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WE HAVE CAUSE TO BE UNEASY

I ended my last Chapter with the idea that in the Moral Law so fro at us And I expect when I reached that point soht that I had played a trick on you�Cthat I had been carefully wrapping up to look like philosophy what turns out to be one ious jaw&039; Youas you thought I had anything new to say; but if it turns out to be only religion, well, the world has tried that and you cannot put the clock back If anyone is feeling that way I should like to say three things to hi the clock back Would you think I was joking if I said that you can put a clock back, and that if the clock is wrong it is often a very sensible thing to do? But I would rather get away froressnearer to the place where you want to be And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer If you are on the wrong road, progress ht road; and in that case the ressivearith way, the sooner I adet on There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake And I think if you look at the present state of the world, it is pretty plain that hu road And if that is so, weback is the quickest way on

Then, secondly, this has not yet turned exactly into a &039;religious jaw&039; We have not yet got as far as the God of any actual religion, still less the God of that particular religion called Christianity We have only got as far as a So anything fro to see e can find out about this Somebody on our own steam And I want to make it quite clear that e find out on our own steaives us a shock We have two bits of evidence about the Somebody One is the universe He has made If we used that as our only clue, then I think we should have to conclude that He was a great artist (for the universe is a very beautiful place), but also that He is quite merciless and no friend toplace) The other bit of evidence is that Moral Lahich He has put into our minds And this is a better bit of evidence than the other, because it is inside information You find out eneral just as you find outto his conversation than by looking at a house he has built Now, fro behind the universe is intensely interested in right conduct in fair play, unselfishness, courage, good faith, honesty and truthfulness In that sense we should agree with the account given by Christianity and soood&039; But do not let us go too fast here The Moral Law does not give us any grounds for thinking that God is &039;good&039; in the sense of being indulgent, or soft, or syent about the Moral Law It is as hard as nails It tells you to do the straight thing and it does not seeerous, or difficult it is to do If God is like the Moral Law, then He is not soft It is no use, at this stage, saying that what you ive You are going too quickly Only a Person can forgive And we have not yet got as far as a personal God�Conly as far as a power, behind the Moral Law, andelse But it may still be very unlike a Person If it is pure i it to make allowances for you or let you off, just as there is no sense in asking the multiplication table to let you off when you do your su answer And it is no use either saying that if there is a God of that sort�Can ioodness�Cthen you do not like Hi to bother about Him For the trouble is that one part of you is on His side and really agrees with his disapproval of hureed and trickery and exploitation You may want Him to make an exception in your own case, to let you off this one time; but you know at bottom that unless the power behind the world really and unalterably detests that sort of behaviour, then He cannot be good On the other hand, we know that if there does exist an absolute goodness it must hate most of e do This is the terrible fix we are in If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless But if it is, then we are oodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better toain We cannot do without it, and we cannot do with it God is the only co wewe most want to hide from He is our only possible ally, and we havethe gaze of absolute goodness would be fun They need to think again They are still only playing with religion Goodness is either the great safety or the great danger -according to the way you react to it And we have reacted the wrong way

Now et toto play any kind of trick on you I had a different reason My reason was that Christianity simply does not make sense until you have faced the sort of facts I have been describing Christianity tells people to repent and pro (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness It is after you have realised that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that Power�Cit is after all this, and not a ins to talk When you know you are sick, you will listen to the doctor When you have realised that our position is nearly desperate you will begin to understand what the Christians are talking about They offer an explanation of hoe got into our present state of both hating goodness and loving it They offer an explanation of how God can be this impersonal mind at the back of the Moral Law and yet also a Person They tell you how the demands of this lahich you and I cannot meet, have been met on our behalf, how God Himself becomes a man to save man from the disapproval of God It is an old story and if you want to go into it you will no doubt consult people who haveis to ask people to face the facts�Cto understand the questions which Christianity clai facts I wish it was possible to say soreeable But I ree that the Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable coins in the dis to go on to that coion, as in war and everything else, co for it If you look for truth, you may find coet either coin with and, in the end, despair Most of us have got over the pre-ishful thinking about international politics It is tiion