The Three-Personal God by C.S. Lewis Doodle (BBC Talk 20, Mere Christianity, Bk 4, Chapter 2)

In the book, new chapters were added to the original broadcast talks and some were renamed or extended. See below:
Talk 19 - The Map and the Ocean (Bk 4, Chapter 1 Making and Begetting)
Talk 20 - God in Three Persons (Bk 4, Chapter 2 The Three Personal God).
Talk 21 - The Whole Purpose of the Christian (Bk4, Chapter 3 The Good Infection).
Talk 22 - The Obstinate Tin Soldiers (Bk 4, Chapter 5 )
Talk 23 - Let Us Pretend ( Bk 4, Chapter 7)
Talk 24 - Is Christianity Hard or Easy? (Bk 4, Chapter 8)
Talk 25 - The New Man (Bk 4, Chapter 11)

Bk 4, Chapter 1 - Making and Begetting
Bk 4, Chapter 2 - The Three Personal God
Bk 4, Chapter 3 - The Good Infection
Bk 4, Chapter 4 - Time and Beyond Time (Talk 25)
Bk 4, Chapter 5 - The Obstinate Tin Soldiers
Bk 4, Chapter 6 - Two Notes
Bk 4, Chapter 7 - Let Us Pretend
Bk 4, Chapter 8 - Is Christianity Hard or Easy?
Bk 4, Chapter 9 - Counting the Cost
Bk 4, Chapter 10 - Nice People or New Men
Bk 4, Chapter 11 - The New Man

(5:12) I should probably have drawn a square, a triangle, and a hexagram in Flatland trying to imagine a cube (which to them would look only to be another square) but I chose to depict flat-men in Doodleland, trying to imagine the third dimension in a game instead.

(7:44) And standing in the middle, the high priest questioned Jesus, saying, Do you not
answer? Nothing? What do these testify against you? But He was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest questioned Him, and said to Him, Are you the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I AM! And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven. [Psa. 110.1; Dan. 7.13]

(8:28) The magazine version of this talk had the title and text “Theology – Experimental Knowledge", rather than the updated "Theology - Experimental Science" as it became in the book 'Mere Christianity'. Of course, they mean the same, but I think the first is clearer for me.

“And if, turning aside from the religious attitude, we speak for a moment as mere sociologists, we must admit that history does not encourage us to expect much invigorating power in a minimal religion. Attempts at such a minimal religion are not new - from Akhenaten and Julian the Apostate down to Lord Herbert of Cherbury and the late H. G. Wells. But where are the saints, the consolations, the ecstacies? The greatest of such attempts was that simplification of Jewish and Christian traditions which we call Islam..." (Lewis, Religion without Dogma).

"So far from being the final religious refinement, Pantheism is in fact the permanent natural bent of the human mind; the permanent ordinary level below which man sometimes sinks, under the influence of priestcraft and superstition, but above which his own unaided efforts can never raise him for very long. Platonism and Judaism, and Christianity (which has incorporated both Platonism and Judaism) have proved the only things capable of resisting it. It is the attitude into which the human mind automatically falls when left to itself. No wonder we find it congenial. If ‘religion’ means simply what man says about God, and not what God does about man, then Pantheism almost is religion. And ‘religion’ in that sense has, in the long run, only one really formidable opponent—namely Christianity" (Lewis, ‘Miracles’, Chapter 12 - Christianity and ‘Religion’).

The magazine article shows italics as follows (in capitals): "Though they say that God is BEYOND personality...something LESS then personal, something MORE than a person..."; "Then came a man who claimed to BE God"; and "waiting for him TOGETHER..."

[CSLewisDoodle]

Lewis: “…The apparent profundity of Pantheism thinly veils a mass of spontaneous picture-thinking and owes its plausibility to that fact.

Pantheists and Christians agree that God is present everywhere. Pantheists conclude that He is ‘diffused’ or ‘concealed’ in all things and therefore a universal medium rather that a concrete entity, because their minds are really dominated by the picture of a gas, or fluid, or space itself. The Christian, on the other hand, deliberately rules out such images by saying that God is totally present at every point of space and time, and locally present in none.

Again the Pantheist and Christian agree that we are all dependent on God and intimately related to Him. But the Christian defines this relation in terms of Maker and made, whereas the Pantheist (at least of the popular kind) says, we are ‘parts’ of Him, or are contained in Him. Once more, the picture of a vast extended something which can be divided into areas has crept in. Because of this fatal picture Pantheism concludes that God must be equally present in what we call evil and what we call good and therefore indifferent to both (ether permeates the mud and the marble impartially). The Christian has to reply that this is far too simple; God is present in a great many different modes: not present in matter as He is present in man, not present in all men as in some, not present in any other man as in Jesus.

