In this doodle, C.S. Lewis describes 'the spiritual preparation of humanity' from the introductory chapter of his book 'The Problem of Pain'. Notes below:
0:11, 15:48 The climbing rope at the end showing four 'strands' within it, is a link to the introductory rope illustration of 'Developed Religion'.
0:56, 6:09 See the following quote on this uncanny or "peculiar feeling" in regards to the dead & ghosts: "I am not so much afraid of death, as ashamed because of it; it is the very disgrace & ignominy of our human natures that, in a moment, can so disfigure us that our nearest friends, wife, & children stand afraid and start (=recoil) at us." (Thomas Brown)
8:24 Parricide is the killing of a parent. Our conscience is there first. The act of murder could not produce a sense of guilt, unless our conscience was already saying 'you ought not'.
9:01 The ancient texts are as follows:
'And surely proper behaviour to parents & elder siblings is the root of goodness' (Ancient Chinese, Chinese Analects, i. 2/Respect of parents & seniors consider right).
'I have not slain men' (Ancient Egyptian, from the Confession of the Righteous Soul, 'Book of the Dead'/Murder considered wrong).
'I saw in Nástrond (= Hell) . . . beguilers of others' wives' (Old Norse, Volospá 38, 39/Adultery considered wrong).
'Whoso takes no bribe . . . well pleasing is this to Samas' (Babylonian, List of sins/Stealing considered wrong).
'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour' (Ancient Jewish, Exodus 20.16/Perverting justice considered wrong).
[See appendix to the 'Abolition of Man' by Lewis]
12:18 Genesis 12:1-3: "And in you [Abram] shall all families of the earth be blessed".
12:51 A paradox is a situation or statement that seems difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics. Conflicting with expectation, literally beyond belief or thought.
14:22 Examples of 'non-moral worship' are explained in the following chapters & essays:
Sexuality - See essay called the 'The Grand Miracle': "The nature religions are those of the old, simple pagan sort that you know about...you actually committed fornication in the temple of Aphrodite."
The Life-Force - More on this in chapter 4 of 'Mere Christianity'. "The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion & none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?"
The Worship of the Future - See Letter #15 of 'Screwtape Letters': "But we (demonic forces) want a man hag-ridden by the Future — haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth—ready to break the Enemy's commands in the present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other—dependent for his faith on the success or failure of schemes whose end he will not live to see. We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present."
14:42 Pagan Myths - See doodle called 'The Grand Miracle' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0VxljSppWk). "The principle (of death & rebirth) is there in Nature because it was first there in God Himself."
14:58 Entropy means that disorder increases over time & this means time has an actual direction from order to disorder. Up until the mid-20th century scientists maintained the universe/matter was eternal (no creation or ending) & then, with a better understanding, changed its position & held that it was continuously self-creating (infinity creations & infinity ends). But these ideas were killed off when we learnt that the universe is irreversibly getting old, & will 'wear out', with one real creation & one real end. Science has moved, quite uncomfortably for many, much closer to a Bible/theistic point of view held from the get-go. Cosmologists have tried to get rid of the need of God in both ways - by pretending the universe is eternal (& therefore needing no eternal Creator) and by pretending the universe is self-creating.
14:52 Pantheism is the belief that God Is Nature. Atheism is the belief that there is Nothing But Nature. Theism is the belief that God Is Outside Nature, and created it. "Pantheism is in fact the permanent natural bent of the human mind; the permanent ordinary level below which man sometimes sinks, under the influence of priestcraft and superstition, but above which his own unaided efforts can never raise him for very long" (Miracles, Chapter 11).
14:53 A PRIORI: Being without examination or analysis; presumptive.
LUCIDITY: The quality of being easily understood, i.e. 'Presumptive obviousness' of Pantheism and Newtonian Physics.
15:25 ANFRACTUOSITY: A winding, circuitous, or intricate passage, surface, process, etc.
