Editing Mere Christianity (section)

=== The Case for Christianity (Broadcast Talks in UK) ===

The core of the first section centres on an [[argument from morality]], the basis of which is the "law of human nature", a "rule about right and wrong," which, Lewis maintained, is commonly available and known to all human beings. He cites, as an example, the case of [[Nazi Germany]], writing: <blockquote>This law was called the Law of nature because people thought that everyone knew it by nature and did not need to be taught it. They did not mean, of course, that you might not find an odd individual here and there who did not know it, just as you find a few people who are colour-blind or have no ear for a tune. But taking the race as a whole, they thought that the human idea of decent behaviour was obvious to everyone. And I believe they were right. If they were not, then all the things we said about the war were nonsense. What was the sense in saying the enemy were in the wrong unless Right is a real thing which the Nazis at bottom knew as well as we did and ought to have practised? If they had had no notion of what we mean by right, then, though we might still have had to fight them, we could no more have blamed them for that than for the colour of their hair.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mere Christianity |publisher=HarperOne |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-06-065292-0 |location=[New York]|pages=5}}</ref></blockquote>

On a mundane level, it is generally accepted that stealing is a violation of this moral law. Lewis argues that the moral law is like scientific laws (e.g. gravity) or mathematics in that it was not contrived by humans. However, it is unlike scientific laws in that it can be broken or ignored, and it is known intuitively, rather than through experimentation. After introducing the moral law, Lewis argues that thirst reflects the fact that people naturally need water, and there is no other substance which satisfies that need. Lewis points out that earthly experience does not satisfy the human craving for "joy" and that only God could fit the bill; humans cannot know to yearn for something if it does not exist.<ref name="courseguide">The Life and Writing of C.S. Lewis, Lecture 3; The Great Courses, Course Guidebook; Professor [[Louis Markos]], Houston Baptist University; The Teaching Company; 2000</ref>

After providing reasons for his conversion to theism, Lewis explicates various conceptions of God. [[Pantheism]], he argues, is incoherent, and atheism too simple. Eventually, he arrives at [[Jesus Christ]], and invokes a well-known argument now known as ''[[Lewis's trilemma]]''. Lewis, arguing that Jesus was claiming to be God, uses [[term logic|logic]] to advance three possibilities: either he really was God, was deliberately lying, or was not God but thought himself to be (which would make him [[delusional]] and likely insane). The book goes on to say that the latter two possibilities are not consistent with Jesus' character and it was most likely that he was being truthful.<ref name=courseguide/>