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Till We Have Faces

None of us fully comprehend the depths of depravity into which we have sunk. Paul did, and that is why he referred to himself as the worst of all sinners. Even though he was more in touch with God than most Christians are today, he recognized that he was still far from God. Likewise, Saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest Christian thinkers ever, stopped writing after a religious experience where he (according to reports) spoke first hand with God. When asked why he stopped writing his great work, he answered: "Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value." A confrontation with God leads one to recognize that their great works are like straw by comparison.

C.S. Lewis wrote similarly in his (in my opinion) great work Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold. In the novel, which is a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche, the main heroine of the story spends her entire life writing a book condemning the gods for their misdeeds. It is her masterpiece. It is her life's devotion and great work. She knows that when she finally has the chance to confront the gods, she will read them the accusations in her book and they will have no answer for her. She finally gets her chance, and when she tries to read from her book, she finds that the accusations are simply gibberish.

When one finally comes before the Lord God Almighty, we recognize how limited we are. We have no right to judge Him, and our accusations and excuses are mere nonsense in His presence.

I pray some of my agnostic and atheist friends would learn this truth.

BK

Comments

Anonymous said…
A classical argumentum ad baculum, my friend. But what else could one except, since Christianity as a whole is one big argumentum ad baculum?
9/07/2004 09:40:00 AM
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