A Being Which Shares God's Power, Joy, Knowledge and Eternity

High Park, Toronto
[Photo By Kidist P. Asrat]

I took the notes below while reading C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.

The sections in blue are direct quotes from the book.

The gold font are my notes.

The black print is my commentary (analysis, if you will) which I'm typing on this blog after having read and made notes on these pages.

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P. 190:
You might say that when two Christians are following Christ together there is not twice as much Christianity as when they are apart, but sixteen times as much.

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God's numbers:
- 1 man = 1
- 2 men = double
- But in God's world 2 men can be 16
- One man - like Jesus - no limit

The last two points seem contradictory, but I made them after having also read this section:

P. 190:
Men are mirrors, or "carriers" of Christ to other men...[U]sually it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the Church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important.

This continues with the section I posted above that starts with "You might say..."

I think the point here is that followers of Christ are not one mass of cult followers. They are individuals who have come to their decision to follow Christ as individuals.

But, it is the combination of individuals, the number of individuals, which give a strength to the power of sixteen (not two, not three, but a much higher, and much more powerful, number).

A couple of things:

- Christians come to their belief, independently and consciously, as individuals. But they work in a society, in a community. The work that sixteen Christians perform is much greater than that of a single Christian.

This ability to choose between right and wrong (we can go either way, and often do go the "wrong" way), also enables Christians to choose God, as an independent decision, apart from God's influence.

I think this is where morality comes in. Christians, because we are forced to think about our religion, have to think their own, independent, way through good and evil, right and wrong.

- I contrast this with Islam, where the individual is submerged in the all encompassing, Allah. So how can an individual Muslim learn to differentiate between good and evil? How can he choose between good, or evil? How can he consciously choose Allah, since all he knows, according to the tenets of Islam, is that he has no choice but to believe in, and to follow Allah. Also, if Allah were to bring people to his fold in this manner, how can he be certain of their loyalty? What other than his will, is keeping them near/with him?

Finally, here is the trust that Christ has in us:

Pp. 191-192:
Finally, if all goes well, turning you permanently into a different sort of thing; into a new little Christ, a being which in its own small ways, has the same kind of life as God; which shares in His power, joy, knowledge and eternity.

And my comment on this passage:

What a great responsibility, and what a great gift.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat