Peter Simpson

Outline of Mere Christianity

 

I.                     The Law of Human Nature

A.        There is some kind of standard of behavior expected between two men.

            1.         This standard is part of the Law of nature.

            2.         It is possible for a man to disobey this law.

B.        This Law of Nature has been known to all men past present and future.                       

1.         We know this because even though other civilizations and cultures had differences they never amounted to anything.

2.         An example is that it has always been looked down upon to be selfish.

3.         There is a right and wrong and sometimes people get them confused just as some times people get their multiplication tables confused, but people’s mistakes with multiplication don’t disprove its existence and neither dose peoples mistakes with what’s right and what’s wrong.

II.          Some Objections

A.        There is something inside us that tries to push us to choose the “Right” instinct. It judges between your instincts.                    

1.         Just like at different times different keys are the right keys and the wrong keys, instincts at different times can be right or wrong.    

2.         We learn this law this law as we grow up but just as we learn math as we grow up it dose not mean we created math neither did we create this law.

III.         The Reality of the Law.

A.        Humans are haunted by an idea of decent behavior, but do not follow it.

1.         The Law does not mean “what humans do” because many don’t follow it.

2.         The Law is “what humans ought to do”.

B.        Safety and happiness can only come from individuals, classes, and nations being honest, fair and kind to each other.

            1.         Men out to be unselfish.

IV.        What Lies Behind the Law

            A.        We have a law that we did not invent and we ought to obey.

1.         Science can never tell us whether the universe just happens to exist or the religious view of creation.

2.         The one thing we can know the most about is man because we are man.

B.        There is something directing the universe that makes me feel responsible and uncomfortable when I do wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Can We Know Without Knowing All Humans?

 

            The first piece of evidence that shows how the Law of Nature applies to everyone is that all men of different times and cultures have followed it. There are differences between these men and their morality but if you look at the big picture of their morality and not at the tiny details you find their differences really amount to nothing. How could all these different people from different places and times have the same core morality if this Law didn’t affect us all? Another example of this is that throughout history selfishness has never been admired, and though there are differences in how many wives you should have, men have always agreed that you should have a wife and not be able to have any woman at any time.

            Another way we can see how this Law effects us all is by looking at our own and everyone else’s actions when they do something wrong. They start making up excuses to why they did something wrong as soon as other people find out, we don’t want anyone to know that we broke this Law of Nature. WE believe in it so much that when we break it we try to shift the blame else where so we don’t look like we actually broke the Law.

            All men have instincts and at times have multiple instincts telling him to do different things about a certain situation. This Moral Law tells which instinct to choose and sometimes it even chooses the one that goes against the stronger instinct and can put us in danger.

            The last way is when we say that one morality is better than another. Most men would say Nazi morality is wrong, but how can it be wrong if there isn’t a right morality? This standard with which we judge it and all other morals by is this Moral Law.