Pantheist and Christian also agree that God is super-personal. The Christian means by this that God has a positive structure which we could never have guessed in advance, any more than a knowledge of squares would have enabled us to guess at a cube. He contains ‘persons’ (three of them) while remaining one God, as a cube contains six squares while remaining one solid body. We cannot comprehend such a structure any more than the Flatlanders could comprehend a cube. But we can at least comprehend our incomprehension, and see that if there is something beyond personality it OUGHT to be incomprehensible in that sort of way. The Pantheist, on the other hand, though he may say ‘superpersonal’ really conceives God in terms of what is sub-personal—as though the Flatlanders thought a cube existed in FEWER dimensions than a square.

At every point Christianity has to correct the natural expectations of the Pantheist and offer something more difficult, just as Schrödinger [the scientist behind the Quantum Theory] has to correct Democritus [the ancient Greek scientist behind the Atomic Theory]. At every moment he has to multiply distinctions and rule out false analogies. He has to substitute the mappings of something that has a positive, concrete, and highly articulated character for the formless generalities in which Pantheism is at home…” (Christianity and ‘Religion’, Miracles).

See helpful notes in the video description above.

[keepperspective]

“Anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.”

[kylies]

The snapping and 'eyes on the page' gesture is so funny and good. Actually got my attention. Massive kudos for that bit in particular.

[salli]

I like the point Lewis makes about prayer; when we pray, it is God in us prompting us, God with us leading us, God before us hearing us. So great to know just how aware of us God really is; aware of each one of us. Joy!

[JS-kvxt]

This channel's become such a precious classic for me.
It is something you constantly go back for both inspiration and comforting time.
Thank you so much for your work.

[J.P.Walker]

I just came across a copy of "Mere Christianity " at the local thrift store and picked it up for .50$
You have brought C.S. Lewis more alive than any Hollywood rendition of Narnia!
God bless you brother,
We fly soon!

[Eunice.Aceto]

C. S. Lewis has gob smacked me. Again.
I read this book something like thirty years ago and I still quote it today. Thank you for providing these pills of wisdom yet today.

[joshlarking]

I've been asked on several occasions, "If you could have dinner with someone for a night - dead or alive - who would you choose?". How wonderful I think it would be, to have the company and conversation of this man for an evening, over supper.

[amyj]

God never ceases to blow my mind 😂 May He bless those who watch this 💓

[shinigamimiroku]

I remember reading this and my jaw dropping; granted I'd only just come into the faith, but the way he explains the Trinity and the Body of Christ made so much logical sense, rather than the whole nonsensical "egg" metaphor I sometimes hear thrown about (especially in youth ministries).

[beemer]

CS Lewis has had a profound effect on my understanding Christianity, and these illustrations of his great work are absolutely fantastic. Clearly set out, highly intelligent, full of detail, facts and reality. Absolutely love them. Thank you so much. God bless you. ❤️🙏❤️

[itsHeatherKay]

So amazing! Watched with my teenaged son. Thanks

[morenojames]

Amazing creativity in visually expressing the narration, fantastic development in artwork, wonderful citations which Lewis would allude to but didn't outright state in chapter and verse-- You really are a blessing and marvel, CSLewisDoodle. You'll never get millions of subs or views but please never forget that each view you do get is another soul you've touched by your choice of audio, your choice of art and your passion for expressing truths in your way. Thank you!

[UnOrigionalOne]

I love how much thought is put into these drawings and visual tricks.

[m.d.]

You have done AMAZING things with the creativity and technical acumen God's given you! Thank you so much, and I hope you keep it up for years to come!

[djuliescaff]

I can never watch the Making and Begetting series without crying. God is so wonderful!

[chessversarius]

I hope that I myself will one day do something remotely as good or as helpful as this.
Helpful as in, helpful for Christians, or for those who will become some.

These are just so outstanding ^_^

[sarahepps]

I was overjoyed to find a new video in the Mere Christianity series. Seeing the drawings bring the text to life, accompanied by clear and personal dictation, helps me engage with the ideas presented. Thank you @CSLewisDoodle for orchestrating these wonderful videos!

[holysmokes]

I find it incredible how much on point C.S. Lewis was with his observations. Simple and yet profound every time.

[ElleSuko]

All throughout the day yesterday I was mulling over the concept of God being a personal God and struggling to understand how this fits in with the reality that I know. This video came up in my subscription feed just in time and with exactly the right words of wisdom I needed to hear - thank you!