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mere christianity
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Chapter: 1: Making and Begetting
To claim to be religious or to know God, and yet to dismiss the importance
of Theology is as foolish as going to sea without seeing the importance of
studying a map. The map admittedly is not the real sea, yet it contains
information from experienced sailors, and provides information vital to the
correct and effective navigation of your vessel. This is Lewis’ illustration to
argue for the importance of Theology in the life of the Christian. Theology is
the study of God as he has been encountered by experienced people of
God, and Theology contains information vital to the correct and effective
navigation of our life in relationship to Him in this world. All Christians are
Theologians of a sort. The question is whether or not our ideas about God
are in any way coherent.
Theology must be taken seriously in light of the message of Christianity. Far
beyond good advice, Christ claims to be God’s Son, and also claims to
make us sons in eternity. Theology helps unpack such statements and their
implications for our relationship with God. What is the nature of this sonship?
Lewis explains that Christ was begotten of God, not made. The distinction
between our sonship and Christ’s is in the nature of the process by which
He became the Son, and the process by which we become sons. What God
begets is of God. What God makes is of another sort. We are made in the
image of God, or in the shape of God. Lewis compares us to statues that
bear a resemblance to our Maker, but lack the sort of life of the Maker
Himself. Our life is biological. It is in a constant state of decay, the life of
God is spiritual, and is the power from which all the natural worlds are
made.
I wonder what Lewis would say about Arianism? Would he accept the
explanation that God Begetting Christ is a form of “making”? How would he
keep the two concepts distinguished?
To claim to be religious or to know God, and yet to dismiss the importance
of Theology is as foolish as going to sea without seeing the importance of
studying a map. The map admittedly is not the real sea, yet it contains
information from experienced sailors, and provides information vital to the
correct and effective navigation of your vessel. This is Lewis’ illustration to
argue for the importance of Theology in the life of the Christian. Theology is
the study of God as he has been encountered by experienced people of
God, and Theology contains information vital to the correct and effective
navigation of our life in relationship to Him in this world. All Christians are
Theologians of a sort. The question is whether or not our ideas about God
are in any way coherent.
Theology must be taken seriously in light of the message of Christianity. Far
beyond good advice, Christ claims to be God’s Son, and also claims to
make us sons in eternity. Theology helps unpack such statements and their
implications for our relationship with God. What is the nature of this sonship?
Lewis explains that Christ was begotten of God, not made. The distinction
between our sonship and Christ’s is in the nature of the process by which
He became the Son, and the process by which we become sons. What God
begets is of God. What God makes is of another sort. We are made in the
image of God, or in the shape of God. Lewis compares us to statues that
bear a resemblance to our Maker, but lack the sort of life of the Maker
Himself. Our life is biological. It is in a constant state of decay, the life of
God is spiritual, and is the power from which all the natural worlds are
made.
I wonder what Lewis would say about Arianism? Would he accept the
explanation that God Begetting Christ is a form of “making”? How would he
keep the two concepts distinguished?