Heart of a Friend
The Heart of a Friend podcast was born out of a desire to share some of the most important things learned from a lifetime of experience. It is hosted by Andy Wiegand. Andy retired in 2017 after 40 years of pastoral ministry. He and his wife now reside in Columbus, Ohio. They have raised six children and are now very happy to be grandparents.
Andy grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his education at Harvard University (B.A. ’73) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. ’78). In his retirement Andy devotes time to charitable work, visits with friends and family, exercises and continues to do a lot of reading and thinking about life.
Heart of a Friend
Ep. 22 | Mere Christianity | Part 1 | A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe
Lewis appeared on the September 8, 1947 cover of Time Magazine. This slightly stooped, round-shouldered, balding professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University was an international “rock star.”
One irony…originally Mere Christianity was a series of radio talks! They were never written to be a book! Lewis gave these talks on the BBC during World War 2.
His purpose: “Explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times…mere Christianity.”
“When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall…That is one of the rules common to the whole house.”
His aim (ch. 1-5): To show that our sense of right and wrong seems to be universal. Because of this, it’s reasonable to believe in some kind of “higher power,” or “being” which is behind this universal sense of right and wrong. This is called the moral argument for the existence of God.
Don’t different cultures have different moralities? “There are differences…but…if anyone will take the trouble to compare the moral teaching of, say, the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Hindus, Chinese, Greeks and Romans, what will really strike him will be how very like they are to each other and to our own.”
Aren’t moral convictions just culturally conditioned? “If no set of moral ideas were truer or better than any other, there would be no sense in preferring civilized morality to a more savage morality, or Christian morality to Nazi morality.”
Are people really persuaded by logical arguments to follow Christ? The moral argument is not a club but it is a clue. The evidence for the the Christian faith is strong and for someone who wants to believe - sufficient. But for someone who doesn’t want to believe - no amount of evidence will ever be sufficient. They will always be able to find some reason to reject the evidence. That’s why Lewis calls this first section of his book “A Clue to the Meaning of the Universe.”
Two compelling reasons for knowing why you believe.
First, there are many who have open hearts and honest intellectual questions about Christianity. We owe it to them to give them a reason to believe. “Faith keeps many doubts in her pay. If I could never have doubted, I could never have believed.”
Second, knowing why we believe can not only help someone else, but it strengthens our own faith. It gives us confidence and peace of mind. Lewis understood the limitations of intellectual argument. Just as important as winning the mind was winning the heart. He knew that the gospel must be presented in such a way that it appeals not just to our intellect, but also to our deepest yearnings. He skillfully uses both logic to convince our minds, but also imagination. In his writings, both non-fiction and fiction, he portrays a world and a future so good, so delicious, that our hearts cry out, “I want that to be true!”