More thoughts on and from Lewis
As is typical for me at this time of year (The Nativity Fast), I have undertaken the re-reading of “On the Incarnation of The Word of God” by St. Athanasius, with an introduction by C.S. Lewis. I may be rightly accused of being an unabashed “Lewis-phile” if you will, to the delight of some and certainly to the great chagrin of others. That non-withstanding, I was struck as I re-read Lewis’s introduction to St. Athanasius’s marvelous and succinct work, by the following statement:
We are all rightly distressed, and ashamed also, at the divisions of Christendom. But those who have always lived within the Christian fold may be too easily dispirited by them. They are bad, but such people do not know what it looks like from without. Seen from there, what is left intact despite all the divisions, still appears (as it truly is) an immensely formidable unity.I know, for I saw it; and well our enemies know it.
You see, I had forgotten that Lewis came from a position in life well outside of Christian experience. His mind was formed in a mostly secular and irreligious milieu, and it was from that vantage point that he was able to make the observation that from the outside point of view, Christianity seems a formidable force, and a unified force at that. Perhaps it is true that we, on the inside as it were, tend to focus more exclusively on divisions and disagreements than we should. I say this not in any way to minimize the very real differences in ecclesiology, soteriology, Christology and Theology which do in fact exist, rather to say that perhaps our concentration on these things causes us to myopically render ourselves impotent when that is certainly not the case.
To take a look at a good discussion on this very matter, might I suggest looking at Fr. Gregory Jensen’s blog, Koinonia. In particular his recent series of posts springing from his reflections upon “Basic Principles of the Attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church Toward the Other Christian Confessions”.
Lewis’s quote struck me as being eminently relative to this topic, first because of it’s premise and second because Lewis, an Anglican, is highly valued and loved within Eastern Orthodox circles because his faith so closely resonates with Orthodoxy. He is, for me , a prime example of those Christians, who while they are outside of the Orthodox Church, are none-the-less not only Christian, but vital to Christendom as a whole.
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