C. S. Lewis On Why Christianity Is not Easy
Posted: Sunday, May 24, 2009
by Joel Kontinen
http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), literature professor and famous author, is probably one of the best known defenders of Christianity. A former atheist, he became convinced by the claims of Jesus Christ and wrote many books to explain why Christianity is special and why it differs from all other ideologies and religions.
In Mere Christianity Lewis wrote: "If Christianity were something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about."
This is difficult since we are used to thinking that there is no free lunch but we have to work hard in order to get something, including our salvation. But the New Testament teaches us that everything we get is because of God's grace.
C. S. Lewis found Jesus' claims extraordinary. The Carpenter from Nazareth used words that dumbfounded His listeners. " No man ever spoke like this Man!" (John 7:46). He claimed to be the great "I Am" of the Old Testament. Lewis concluded that Jesus had to be either a liar, a lunatic or the Lord, and His words and deeds revealed He had to be the Lord.
Christianity is not simple. As Jesus Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount, " narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life" (Matthew 7:13). The gate is narrow because we have to acknowledge that we need God's help. We need to give up our pride and submit to God's rule.
And as the Bible shows, from Genesis to Revelation, that has been and will be difficult. But it is definitely worth it.
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