“You have wearied the Lord with your words . . . by saying, ‘Every evildoer is good in the sight of the Lord.’” Malachi 2:17
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), a Protestant lay theologian (compared with a formally trained one whether or not in the clergy), authored an easy to read but profound book, Mere Christianity, which he described as his effort “to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.”
Under the chapter “Morality, vices and virtues” he called human pride “the vice that leads to every other vice” and “the complete anti-God state of mind.” (Id., Book 3, Chapter 8.) Whereas all other vices “come from our animal nature,” he said pride “comes direct from Hell.” (Id.) Pride leaves the determination of right and wrong to human rationalization rather than to moral law.
Lewis compiled his work during World War II when the “’anti-God state of mind” was most prevalent in Soviet Communism and German Nazism. Then, as always, governments that adopt Marxist-Leninist doctrine are atheistic as set by Marx in The Communist Manifesto. Under Nazism, Hitler also tried to control religious practice through the state. Both forms of socialism (Communism and Nazism) dictate what citizens can believe. Marxism is the basis for professed communism in China and dormant communism in Russia today where effectively the state is made god. While each claim religious toleration, religion is not allowed to inform matters of state. In practice, the actuality is what Soviet Russian dissident Solzhenitzen experienced as “the forcible promotion of atheism.” (“Men have forgotten God,” 1983 Templeton Address; at https://www.national review.com.)
Lewis noted that human consciousness of right and wrong preceded religion, describing this as “the human idea of decent behavior.” He explained that it was called Natural Law or the Law of Nature “because people thought everyone knew it by nature and did not need to be taught it.” (Id.) “Right and wrong . . . are not a matter of mere taste and opinion any more than the multiplication table.” (Id., Book I, Chapter 1, “The Law of Human Nature.”)
He observed that humans believe in decent behavior whether they “like it or not.” This is why we make excuses for indecent behavior and “try to shift responsibility [using] explanations.” (Id.) One tool for explaining our bad behavior is misuse of definitions and descriptions. For instance, “affair” sounds innocent and harmless when used to paint adultery. Taking unborn human life sounds legitimate, good rather than bad, when called a “right.”
A Jewish social historian writing on virtue noted: “It was not until the [20th] Century that morality became so thoroughly relativized and subjectified that virtues ceased to be ‘virtues’ and became ‘values.’” (“From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values,” by Gertrude Himmelfarb (1922-2019), 1995 Bradley Lecture to the American Enterprise Institute; found at www.aei.org.) She attributed creation of the new language to the 19th Century nihilist, Nietzsche, whose “transvaluation of values” was intended as “a revolution against both the classical virtues and the Judaic-Christian ones – against the very idea of virtue. . .” (Id.)
She stated that the terms “virtue” and “vice” are threatening to the moral relativist who wants to feel good about his bad behavior, “whereas ‘values’ brings with it the assumptions that all moral ideas are subjective and relative, that they are mere customs and conventions.” (Id.) Thus, the claim that social mores are constantly changing covers the lie that morality is changeable. But the truth is that what is moral is constant: Good and evil, right and wrong do not, cannot, ever change.
Referencing the Hebrew Testament, Deuteronomy 30:10-14, Robert Barron, a Catholic bishop, has explained similar to Lewis that Natural Law means “within us there is a deep moral intuition by which we know the right thing to do.” For this reason, there exists “a basic sense of morality shared across the globe without regard to religion.” Concisely, basic moral law says: “Do good and avoid evil.” (Barron, Sunday Sermons, “The Natural Law,” July 13, 2025; at http://video.wordonfire.org.)
Moral relativism is repugnant to moral law. Therefore, “if you live counter to what you instinctively know in your heart is good and right (i.e., contrary to Natural Law) you cannot be happy.” (Id.) There is a deeper aspect. Natural Law recognizes the value of transcendent good that is found in Divine Law, religion, and the natural human longing to worship.
This gets back to the Old Testament verse and C.S. Lewis’ declaration. Pride declares in our time that Law created by Humans has replaced Law created by God and there is no such thing as “right” or “wrong,” “good” or “evil.”
I believe in good behavior; have made excuses for my bad behavior. Yet, I write about these things not because I am an authority (I am not), but because they are at the heart of moral civilization. Wise men and women have been reminding us for millennia. I merely repeat them. In my opinion, it is important to do so.
Chip Williams is a Northsider.
