Reason, Truth, Material Needs and Science

(In Response to "Reason, Truth, Material Needs and Science Fundamental Principles for Seeking Direction" by C.S. Lewis)

"The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle onto the Enemy's own ground. He can argue too; whereas in really practical propaganda of the kind I am suggesting He has been shown for centuries to be greatly the inferior of Our Father Below."

When I encountered this portion of the letter it made me think. So often we think that as Christians we are on the irrational, illogical side of things. We feel that if we had to "prove" our religion that we couldn't actually do it because our religion requires faith, it requires the belief in something that is impossible to prove. When this came up that the little devil did not want to argue with us because we can argue to it struck me. So often we just take the poor me role when people ask us to account for our faith. This gave me great hope in the knowledge that I can argue too. I may not be able to argue to a conversion, but the mere fact that I'm in the arena of arguing gives some validity to my cause.

This was my first taste of reading the Screwtape Letters and I enjoyed it. It was interesting to see our daily struggle from another point of view. It further displays how vulnerable we are to temptation in this world and how easy it is to slip up. Our enemy does not have to persuade us that God is false, they don't have to get us to change our beliefs; they merely need to distract us and keep our minds off of the things that make our faith an integral part of our lives. It really makes you think of all the times you are being tempted and not even knowing it. Everything can be used against you and it is only by the grace of God that we are still in the game.