Recently, I was writing a short column for C. M. Miller’s Substack, Shelf of Crocodiles, on Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy (found here). In that column, I mentioned that one of Lewis’s goals for the trilogy was to help moderns relearn how to look up at the heavens. Do we see ourselves as biological machines in a cosmic wilderness, or do we see ourselves as creatures, in God’s image, with a role to play in a story much, much bigger than we can see? Are we dirt clods flying through space on a bigger dirt clod, or is there more to our existence?
There were some interesting convergences as I wrote that column. I had been reading Doug Wilson’s book on writers he recommends reading, Lewis being one, in which he discusses what I mentioned above but in a little more detail. Also, on the Stories are Soul Food podcast, three episodes really stood out as relevant to this line of thought. Nate Wilson and Brian Kohl discussed in these episodes the concepts of narrative as the best proof and the idea that our modern perspective often gets in the way of our understanding the world as Scripture defines it (these episodes can be found here, here, and here). Throwing all of this into the soup vat of my mind (perhaps the very soup Wodehouse referred to as being better left unstirred), it’s been flavoring my thought. The world truly is different than we moderns tend to think of it. I think the best place for me to start discussing taking a second look at the world around us is with Lewis and his concept of chronological snobbery.
Lewis mentioned chronological snobbery in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy. He describes it as the attitude that anything old and out-of-date must be so because it was untrue or “discredited.” One of the characteristics of someone who has overcome this snobbery, according to Lewis, is that they begin to see their own time as a period.1 Instead of looking back as if every generation before us was primitive and less intelligent than we are, this allows a person to view things more clearly. When history and modern times are both approached with this kind of humility, it opens the door to a better understanding of the historical narrative in which God has placed us.
We live in the 21st century, when the rotten fruit of the Enlightenment is plain to see. There were plenty of generations before us that laid layer after layer of knowledge, wisdom, and discovery (and plenty of sin) on which we stand and by which our lives are shaped. Similarly, I believe there will most likely be many generations after us who look back at our time as another period of history, wondering at some of our habits and customs just as we wonder at the blood-letting of historic doctors or the gruesome practices of ancient pagan nations. This is all part of the story of history that God is writing and each of us is a character in that story.
Two Lies
This view of our lives as part of a narrative is important. Once a person begins to see their own time as a period of history along with the periods that have come before it, they tend to be more humble and to be better able to understand their own time. As N. D. Wilson points out in the podcasts referenced above, God has made human beings as narratival creatures. We thrive on stories and knowing the characters in a story, which ones we relate to, and who the good guys and the bad guys are. That’s why modern stories which blur all of the lines between character roles and good and evil are so dubious. These types of stories are written in direct rebellion against the structure with which God chose to create. These stories tell a lie: there is no narrative, no story into which your life fits, and no meaning behind what you do. You can love or hate whatever you want because none of it matters.
Some storytellers rebel against God by denying that there is any narrative to begin with; others rebel by harnessing the power of narrative to tell a different lie. “Did God really say…? He just knows that as soon as you eat the fruit, you’ll be like Him…” That first of many lies is seeking to reframe the story in which Eve is living. She is no longer a creature in simple submission to God; she has been put into a narrative in which God is keeping her from something good. While that was not untrue, God was keeping humanity from responsibilities for which they were not ready. I believe they would have eaten that fruit at some point but only after they had been made ready by God and He had given His blessing for them to do so. The serpent revealed just enough of the narrative to give Eve a false impression of the whole story, and she fell for it while Adam stood by and did nothing.
This second is the more powerful of the two lies. This lie, instead of saying there is no story, tells a false story and puts people into roles they were never meant to play. A clear example of this is found in sitcoms or movies that have a “normal” homosexual couple. This couple looks and acts just like a biblically married couple: they’re faithful to one another, they seem to love one another, and seem to be building a successful household together. The image, except for the central piece, looks just how many Westerners believe a traditional, happy marriage should look. The problem is, of course, that it’s all a lie. Those two things, the life around the couple and the couple, do not go together. You don’t get the fruit of a joyful, blessed marriage and life when you’re living in outright rebellion against the living God. Although the story is saying differently, it doesn’t change the fact that one cannot have the blessings and satisfaction that come from a biblical marriage when engaging in a counterfeit.
A Sterilized World
One of the reasons those two lies are so effective is that modern Western culture sees everything through the lens of a microscope. We separate everything into tiny parts, bring them into a sterile lab one at a time, study them, and think that because we understand these tiny, individual parts we understand the whole. We can run tests and replicate results, so we must know how things work and be able to manipulate them how we like.
In contrast, men like Lewis, Chesterton, and Tolkien, saw the world through pre-modern eyes; I believe that’s one of the many reasons their writing has such a strong hold on people, even today. Instead of trying to break everything down, they were trying to see everything built up. Along with the medievals, they sought the big picture. When one understands wisdom as defined biblically, the way in which God created the world to work, one can identify harmony and dissonance with the creation. What does it matter to us, then, if we find examples of certain behavior among animals? It certainly doesn’t set our behavior, because man is set above creation as its shepherd. And how should we react when we’re told that human beings may one day transcend their physical bodies through technology? With disgust, because God has made us from the dirt of the physical creation and we will always be deeply connected to it; which, because that’s how God decided to do it, is a good thing.
