C.S. Lewis’ Spoke of a ‘Post-Christian’ World With ‘No Objective Right or Wrong’ in 80-Year-Old Christmas Sermon

In 1946, theologian and author C.S. Lewis was said to be “the most entertaining missionary of our time.” As the world was recovering and healing from World War II, Lewis wrote “A Christmas Sermon for Pagans.” And after nearly 80 years, his words still ring astonishingly true.

Originally published by Strand Magazine (Vol. 112, Issue 672, December 1946), the sermon stated that post-Christians believe that “whatever may be amiss with the world, it is certainly not we, not the ordinary people.”

The relevance of Lewis’ sermon from 1946 is remarkable.

‘A Christmas Sermon for Pagans’ (1946) by C.S. Lewis Is Still Relevant Today

As Lewis introduced his completed sermon to Strand Magazine, he reflected on how he responded “lightheartedly” to the writing prompt invitation. Lewis quickly found the task to be difficult. He wondered if there were any “pagans” left in England.

He went on to explain that “pagan” and “heathen” were often synonymous and referred to a “rustic” or a “yokel.”

“They date from the time when the larger towns of the Roman Empire were already Christianised, but the old Nature relations still lingered in the country,” Lewis said. “Pagans or Heathens were the backward people in the remote districts who had not yet been converted, who were still pre-Christian.”

“To say that modern people who have drifted away from Christianity are Pagans is to suggest that a post-Christian man is the same as a pre-Christian man,” Lewis continued. “And that is like thinking that a woman who has lost her husband is the same sort of person as an unmarried girl.”

Lewis then went on to explain how a pagan is different from a post-Christian. The pagan was “too religious” in that he was reverent not toward God but toward the earth and nature. The pagan also had developed an “‘objective’ right or wrong,” “something which existed independently of human opinions.”

A third difference between the pagan and post-Christian is self-awareness, said Lewis. “The Pagan code may have been on some points a low one: but it was too high for the Pagan to live up to,” he wrote. “Hence, a Pagan, though in many ways merrier than a modern, had a deep sadness. When he asked himself what was wrong with the world he did not immediately reply, ‘the social system,’ or ‘our allies,’ or ‘education.’ It occurred to him that he himself might be one of the things that was wrong with the world.”