Comment by Grady Jean on August 3, 2012 at 9:13am

Found this on facebook yesterday, a Christian friend had posted it. It strikes me as completely and utterly wrong but for the life of me I can't figure out why. Maybe I'm simply not intelligent enough to deconstruct it and rip it apart with logic and reason. All I know is that deep down, in the darkest part of my psyche, something is telling me this is a bunch of crap...someone help me out here?

Comment by Natalie on August 5, 2012 at 3:39am

It's because he's claiming that the atoms that made up his brain just magically came together without explanation. Like magic. He's using christian logic. Only being told that god "poofed" things into existence, that must be what the scientist are saying atoms did in order to make his brain. When we all know that's not what happen. He's completely disregarding, any explanation for how and why things are.

Comment by Jason on August 5, 2012 at 11:33am

Well, it makes sense if you don’t think about it.

Comment by Nate Townsend on August 9, 2012 at 11:45pm

On the other hand, I kinda wish that I could find arguments like this one to deconstruct anymore. Pawn class Christians just aren’t worth bothering with, but this… THIS is a challenge.

Comment by James Cox on August 10, 2012 at 6:21pm

I quess he never 'thought' about the possibility that, the 'minds' than can't think, don't survive. The minds that work survive to bred, and maybe succeed with changing the world. 'God' might not be very important in such a world. Did I just make a case for evolution? YES!

Comment by jerrod.gilbert on August 22, 2012 at 12:49am

"It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-produce, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true?"

This same process causes every sense you have. So, by his own reasoning, he can't trust what he sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels. And, also, can't trust what anyone else thinks, sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels...including everyone who took part in writing the bible.

He's using "Christian logic" to explain things. And you can't do that without looking ridiculous.

Comment by Andrew on August 22, 2012 at 4:41pm

he makes a great case for agnosticism.

note that anything he says against atheism can be equally said against theistic religions like Christianity

also, thoughts are not chaotic randomness; they react very predictably according to external stimuli to the senses. It's like pouring a milk jug into a London-shaped bowl and being surprised that the milk is now shaped like London.

Comment by Logicallunatic on August 22, 2012 at 8:28pm

From wiki:

"C. S. Lewis was a novelist, poet, academic,medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist."

Yes, and he wasn't up on his evolutionary biology. If he was, he would know the brain was designed by natural selection and our human intelligence is just a by-product of this and not a purpose of "design". He was pretty much a scientific illiterate. Not to be harsh but he is out of date garbage really.

Comment by Richard E. Robertson on August 22, 2012 at 9:14pm

Actually he never says that the scientific model goes "poof" to create thought. He give a good generic description of the process. What he does though is that this process is untrustworthy but fails to explain WHY it is untrustworthy. The truth is thoughts ARE untrustworthy. Even Sigmund Freud could have explained that one. To even trust the arguments leading to either theism, agnosticism, or atheism requires one to think about those arguments. Even to select a specific religion requires thought. We can go on and on about this, but he is simply using a strawman of "untrustworthy thoughts".

Comment by Ron V on August 22, 2012 at 9:28pm

"Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind.

Ok

In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking.

Ok

It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought.

Ok

But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true?

Ok

It's like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London.

Not so.

But if I can't trust my own thinking, of course I can't trust the arguments leading to Atheism,

or to anything else

and therefore have no reason to be an Atheist, or anything else.

Ok

Unless I believe in God, I cannot believe in thought:

Not so

so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God."

Or to believe in god

 

I heard so much from Christians about CS Lewis and how brilliant he was, but when I read Mere Christianity I was very disappointed.  Perhaps it was because we know so much more scientifically now.  Regardless, here is one critique of Mere Christianity I believe I read after I read Mere Christianity that highlights some of the issues I saw in the book:

http://www.rationalresponders.com/mere_christianity_c_s_lewis

I don't recall if the specific quote above was in Mere Christianity, but Mere Christianity,  imo, was full of this nonsense.  It sounds so cerebral, but it is full of nonsense and flawed logic, in my opinion. 

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