This is what Lewis was getting at in his novel, That Hideous Strength. The N.I.C.E. (National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments) members are after power and influence so that they can direct humanity in the direction they please. This means control of governments, yes, but also control of the human race: their bodies, lifespans, health, and lifestyle. The members of the institute who are running the show believe that they will be able, through the use of technology, to transcend death and the limitations of their bodies, to preserve their consciousness and, thereby, rule the world. They see any organic life as in the way, weak, and limited. Let everything be run by cold logic, efficient systems, and technology, and all will be well on earth. Of course, that all depends on your definition of things being well. Essentially, this goal of using technology to transcend physical boundaries is also an effort to avoid the consequences of sin.
The two lies mentioned above are made all the more digestible because we use our technology to delay some of the consequences of our sins. For example, a homosexual couple can “have children” through surrogacy, a person who believes they should be in the body of someone of a different biological sex can have surgery to try to make their body match what they feel, and someone who feels anxiety or loneliness due to the modern way of life can just go to their therapist and get a few pills to help them numb the pain, never mind that that pain might be the result of certain lifestyle choices that are out of harmony with how God intended people to live. Don’t get me wrong here: these consequences are only delayed or buffered for a time. They eventually catch up to people and are usually worse because of any efforts to minimize them. God designed the world such that the natural consequences of sin are painful and that we are hardwired to avoid that pain. Therefore, when we’re open and directly exposed to the consequences of our actions, we tend to avoid certain sins because the resulting pain is great. With our way of deferring these consequences, we can believe the lie that certain behaviors are unrelated to certain consequences. We lose sight of the chain of events and isolate each action and consequence into its own category.
The Big Picture
At this point you might be asking, what does this have to do with Christian families? Let’s bring it down to the ground level. I think one of the first and most obvious ways these ideas affect us is to make us suddenly all too aware of our modernist assumptions. For example, I’ll be going along happily, content to watch some movie I used to enjoy when, all of a sudden, the newly installed Modern Assumptions Alarm goes off in my head. I start to watch more closely and begin to see assumptions everywhere and the movie is virtually ruined for me from then on. I can maybe enjoy it as a bit of nostalgia but the charm of the story is gone. It’s like watching a magician do a trick you love and have seen a thousand times, but on the thousand-and-first time, someone comes up behind you and explains to you how it works as you watch. You might still enjoy watching the trick, but it will never have the same hold on you as it did before. Of course, those examples imply negative feelings about my assumptions being revealed. Isn’t it a good thing, you ask, that these false assumptions are brought to light? Well, yes, it’s a good thing like it’s a good thing that a bad tooth gets pulled. The tooth-pulling is less unpleasant than the consequences of not having the tooth pulled, but the tooth-pulling is still unpleasant.
The modernist assumptions slowly, very slowly, get replaced by more balanced, time-honored ways of seeing the world. Hierarchy and duty are two areas that I run into a lot. I’ve had to realize and combat how much the modern dislike of authority has crept into my thinking, as well. I’ve had to fight individualistic assumptions and assumptions about work and family and how they should function in society. All of these areas make a huge difference in our lives when modern assumptions are replaced with biblical ways of looking at their subjects. When you start to realize you might be just as wrong about something as a medieval doctor was about some aspect of medicine, you’re humbled and much more likely to place more value on ideas and ways of living that have stood the test of time. When generations of people have been able to live a certain way in different circumstances and different places, that says a lot about that way of life.
It’s also important to note that this dismantling of assumptions has to happen no matter when or where a person lives. It’s not just modern Western assumptions that need to be dismantled; every man and woman that has ever come to Christ has had to have their previous assumptions removed and biblical ones applied. This change of assumptions and ways of thinking is, I believe, what Paul meant when he said that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds.2 A person’s old way of thinking, whether of a modern Western man or of a Native American before the new world was discovered or of an ancient Chinese peasant, must all give way to the truth of the bible. Will it look different based on the culture and history of a place and people? Of course; but our minds will still be conformed to God’s word.
That is my exhortation to you: let the word of God transform your thinking. Be willing to let it destroy your assumptions based on the time and place in which you live and replace them with assumptions from Scripture. Let those Scriptural assumptions form the foundation for your family and household culture. Remember, the science and the assumptions of people today will one day be another chapter in a history book that kids will read in their history classes, wondering at the cluelessness of the people who came before them.
Also, take it slow. Start looking for those assumptions in your thinking that don’t line up with Scripture. Watch for assumptions in movies and other media you take in and ask yourself what loves and hatreds the story is stirring up in you. Every book, TV series, and movie is training your heart, your affections, toward something; what is it? Does it line up with Scripture?
God is writing the story of humanity and you get to play a role in that story; whether big or small, do it with all your might. Love your God, love your spouse, love your children, and love your community. God does much through seemingly small acts of faithfulness. You never know how God will use those small faithful acts to impact the people around you.
Romans 12:2, NASB95