XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis   
   From: ahnemann@optonline.net   
      
   "Siwel Naph"  wrote in message   
   news:4343709b@212.67.96.135...   
   > "AJA" wrote:   
   >   
   >>> M.C. is the core of Christianity: the beliefs common to (almost) all   
   >>> Christians at all times. But that core has been surrounded by   
   >>> RADICALLY different secondary beliefs... which is why I ask:   
   >>>   
   >>> What if a war is under way between two or more COMPETING versions of   
   >>> M.C.?   
   >>   
   >> Then it's no longer 'mere' is it?   
   >   
   > Why? Because it's self-contradictory, in our opinion? But if it wasn't in   
   > theirs, why are they unable to see that, as Christians have been unable   
   > to see it in the past?   
      
   Christians are people.  There is no one righteous, not even one.   
   The problem with attempting to build or even envision a utopia is that it   
   can't be done.   
   Too many variables to control.  One would have to utterly remove any notion   
   of free will; and in doing that one is left with a completely totalitarian   
   state- the dangers of which are well known.  (Les Mains Sales, still remains   
   so vivid a foreshadowing of the end of my oh so youthful hope in humankind   
   being able to solve the world's problems.)   
      
   (snip)   
      
   >>   
   >> On becoming real persons:  Read what Lewis says about it in _The   
   >> Weight of Glory_, _Christian Reflections_, _The Problem of Pain_, etc.   
   >>  All summed up, perhaps, in WoG page 7:   
   >> "Our whole destiny seems to lie in the opposite direction, in being as   
   >> little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our   
   >> own but borrowed, in becoming clean mirrors filled with the image of a   
   >> face that is not ours...derivative or reflective good."   
   >   
   > Yes, but that rather seems to evade the point. Followers of all the   
   > religions I know could find similar passages, but that wouldn't answer   
   > questions about their bad treatment of those minorities (if such had   
   > taken place).   
      
   It doesn't evade the point at all.   
   The above, and passages in other religions of same, point to a painful   
   realism about the world we live _in_ and are not _of_ as scripture describes   
   it. As Lewis writes in MC: "If you read history you will find that the   
   Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought   
   most of the next."  (MC, Chapter 10. Hope)   
      
   We have a system of 'good treatment' and have had for as long as anyone can   
   remember.   
   One such organization of good behavior/treatment goes like this:   
   Cardinal Virtues:   
   Wisdom/Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude/Courage   
   Theological Virtues:   
   Faith, Hope, Charity   
   (reached with the aid of sanctifying grace)   
   Capital Virtues:   
   Humility, Liberality, Brotherly Love, Meekness, Chastity, Temperance,   
   Diligence   
      
   Everyone knows these things.  Everyone likes the sound of them rolling off   
   the tongue.   
   The trick has always been to put them into practice and at the same time   
   have or protect some sort of society people can actually live in with   
   (presumably) some modicum of their free will intact.  Plato wrote much about   
   this, as we know.  We also know that his solutions weren't all that   
   palatable.   
      
   Blessings,   
   Ann   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)