Every time I read this, it blows my mind. This is C.S. Lewis’ response to this question:
Materialists and some astronomers suggest that the solar planetary system, and life as we know it was brought about by an accidental stellar collision. What is the Christian view of this theory?
‘If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents—the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else’s. But if their thoughts—i.e. of materialism and astronomy—are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milkjug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.’
This came out of a book I have called, “God in the Dock.” It’s full of short articles that he’s written and I found this in there a while back, so I thought I would share.
What do you think about his response?
April 27, 2009 at 2:16 pm
my noodle is boiled.
April 27, 2009 at 8:51 pm
he’s the man. to real stuff. boss. and hey, did i give you that book?
April 28, 2009 at 3:30 pm
i got the book from michael. you may have given it to him. i think it was originally scott gregory’s
April 28, 2009 at 9:27 am
No such thing as coincidence..I love the way C.S Lewis just defies all the misconceptions about our existence as abstract, and just shows in one paragraph how intricately our world is created…thanks for sharing this!
April 28, 2009 at 10:38 pm
C.S. Lewis rocks my world. Have you read Mere Christianity? It is full of stuff like that! But what you just posted I’ve never read. That is really good. He is brilliant.
April 28, 2009 at 11:30 pm
yes, that is a great book! a lot of his stuff just makes my head hurt. i guess i have to admit, hes a little bit smarter than me. haha!
June 29, 2009 at 5:14 pm
That’s pretty intense. I feel like there may be some scientific retort to that, but it is definitely an interesting and plausible thought. I think Christians would look 1000 times dumber if C.S. Lewis never existed. I mean, if someone says “Christians are dumb,” you just have to say, “What about Lewis?” Then they have to shut up. haha
But seriously, this is an awesome quotation. Thanks