have some evidence for it
That evidence has been accepted
through my reasoning
Why do we believe anyone?
We say they are trustworthy
So why are they trustworthy?
There must be reasons that support this
They kept their promises,
or some part of their life demonstrated that quality
And this is the clear evidence
that brings the faith in the end
We have faith in God because of the evidences
of realized God's promises in history
Our faith is based on this reasoning of the evidence
In this sense, this is
not a blind faith
Our faith is the one based on evidences
Faith accepts with reason
such clear evidences
Entering into true faith means
reaching a state of complete self-bankruptcy,
recognizing that
there is nothing trustworthy in oneself
and placing no confidence in oneself
Having faith in Jesus Christ means
acknowledging our absence of righteousness
and accepting that
only Jesus is our righteousness
and our life
It means I am hopeless
and I am not trustworthy
Only after acknowledging it,
one can enter the world of true faith
For this, Lewis says,
'Faith emerges only after realizing
one’s own complete bankruptcy'
'The issue of faith arises only after doing one’s best
to practice Christian morality and yet failing,
or, even if successful,
realizing that such success merely returns to God
what was His to begin with'
Entering into true faith means
realizing that nothing originated
from within us
Ultimately, even faith itself
is a gift from God
How did we come to believe in God?
It is because He came to us first
As it is written in Hebrews,
'Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith' [Hebrews 12:2]
In the original Greek,
'author' (NIV) or 'founder' (ESV) conveys
the meaning of the 'generator'
generating the faith within us
Having faith in Jesus
is not due to our intelligence, insight,
or sound judgment
but because of His undeniable evidence on earth,
the fruits and testimony seen throughout history
that captivated and guided us to faith
Ultimately, this faith itself is a gift from God,
leading to the realization that faith is not self-generated
This confession marks the path to true faith
These three virtues, love, hope, and faith,
are key Christian qualities that appear
in the soul of one united with Jesus Christ
Love, as we are called to love our neighbors
as Christ has loved us,
centers on forgiveness
Hope, grounded in the promise
of an eternal kingdom prepared by the Lord,
empowers us to live faithfully
in the present
And faith, formed by the evidence
that Christ displayed, allows us
the faith that
leads us to walk daily with Christ
Together, these virtues form
the core pillars of Christian character
that we hold in this life
Next time, we will explore the Trinity,
the foundational basis of our faith
Chapter 9 Love/Charity
1. Christian Love? Of will
2. Affection and Attachment 1) NOT a true love → Attachment
2) True love → Affection
3. Good and evil grow exponentially
4. Restoration of true love Affection-Centered → Will-Centered
Chapter 10 Hope
1. Christians and the Next World
Thinking of the Next World (X) → Christian Influence in the World (X)
2. Heaven and the World 1) Aiming for Heaven → Gain both Heaven and the World
2) Aiming for the World → Lose both Heaven and the World
3. Two Hindrances to Look toward Heaven
1) Lack of training
2) Failure to recognize the desire
Chapter 11-12 Faith
1. Faith: The fruit of reasoning used to accept the testimony of the Word
2. True Faith Begins with acknowledging one’s own bankruptcy
3. Christian Virtues Love, Hope, and Faith