The invasion
One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New
Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the
universe—a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death
and disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this
Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and
went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at
war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers.
It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in part of the universe occupied by the rebel.
Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is
the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in
disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of
sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening--in to the
secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to
prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and
laziness and intellectual snobbery. I know someone will ask me, ‘Do you
really mean, at this time of day, to re-introduce our old friend the
devil-—hoofs and horns and all?’ Well, what the time of day has to do
with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and
horns. But in other respects my answer is ‘Yes, I do. I do not claim to
know anything about his personal appearance. If anybody really wants to
know him better I would say to that person. ‘Don’t worry. If you really
want to, you will. Whether you’ll like it when you do is another
question.’
Quotes from Mere Christianity, Part 16
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) 45
http://merecslewis.blogspot.com/2011/09/invasion.html
No comments:
Post a Comment