If we should ever grow brave, what on earth would become of us? Joy Davidman, in the introduction to Smoke on the Mountain: An Interpretation of the Ten Commandments in Terms of Today.
I believe one of the points of the book (I have not read it) is that we are too timid in our virtues. We are more likely to be heroic in the avoidance of doing evil than in the performance of good. I t was a new idea to me, and I thought it intriguing.
I do wonder, given that framing, about the sin of Pride. Or, to put it in CS Lewis' terms -- you doubtless know the quote better than I do -- "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth."
Perhaps courageous do-goodery has a downside, then; in which case the quote is really on point. What would become of us if we were even braver in that way than so many of us already are?
3 comments:
I don’t know. What do you think?
I believe one of the points of the book (I have not read it) is that we are too timid in our virtues. We are more likely to be heroic in the avoidance of doing evil than in the performance of good. I t was a new idea to me, and I thought it intriguing.
I do wonder, given that framing, about the sin of Pride. Or, to put it in CS Lewis' terms -- you doubtless know the quote better than I do -- "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth."
Perhaps courageous do-goodery has a downside, then; in which case the quote is really on point. What would become of us if we were even braver in that way than so many of us already are?
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