Mere Christianity

Picking up where he left off, Lewis reiterates that Jesus, if not delusional or evil, must have been what he claimed to be: God. This, however, is not the full Christian story, which instead places heavy emphasis on His death and rebirth.

Here, Lewis attempts to clarify a misconception that he himself once had—namely, that Jesus volunteered to die in place of the rest of humanity so that God could “punish” someone for humanity’s sins. Although Lewis concedes that Jesus’s death did serve to “wash out our sins, and [...] disable death itself” (55), he contends that this is not quite the same thing. Of course, people have different theories about how this “putting right” works, but Lewis argues that it isn’t necessary to understand it in order to benefit from it, in much the same way that we can benefit from eating without understanding how digestion works.

Nevertheless, Lewis does outline a theory of Jesus’s death that he finds compelling. He first suggests thinking of the Christian story not in terms of punishment but in terms of debt (in which case, it’s reasonable and common practice for someone other than the debtor to pay the bill). The problem, from a Christian perspective, is that it’s precisely the nature of humanity’s fallen state to make “paying" this debt through repentance extremely difficult; repentance is simply the action of returning to God (rather than a condition of being forgiven), so people must choose it for themselves, but this “means unlearning all [their] self-conceit and self-will” (57). This is why God suffered on humanity’s behalf: He could take on humanity’s debt (death) as a man (Jesus), but could do so perfectly as God, and in doing so allow humanity to share in the repayment.

Finally, Lewis notes that some people argue that it was easier for Jesus to take on this burden than it would have been for a mere mortal. Lewis agrees, but states that it would hardly constitute a reason to refuse help; if someone stronger helps us out, then it is natural to accept and be grateful.

Lewis states that, in the same way that we share the suffering and death of Christ, we share Christ’s resurrection and find a new, perfect life following death. He likens this to a new phase of evolution, arguing that in much the same way we’re given biological life through sexual reproduction, each of us can be given new spiritual life via baptism, belief, and “that mysterious action which different Christians call by different names—Holy Communion, the Mass, the Lord’s Supper” (62).

Though Lewis does not know why this should be so, he points out that he also doesn’t know “why” sex is the mechanism for biological life; it’s simply God’s intention, and Lewis believes that we should not shy away from His authority. On this note, Lewis states that there is nothing wrong with believing something simply because we believe the person informing us is trustworthy; in fact, this is often the case in daily life. For example, we believe numerous things based on the word of scientists or historical documents.

Lewis clarifies that baptism, belief, and the Holy Communion should not take the place of one’s own efforts to copy Christ; in much the same way that we can neglect our physical health, we can also neglect our spiritual health. However, a Christian is not someone who never goes wrong, but rather someone who repents and is repaired from within thanks to the “Christ-life” they possess. It’s also not a case of being good in order to please others or to please God; instead, it’s a process through which God makes us good. Here, Lewis stresses the physicality of this process, such as the use of bread and wine, arguing that Christ never intended humans to be purely spiritual.

Lewis poses the question of whether it is unfair for this new life to be confined to those who have heard of Christ and believe in him, noting that being saved through Christ doesn’t necessarily require knowing and believing in Him. However, for those Christians who are concerned about non-believers, Lewis advises that they focus on their own role as part of the body of Christ; the more people who make up this body, the more Christ is able to achieve. On a similar note, Lewis addresses the question of why Christ is manifesting himself “in disguise and starting a sort of secret society” rather than invading this “enemy-occupied world” (54). Lewis responds that Christians do think He is going to do so, though they do not know when. As for this delay, Lewis states that He wants to give people ample chance to join His side freely. Lewis also wonders if those who ask for God’s direct intervention realize that they are in effect asking for the end of the world, and consequently for a moment when it will be too late to choose to follow Him.