Session 3 · Romans 1:18-20
How Things Are and How They Ought to Be
The strange little word "ought" and where it might come from
Book reading: Mere Christianity, Book One, Chapter 3 (The Reality of the Law)
Some laws describe. If you drop a rock, it falls. The rock does not choose, and it cannot fall wrongly. Other laws prescribe. A sign says "No parking," and you can park there anyway. In Book One, Chapter 3, Lewis points out that the Law of Human Nature is the second kind. It does not tell us how humans behave. It tells us how humans ought to behave, and we can disobey it.
That word "ought" is the center of the chapter. Lewis offers it as a clue that something beyond the material world is in play, something a purely naturalistic picture struggles to explain. Atoms and chemical reactions can tell you what happens, but it is hard to see how they could tell you what should happen. Yet we all feel that pull. We say a bully is wrong, not just unusual.
Now bring in Romans 1:18-20. Paul is describing a different setting from Lewis's, but the two have an interesting overlap. Paul says that "what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them." He adds that God's "invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." In other words, Paul claims there are clues to God in what we can see and in what we know about ourselves, available to ordinary people with no special training.
Look at the hard edge of the passage, too. Paul says people "by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." The verb is active. Truth is not simply missing. It is being pushed down. Sometimes the "ought" bothers us so much that we would like to explain it away, and "it's only chemistry" or "it's only habit" can be a way of making the discomfort go quiet. That doesn't mean everyone who doubts is a villain. It means it is worth asking, honestly, whether we want the clue to lead somewhere.
The passage ends with "So they are without excuse." That sounds harsh, but read it as Paul describing how clear the clue is, not how impatient God is. A signpost that is easy to see is a kindness. And if the sense of "ought" really is a signpost, then it points to something worth looking for.
This is not yet the Christian gospel. Lewis is still at the stage of asking what the clue might point to. Romans 2:15 is a good companion verse, since it speaks of the law "written on their hearts" and of conscience bearing witness. You are allowed to simply pay attention to that voice for a while before you decide what it means.
Key idea
Lewis contrasts descriptive laws (how things behave) with the prescriptive Law of Human Nature (how humans ought to behave), and offers the "ought" as a clue to something beyond the material world.
Questions to consider
- What is a moment when you strongly felt that something ought to be different, in the world or in your own behavior? Where do you think that sense came from?
- Paul says people can "suppress the truth." Is there an uncomfortable "ought" in your life that you tend to explain away or avoid?
Journal prompt
Write about one "ought" that has nagged at you lately. Don't fix it yet. Just describe it plainly, including how it feels and what you usually do with it.
Practice
Dose: 5 minutes a day for 3 days. 1) Each day, write down one "is" (something that simply happens, like weather or a tired body) and one "ought" (something you feel should be different). 2) Next to the "ought," write who or what you think it is measured against. 3) On day three, read Romans 1:18-20 slowly and write one sentence on what you think the clue might point to.