Mere Christianity Book 3 Lecture

The Three Parts of Morality Fair Play and Harmony Between Individuals Harmonizing things inside each individual General purpose of human life as a whole

Fair Play and Harmony Between Individuals Modern people always thinking about the first thing and forgetting the other two. When you say, “It is moral because it isn’t doing anyone any harm.” you are thinking only of the first one

Harmonizing things inside each individual Courage and unselfishness of individuals is the only thing that will make any system work properly. Without good men you cannot have a good society.

General Purpose of Human Life as a Whole Every human being is going to live forever If I were only going to live 70 years there are some things I would not bother about correcting If individuals live only seventy years, states, nations, society is more important than an individual In Christianity the eternal individual is infinitely more important than the state, nation, etc..

Cardinal Virtues Prudence Temperance Justice Fortitude

Prudence Practical common sense Taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it. Child’s heart but a grown –up’s head Christianity demands your intellectual capacity as well as your heart.

Temperance Going to the right length and no further with all pleasures

Justice Characteristics Fairness Honesty Truthfulness Keeping Promises A man who perserveres in doing just actions gets a quality of character

Fortitude Facing Danger

Right actions for the wrong reason do not help build character or virtue.

Social Morality Characteristics of a Christian Society No passengers or parasites. If a man does not work, he ought not to eat. Every man’s work is to produce something good No “putting on airs.” Cheerful Society full of singing and rejoicing

Social Morality Random Ideas Lending money at interest is forbidden in the Old Testament and in many other religions. Charity – giving to the poor – essential Parable of Sheep and Goats

Charity “I am afraid to say the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare…. If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc. is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our won, we are probably giving away too little.”

Morality and Psychoanalysis God judges by moral choices more than external behavior. Everytime you make a moral choice you are either turning more like Christ or more like Satan.

Good Moral Choices Lead to joy, peace and knowledge and power

Bad Moral Choices Lead to madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness

“When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less.”

Sexual Morality Perfect chastity like perfect charity will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. After each failure, ask foriveness, pick yourself up, and try again. This process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God.

Sexual Morality The center of Christian morality is not here. This is not the supreme vice.

Christian Marriage Marriage is for life Solemn promise is made to stick to partner till death Protects home for children Protects the woman Divorce is like cutting up a living body. Wives are to submit to husbands Husbands are to love wives as Christ loved the Church

When “The Thrill is Gone” It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill..Let the thrill go. Let it die away. Go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow. If you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will get weaker and weaker and fewer and fewer..you will be a bored, disillusioned old man for the rest of your life.

Forgiveness Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive. Start with something easy such as forgiving a mom, dad, brother, sister, husband or wife

Love Others as Your Self How do you love yourself? Sometimes you hate the things you do. Sometimes you realize you are a bad person. You always, however wish better for your self. That is exactly how we should view and feel about others.

“Something inside us, the feeling of resentment, the feeling to “get one’s back.”, must be simply killed.” Day after day, year after year, it is hard work

The Great Sin Pride or Self Conceit is the Great Sin Humility is the opposite Pride leads to every other vice: it s the complete anti-God state of mind

Pride Test Ask yourself, “How much do I dislike it when people snub me or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in or patronize me or show off?”

Pride Pride is competitive Proud of being richer, cleverer, or better looking than others The proud man has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power. As long as there is one man in the whole world more powerful, or richer, or cleverer than I, he is my rival and my enemy.

I Am the Greatest Speech http://www. youtube.co m/watch?v= qxczlps5_bg

Pride Continued Pride is the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family Pride always means enmity Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, contentment or even common sense.

Pride Continued The real black diabolical Pride, comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you.

If you meet a humble man.. “Cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all”

Charity Giving to the poor. Love in the Christian sense does not mean emotion. Love is distinct from affection but it leads to affection. It’s easier to be charitable to people you like.

“Do not waste time bothering whether you love your neighbour; act as if you did… When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” This quote applies to loving God as well.

Hope Continuing looking forward to the eternal. It is not wishful thinking. It does not mean we have to leave the current world as it is.

“Most people … want acutely something that cannot be had in this world” Fool’s Answer If I only tried doing something else I will be happy. Read quote. Disillusioned, Sensible Man Settles down and learns not to expect too much and represses the part of himself which used to “cry for the moon”.

“Most people … want acutely something that cannot be had in this world” Christian Answer Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exits…If I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

Faith Faith comes when you discover your own personal bankruptcy. You discover this when you try your best to be moral without God You say to God, “You must do this. I can’t” Change from being confident about our own efforts to the state in which we despair of doing anything for ourselves and leave it to God.

Faith Put all your trust in Christ: trusts that Christ will somehow share with him the perfect human obedience Christ will make the man more like Himself Share His sonship with us make us, like Himself, “Sons of God: Christ offers something for nothing He offers everything for nothing. Whole Christian life consists in accepting that very remarkable offer.

Faith If you have handed yourself over to Him it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. Trying in a new, less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already.

Faith – 2 Mistakes I can believe and then go on sinning. This is not faith. This is intellectual belief. I must do good works to be saved.