The Laws of Nature by C. S. Lewis Doodle
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 19 окт 2024
- C.S. Lewis reaches a dazzling conclusion: In the whole history of the universe, the laws of nature have never produced a single event! The laws of nature are the pattern to which events conform: the source of events must be sought elsewhere. Notes below:
A live-action illustration of a C.S. Lewis essay in the 1920-1940's style of 'Art Deco'.
This article is part of a series of five, fantastic newspaper articles, written for the Coventry Evening Telegraph from January to May 1945, which closed out the final months of the European theatre of war for Britain and addressed typical, usually scoffing, atheist arguments:
‘Religion and Science’ (3 January 1945);
’Who was Right? Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer’ (21 Feb. 1945 - • C.S. Lewis on Evolutio... );
‘The Laws of Nature' (4 April 1945 - • The Laws of Nature by ... );
‘Work and Prayer’ (28 May 1945 - • Work and Prayer by C.S... ) &
‘Meditation in a Toolshed’ (17 July 1945 - • Meditation in a Toolsh... );
(1:24) An 'amalgam' is a mixture, or blend, or alloy of mercury & another metal.
(2:20) A bullet trajectory is affected by side wind and gravity, but also many other relevant factors as Lewis alludes to. For instance, a bullet path is also affected by humidity and air resistance, the angle of the gun, air pressure, altitude, air temperature, muzzle velocity, bullet shape & drag.
(2:51) Newton’s 3rd law states that for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction.
(4:00) "We are in the habit of talking as if the laws of nature caused events to happen; but they have never caused any event at all. The laws of motion do not set billiard balls moving: they analyse the motion after something else (say, a man with a cue, or a lurch of the liner, or, perhaps, supernatural power) has provided it...For every law of nature, in the last resort, says ‘If you have A, then you will get B’. But first catch your A: the laws won’t do it for you. (Chp. 9 'Miracle and the Laws of Nature', in 'Miracles').
(6:35) Lewis: '[The historical incarnation of Jesus Christ] has the seemingly arbitrary and idiosyncratic character which modern science is slowly teaching us to put up with in this wilful universe... where irreversible entropy gives time a real direction & the cosmos, no longer static or cyclic, moves like a drama from a real beginning to a real end. If any message from the core of reality ever were to reach us, we should expect to find in it just that unexpectedness, that wilful, dramatic anfractuosity [winding path] which we find in the Christian faith. It has the master touch-the rough, male taste of reality, not made by us, or, indeed, for us, but hitting us in the face ('The problem of Pain', Introduction).'
(8:31) The unabridged essay ended with this paragraph: 'In [Shakespeare's] Hamlet, a branch breaks and Ophelia is drowned. Did she die because the branch broke [i.e. because of the laws of nature] or because Shakespeare wanted her to die at that point in the play [i.e. because of the influence of the author on the character]? Either - both - whichever you please. The alternative suggested by the question is not a real alternative at all - once you have grasped that Shakespeare is making the whole play.'
The original article had the following words italicised which add to understanding (shown in CAPS): “I had been thinking (vaguely enough) that the bullet's flight was CAUSED by the laws of Nature”, “But then the pressing of the trigger, the side wind, and even the earth, are not exactly LAWS”, “This is a LAW. That is, this is the pattern to which the movement of the two billiard balls must conform", "And here comes the snag. The LAW won't set it in motion”, “And that wave, though it certainly moved ACCORDING to the laws of physics, was not moved by them”, “The dazzlingly obvious conclusion now arose in my mind: IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE THE LAWS OF NATURE HAVE NEVER PRODUCED A SINGLE EVENT”, ”The LAWS are the pattern to which events conform: the source of events must be sought elsewhere”, “To ask this is not exactly the same as to ask where THINGS come from”.
Thank God for men who not only think wisely, but are also able to articulate that wisdom in words and in images.
I remember first coming across this doodle several years ago on this channel, but it was redone with sound effects. A great refresher!
Hooray! Are the old vids coming back voiced by new people? I've been meaning to rewatch them for quite some time! Thanks a lot indeed!
So glad to see these back up online
How well Lewis makes complicated philosophy seem so simple.
The videos are back !! 🥳🥳 This is amazing.. love the voice 👍🏾
These videos are a gift to the world 🔥🌍
Thanks for bringing back the old doodles!
Thank you! Especially, for your notes. I couldn't help but think of 'English' on the billiard ball, or bit coin when it comes to money. I'm thankful for the way The Author has written my story. And, each and every one of us has only to enjoy (if we accept) the journey. ;) imho
Thank you for taking the time to bring these words to life in a new way!
love these astounding insights along with the clear and creative depictions!
A new book! Amazing! Thank you so much 😍
Really well done, as always. Thank you for your hard work!
Thank you,very useful film.The laws of nature do not create.
John lennox mentions this is some of his talks.He does mention C S lewis quite often.
These doodles have been very helpful in educating me.
great to see you post again
Starting anything with “The laws of nature” make me think of the Bee movie lol
Always excited to see you post
C.S Lewis was brilliant...simply brilliant...
Wow. Such deep thinking.
Excellent!
C S Lewis is at another level to the rest of us
Excellent job!
ITS BACK!! YAY!
Brilliant thinker
It's back! Does this mean the other CS Doodles will make their way back?
in the days when anyone can use a console command to create a "miracle" in a sandbox physics engine, there is absolutely no room for the 'argument' "the laws of nature preclude miracles!!!1!" anymore.
Not to take anything away from CS Lewis' thought.
Doesn't this mean going back to a source of all events, which then conform to the laws of nature?
Lewis on the subject of 'time & space invaders': "If God annihilates or creates or deflects a unit of matter He has created a new situation at that point. Immediately all Nature domiciles this new situation, makes it at home in her realm, adapts all other events to it. It finds itself conforming to all the laws. If God creates a miraculous spermatozoon in the body of a virgin, it does not proceed to break any laws. The laws at once take it over. Nature is ready. Pregnancy follows, according to all the normal laws, and nine months later a child is born. We see every day that physical nature is not in the least incommoded by the daily inrush of events from biological nature or from psychological nature. If events ever come from beyond Nature altogether, she will be no more incommoded by them. Be sure she will rush to the point where she is invaded, as the defensive forces rush to a cut in our finger, and there hasten to accommodate the newcomer. *The moment it enters her realm it obeys all her laws.* Miraculous wine will intoxicate, miraculous conception will lead to pregnancy...miraculous bread will be digested. The divine art of miracle is not an art of suspending the pattern to which events conform but of feeding new events into that pattern. It does not violate the law’s proviso, ‘If A, then B’: it says, ‘But this time instead of A, A₂’, and Nature, speaking through all her laws, replies, ‘Then B₂’ and naturalises the immigrant, as she well knows how. She is an accomplished hostess..." (Chp. 9 'Miracle and the Laws of Nature', in 'Miracles').
6:35