The Continued Strength of Lewis' Moral Argument

I've found that there tends to be an ignorance both within the church and in the secular arena around the issue of morality as it pertains to religion. Pop atheists contend that no one needs religion to be moral, a position I quite agree with, but which many Christians do not. Certainly these same Christians have seen the ousted deviant behavior of many "moral" religious leaders, all while witnessing the kindness of a thoughtful agnostic neighbor. What, then, is the point of all this squabble about religion and morality?

It is to this question that C.S. Lewis commands such relevance even in the 21st century. It is his evidentialist approach to the Natural Law, or this "standard of fair play" that we all share, regardless of religious or social background, that allows both the misguided unbeliever and the Christian to better understand the gospel message.

Unbelievers (and possibly some believers) need to be informed that no one, from Jesus Himself to the Apostle Paul, ever claimed religion somehow caused morality. Indeed, Christ called no one good except God alone (Mark 10:18), and Paul wrote that Gentiles, without the benefit of the Jewish law, have some form of the "law" already written on their hearts (Romans 2:14).

It is from this basic understanding that we might engage the minds of thoughtful unbelievers to find in nature and human observation the basic first principle that Lewis was aiming for when it came to morality - that there is a universal moral standard and no one lives up to it. This is the bedrock of the unique message of the gospel.

Certainly conversations may evolve from here to an understanding of the Decalogue and the role of the OT laws in the framing this "standard," but this is neither necessary or relevant to the point at hand, which is to clear up false thinking that somehow religion in and of itself is magically the cause and provider of morality in society.

This is not to discount or discourage discussion about the moral standards proposed by an understanding of God, His Holiness, and His Word in the OT, or even to state that some proposed moral standards may or may not be better than others. It does, however, help to construct the plausibility of any standard at all. For if a self-evident moral standard can be inferred from everyday life and human observation, this will provide the credible base on which all other religious thought on the subject can be built.

It is this base that Lewis was a master at constructing. It has always spoken volumes to me when someone can relate everyday experience and basic rational observation to a belief in God. It then becomes icing on the cake when those same observations can be tied in with Scripture itself and a coherent view of the Christian worldview can be constructed. Lewis' moral arguments are one tool in his arsenal that effectively do just that.

This is one reason that I love Lewis. He was the first to show me, from the ground up, the coherence of Christianity in nature through rationality and human experience instead of throwing Bible verses around to state his case. It is also because of this that I believe he will remain relevant in the 21st century and his writings are an invaluable tool to our continued apologetic discourse.