lewis sets the mood for doubt

"Now Faith…is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods where they get off, you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion."

I am quite fond of this quote by C.S. Lewis. It demonstrates his expertise in manipulating language into seemingly logically consistent streams that further his agenda. Notice that he chooses to credit one’s “mood” as the sole source of one’s doubt. It’s an obvious choice; moods are flippant, irrational, and inconstant. To tame one’s variable mood, he calls upon “reason.” Again, it’s an obvious choice; reasons are objective, thorough, and consistent. Of course, Lewis did more than choose his words wisely: he redefined the mechanics of the doubting person. Consider the first sentence of his quote reworded in an arguably more honest form: “faith is the art of holding onto beliefs in spite of reason.” And as you might guess, I completely agree with this latter statement.

You might accuse that I have committed the same fallacy as Lewis; namely, that I have simply manipulated language into seemingly consistent streams in order to further my agenda. I accept the burden of arguing otherwise.

C.S Lewis wrote Mere Christianity more than 50 years ago-- predating the mainstream acceptance of the Big Bang Theory, evolution, and other scientific jabs at religious institutions. Perhaps back in 1952 (at least more than today) one could “reason” the existence of God. But these days, in an era where science pulls the curtain on even the most complex, beautiful, and curious phenomenon, it is impossible to find a “proof” of God in the natural word. Therefore, rather than defining faith as sticking to one’s “reasons” as C.S. Lewis asserts, I define faith as sticking to one’s “beliefs.” Fair enough?

Now consider the roots of doubt. Doubt-- in Christianity or any other belief— surfaces for a variety of reasons. Possibly the least common of which is a simple mood swing. Doubt more often arises because one has difficulty reconciling the claims of Christianity with some conflicting, but seemingly irrefutable, piece of evidence. Lewis suggested that we close our minds to such evidence for the sake of soundness. Although perhaps not his intention, Lewis is encouraging a most asinine and dangerous approach to belief: blind observance. I feel that recasting and legitimizing the antagonist in Lewis’ story as honest and pensive “reason” rather than “changing moods” better reflects one’s struggle with faith.