The Law remains, however, governing every aspect of our lives, despite our failure to comply with it. In fact we all break the Law of Human Nature by failing to do what we know we ought to do. Humans can choose to break the Law of Human Nature, whereas a rock cannot choose to disobey the law of gravity. Conversely, the Law of Human Nature does not describe what happens but what ought to happen. These scientific laws only describe what happens, not what ought to happen. The Law of Human Nature differs from all the other laws that govern the universe, like the laws of gravity and thermodynamics. This Law was not made by humans, but we all experience it telling us what we ought to do. It is universally recognized that stealing is wrong, for example-although there may be disagreement about what constitutes stealing. All people know this Law without having to be taught. The Law works because there is a basic moral standard of right and wrong that is universal across cultures and across eras. It attempts to compel the person to do what is right rather than what is wrong. This universal, inborn law exists within each person. In Book 1 Lewis argues the existence of what he variously refers to as the Law of Human Nature or the Moral Law.

Either they are the words of an insane man or the deliberate deceptions of an evil man. Therefore, Lewis concludes, if we refuse to take Jesus's claims at face value, there remain only two ways of evaluating them. A Jew who said such things would not have meant them as metaphors or general truths applicable to everyone. This religion is emphatically monotheistic and emphasizes a strict demarcation between God and man. But Lewis explains that Jesus was speaking in the context of Judaism. If Jesus and his audience had been pantheists who believed God was not separate from any part of the created world, there would be nothing particularly extraordinary about these claims.

His claims-of forgiving sins, of having eternal existence, of 'coming to judge the world at the end of time'-were not those an ordinary Jewish man would have made.

Jesus, a Jew, was speaking to the Jewish community, which was suffering under Roman oppression. If Jesus was just an ordinary wise man, he would not have made the claims he did. It is foolish, Lewis says, to make this assertion. In Book 2, Chapter 3 Lewis addresses the commonly held notion that Jesus was merely a great moral teacher and nothing more. Either Jesus is what he says he is, he is insane, or he is lying. This argument is often referred to as the 'liar, lunatic, Lord' trilemma because of its assertion there are only three ways to interpret Jesus's claims to divinity. Lewis uses unforgettable language to present a very old argument for the divinity of Jesus. In one of the book's most famous passages, C.S.

Mere christianity book 3