Let’s Pretend by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 23, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 7)

C. S. Lewis asks the question, have we got rats in the basement of our soul that seem to pop out when we least expect it? What to do? C.S. Lewis has a stab at what it means to 'put off the old behaviours' & 'clothe ourselves in the new' - in Christ. Notes below... (0:38) The second fable, whose title I made up, is one I can’t find, perhaps it's a medieval story given Lewis' reading. It’s a common truth though, repeated by many authors, either for good or for ill, that "he wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it”. (4:02) See verses below on clothing yourself in Christ. Some clothing is done by God, some we are instructed to do ourselves (see Romans 13.14, Col 3.5-15, Matthew 5.3-12, Gal 3.27, Eph 4.24). The Spirit of God also clothed some of the Old Testament saints to do mighty deeds (Gideon, Amasai & Zechariah). 'Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ & do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh' - https://biblehub.com/romans/13-14.htm 'Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience' - https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-12.htm 'You who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ' - https://biblehub.com/galatians/3-27.htm 'Put on the new self which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness' - https://biblehub.com/ephesians/4-24.htm 'Put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth; put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator; put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience; & beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity' - https://biblehub.com/context/colossia... See also the parable about the man without wedding clothing (usually meaning repentance) in Matthew 22.12 - https://biblehub.com/matthew/22-11.htm (4:29) The Holy Spirit can do things that seem unexpected. For instance, once the disciples sent to preach were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word” in a certain place. See https://biblehub.com/acts/16-6.htm (5:08) There are many things that are not wrong (e.g. taking a particular career path), but it may be contrary and wrong for what the Holy Spirit plans for your life. (6:20) There is not a saviour besides Christ, every salvation is either Christ-sent or will fail to actually save (see Isa. 34.11 “there is no Saviour besides Me”). See also the comments section for more real examples. (7:03) Christ referred to the nature He created to teach us. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-28.htm (7:50) Lewis' conversion to Christianity occurred over a period of time and he went from popular realism (only physical matter exists) to philosophical idealism (something other than the physical things exist, things like beauty, truth, reason & morality exist aside from matter), from idealism to pantheism (there's got to be some sort of mind behind the universe, & values alone can't just exist without some mind conceiving them), from pantheism to theism (God is separate from nature), then from theism to Christianity (Christ is God’s Saviour). If you want a concise treatment of these steps, go to ‘Mere Christianity’. The outline of Books 1 & 2 are in fact the story of Lewis' conversion from a 3rd Person’s point of view. Lewis discusses various truths as concepts that we can observe, but these were the observations that changed him spiritually, so think of ‘Mere Christianity’ as a version of Lewis' own testimony which is why it has been so successful (see Dr. Harry Lee Poe’s latest book on the subject). (8:14) The original broadcast included an additional line to the book: “If a 3rd Christian joins, there is 81 times as much”. You plus the Three-Person-God is to the 4th power. So it is you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – 4 distinct persons working together. I.e. not 1, 2, 3 but (1x1x1x1)= 1 (2x2x2x2)= 16 (3x3x3x3) = 81 (8:50) Christ, like us, did not rely on the flesh. See John 2.23 “Many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): "OUR FATHER", “in the place of a SON of God”, “you realise you are NOT a son of God”, “where the pretense is there INSTEAD of the real thing”, “which AT THAT VERY MOMENT the pretense”, “to ‘inject’ His kind of life and thought, his ZOE, into you”, “but I often HAVE been helped by other human beings”, “sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) ANTI-Christian”, the spirit of Christ is probably nearer to him THEN than it ever was before”, and “I have been talking as if it were WE who did everything’. Sub-titles in the 'Listener' article: “Recognising the Real Giver” & “Making Pretense into Reality.”