Has anyone noticed the similarity between these two quotes from C. S. Lewis and Alvin Plantinga?
Lewis: "Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the
whole thing looks improbable: but when I was an atheist I
had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable."
Mere Christianity
Plantinga: For me, as, I suppose, for most others, spiritual life is
an up and down proposition, with what one hopes are the
consolidation of small but genuine gains. Sometimes I wake
in the wee hours of the morning and find myself wondering:
can all this really be true? Can this whole wonderful
Christian story really be more than a wonderful fairy
tale? At other times I find myself as convinced of its
main lineaments as that I live in South Bend.--
Spiritual Autobiography
4 comments:
They sound quite similar. I haven't read Plantinga yet and still have only read a portion of Lewis' stuff. I think I can learn a lot from both of them.
Victor,
They both share the candid admission of occasional serious doubt. However, they are very different. Lewis contrasts his doubt mood as a believer to the terror of the doubt of an atheist. It seems to echo Pascal's Wager. Platinga compares his moments of doubt to his seasons of absolute assurance.
It is hard to say which has more apologetic value. I tend to think Lewis could be more helpful to an atheist who is open. It would be harder for him to indetify with Platinga's assurance.
Personally, I take this to be evidence that Lewis' quote was merely invented by borrowing from Plantinga. I mean, the similarities are plainly obvious--what else could it mean?!
{g}
JRP
Jason is right.
How else could we explain the existence of TWO people who sometimes have occasional feelings that the Evangelists may have been stretching the truth to claim that Jesus really did walk on water?
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