A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery.
C. S. LewisRead
You must not do, you must not even try to do, the will of the Father unless you are prepared to 'know of the doctrine'.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding and knowledge are prerequisites to acting on one's beliefs or duties.
C. S. Lewis emphasizes that before undertaking any actions based on faith or doctrine, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of what those beliefs entail. He suggests that one must be prepared and knowledgeable about the teachings or principles of oneβs faith before attempting to fulfill divine expectations.
Themes
KnowledgeFaithUnderstandingActionDoctrine
In practice
Example use cases
In a church sermon discussing the importance of understanding faith before acting.
More from C. S. Lewis
All quotes βI enjoyed my breakfast this morning, and I think that was a good thing and do not think it was condemned by God. But I do not think myself a good man for enjoying it.
C. S. LewisRead
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
C. S. LewisRead
Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.
C. S. LewisRead
I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. It doesn't change God - it changes me.
C. S. LewisRead
The instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred
C. S. LewisRead
Similar quotes
We'd all do well to start over again, preferably with kindergarten.
Kurt VonnegutRead
Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.
DemosthenesRead
You either control your mind or it controls you.
Napoleon HillRead
Young people have a right to optimism, and rightly so; human beings have grown and developed and accomplished wonderful feats in the world. But what mires me in pessimism is the fact that so much of life is pain and sorrow and willful ignorance and violence, and pushing back against that tide takes so much effort, so much steady fight. It's tiring.
Jesmyn WardRead
There are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be.
Leon BloyRead
One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read