Mere Christianity, Chapter 5

In this chapter, CS Lewis further describes what sort of a god is
described in the last chapter - a being that directs the universe,
and he believes, has directed us to behave in a certain way.

He cautions us that we are not yet at the Christian God, that instead
this god may not be interested at all in mercy or forgiveness or any
of that stuff. If he did direct us to behave in a certain way that
we call good, he could be as forgiving of mistakes as a
multiplication table. Lewis puts it this way: "God is the only
comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and
the thing we most want to hide from."

He also explains that this sort of a realization is critical for
Christianity to be meaningful- that there is an absolute good that
expects us to be as unfailing as gravity, and that because we don't
live up to that measure we really should face the same sort of
consequences as if we try to defy gravity or the need to breathe.
According to CS Lewis, that is what Christianity is about -
comforting and giving us hope, despite the terrifying fact that by
all rights, we should be dead.

As I've said, I don't accept the argument of an external Law of
Nature, that there is some sort of universal moral code that
everything can be measured against objectively.

Without this, if God were to exist, it would merely be that thing
which directs the laws of physics, physics which we are no more
capable of violating than a stone would be capable of violating
gravity. This god would be like a personification of the order and
power of physics, something akin to the worship of mathematics, or
nuclear energy.

Logically, then, then there are not any consequences that we should
be in fear of; in fact there isn't a lot to indicate that God would
have any interest in us at all. Lewis believes that he has provided
an adequate basis in cosmic fact for a dive into the basic principles
of religion; I anticipate that with such different starting points,
we will have a lot to talk about further on.