Friday, September 15, 2006

Pride and Charity




At long last, I suppose, I've found the joys of Mere Christianity. I've heard so many Christians from so many different backgrounds point to this book as being critical to their faith. I got the audiobook version recently and started into it this week. Yep, it's worthy of its praise.

Lewis, is so right about "the center of Christian morality" being Pride. "...the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind....The Christians are right: it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But Pride always means enmity-it is enmity."

In the "charity" chapter, this quote caught my attention:

"Don't waste time bothering whether you love your neighbor. Act as if you did....When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him."

1 comment:

Richard Parker said...

I'll take one of these also.