Hard to Believe

Last night Fellow Seeker, Expert Seeker, Devout and I went to a meeting of the C.S. Lewis Society. F.S. and I had gone twice before and really enjoyed it, so we asked the others to come with us. Last night the speaker discussed the various ways in which Lewis addressed the ups and downs of faith. How pertinent.

He brought up many points that Lewis had made in letters he wrote, which is always interesting because I haven't read any of his letters yet. He also brought up The Screwtape Letters, and A Grief Observed. It was very interesting, and he referenced so many books that I have a new to-be-read list.

F.S. and I have a policy of passing notes when we go to these functions. Last night we got E.S. and D. involved too. Whenever the speaker brought up a good point, we discussed it amongst ourselves. We got into silent discussions on logic (Is God above logic, or bound by it?) and the nature of good (Are good things inherently good, or are they good because God deems them good?). The speaker made a wonderful point: some people make believing seem too easy, and Lewis didn't agree with that. No pat answers, my friends.

Afterwards, while we were standing around with cake and coffee, F.S. and I got into a debate. I brought up the point that I believe there is a God because throughout human history, mankind has always had a sense of God, or worshipping something bigger than themselves (whether it was the sun, or some other deity). I feel that this is something ingrained in humanity. F.S. said that he feels it's natural, not supernatural. I said, "Yes, natural, but natural because we were created that way." He said I was presupposing that we were created. I said, "I'm presupposing that because I feel that our continuous desire to reach out to a God suggests that we were." He asked, "Then why do some people not do it?" I said it was due to pride; there are plenty of times when I'm not fond of the idea of Someone keeping track of everything I do. D. agreed with me because I was presenting a typically Christian argument. F.S. is the proverbial thorn in my flesh, in a good way :)

I also said that I feel that faith is based on one's personality. There are some people who can just believe and don't analyze every little thing to death. That's their type of faith (like D.). I have a faith that needs constant probing. F.S. said that he feels that it is all personality, and for that reason, God is accepting of atheists because there are some people who are so staunch that their personality would not allow them to believe in God. I said, "Like C.S. Lewis?" with a smirk.