Seeming Contradictions

Alright I know Mary loved The Abolition of Man (she does so love to talk about the education system), but I have to admit I really struggled through it.  I think this is a product of being raised by philosophers – as soon as I pick up a philosophical text my brain shuts down.  Or perhaps that’s just me being a typical 20-something blaming all of her problems on her parents.  Anyways.  I did like the book, I promise.  Lewis always has interesting things to say.  I just like it when he says them more… fantastically.  So this is my initial reaction to the text: somewhat dull for me, but filled with vital insights for any willing to brave the 80-some pages. 

All that being said, let’s talk about my favorite line in the book. 

“Either we are rational spirit obliged forever to obey the absolute values of the Tao, or we are to be needed out and cut into new shapes . . . by ‘natural’ impulses.”

Okay, I admit it.  The real reason I liked this part so much is because just before Lewis mentions King Lear to introduce the topic.  I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for literary allusions (#englishmajorproblems).  But what kept me interested is the weird phenomenon I thought of this morning.  Lewis here proposes an either/or stance between the natural and supernatural, at least seemingly.  Either we are “rational spirit” and or we are bound by “’natural’ impulses.”  The conclusion of the book being, of course, that we are bound by our spirit to a set of absolutes (which, if you follow the line of thought to its natural conclusion, implies supernatural realities). 

However, in The Screwtape Letters, Lewis makes a point of saying that as humans, we are “amphibians,” that is, “half-spirit, half-animal.”  In this sense, the human person cannot be an either/or creature, for we are, by creation, a hybrid being (and if you want to get philosophical about it, we’re hylomorphic beings).  Our natural impulses, as Lewis phrases it, matter.  Our souls and our bodies are united and ignoring one side of our being – natural or supernatural – will hurt us all over (usually.  Saints get it away with it sometimes, but only miraculously). 

So for the better part of the afternoon I wondered how to solve this seeming contradiction between our two texts.  Do we choose between the natural and the supernatural, or do we embrace both fully? 

I think – and this is so typical of Christianity – that it is actually both, seemingly paradoxically.  We must first accept ourselves as hylomorphic beings.  I must eat food.  But how do I approach eating that food?  Is it simply a necessary task determined by my instincts and cravings?  Hopefully not.  I prepare my food, say a prayer of thanksgiving, and eat it with gratitude, often in the company of family and friends.  In this way I have chosen to be, not merely a being controlled by my natural impulses, but a rational spirit who acknowledges her state as a hylomorphic being. 

Our body posture matters when we pray.  But what is even more important is that we are praying.  And I think this is precisely the point C.S. Lewis is making in both Abolition of Man and Screwtape Letters; that we must know ourselves to be “half-spirit, half-animal” and then make the rational choice to order the natural part of our beings to our supernatural halves and, ultimately, to the absolute values of the Tao.

Intertextuality, guys.  Did I mention I'm an English major?