CS Lewis on The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment

      In this article “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment,” as found in God in the dock, chapter 4, Lewis is not directly taking aim at capital punishment.  Rather he is taking aim at the idea of punishment, and specifically how we can know whether the punishment fits the crime.  In fact he says that the “Humanitarian” [atheist?] view, as he labels it, says that punishment should be either a cure or a deterrent.  Lewis believes that jurisprudence should be committed to a justice view of crime and punishment.  The punishment should fit the crime, but we cannot know whether punishment fits the crime, if we do not have an absolute, moral standard of justice.  We do not merely want anyone or someone punished.  We want the person who committed the crime to be punished.  We can’t even begin to know what punishment (or as he puts it the “dessert”, what you earned) fits the crime, if we do not know what is wrong and what is right.  Scripture or moral code can tell us what is wrong and what is right, but if the wrong and right are not part of the penal code, punishment becomes either a cure or a deterrent.

     Some “Humanitarians” see crime as illness or sickness, which must be cured. If the person committing the crime is considered “sick”, punishment is a “cure”. The difficulty with punishment as a cure is that only specialists can know whether and how a person is sick, and the “punishment” is a cure, which again only a specialist can affirm has occurred. Some people don’t consider a crime something wrong in a moral sense, but something aberrant or defective.  A criminal must be cured of this defect or disease.  There is no way for anyone other than a specialist to know when and if a cure has occurred.

     The second way some “Humanitarians” see crime is as something to be deterred.  Many concepts like capital punishment are seen not only as a just dessert for murder, but as a warning, a deterrent to others not to murder anyone.  The difficulty is that anyone can be hung for any murder as long as the “court” assures the person is guilty.  In the worst case scenario a stacked jury would convict someone, and that person would be executed.  It wouldn’t matter who was executed, as long as the execution deterred other crimes.  When the Nazis controlled various areas, they would regularly round up ten people, it didn’t matter if any of them was guilty of the offense the Nazis wanted to stop, and they would execute these ten.  This was precisely using execution as a deterrent where those executed were not guilty.  It didn’t matter who they executed, as long as the execution stopped the actions the Nazis wanted to stop.

     The problem with the “Humanitarian” view is not just that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, but there is no way to know what behavior is a crime or not.  Instead of Scripture or moral code determining what is a crime, specialists determine who is ill or judges declare someone guilty for the purpose of scaring others.

     Lewis’ point about tyranny and robber barons is meant to say that self-appointed “Humanitarians” develop legal concepts without a moral basis.  The cures and punishments could go on forever as long as long as the “Humanitarians” choose or think there is a need to continue treatment or punishment.  The robber barons in his scenario could be compared to the Turkish empire, which was known as “cruelty tempered by incompetence”.  The point is that a group of oligarchs could just grow tired of punishing people or “keeping the law” and allow people respite from their “tyranny”, i.e. deciding whether they were guilty and of what.

     Lewis’ comment is meant to say that he wants neither tyranny nor robber barons.  He wants to make a case for crime and punishment to be grounded in a permanent, moral code or law.  He believes anything else is incoherent and subject to abuse by specialists.

In his response to criticism of the article he mentions JJC Smart, brother of Ninian Smart.  JJC Smart was a proponent of act utilitariaism “because there is no adequate criterion on what can count as a ‘rule’“. Wikipedia JJC Smart - Focus on rules leads to "superstitious rule worship". Again Wikipedia. Smart inspired such thinkers as Peter Singer.  JJC Smart was an atheist.  See the book Atheism and Theism, Blackwell, 1996 (2003) https://books.google.com/books?id=8F7jD-x07LYC&pg=PR3&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1 

Inside The Mind That Created Narnia | The Real Life Of C.S. Lewis | Absolute History

                                               

  

                                         GOTTSCHALK GAZETTE

JUNE 2021

 

Equipping leaders to reach Europe and the world with the Gospel

 

At Tyndale Theological Seminary near Amsterdam, NL

and Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary in Ukraine

 

Serving under Eastern Mennonite Missions

 

Last semester at Tyndale Theological Seminary

Linda and Phil were honored at a chapel service at Tyndale for her ten years on the staff and five years on the faculty and Phil’s twenty years on the faculty. 

We finished our courses: Linda – Modern Church History and Thesis Prospectus, Phil – Foundations for theology, History of Philosophy of Religion I (Pre-Socratic philosophers to Kant) l and Doctrine of the Holy Spirit and Angels.

Linda served one last time as Thesis Supervisor guiding four thesis defenses.  She is still finishing some of her duties as Librarian, one of which has been to train her replacement who arrived in early June.

The last week of May we finished our last semester of teaching and working at Tyndale Theological Seminary. Tyndale Graduation on May 29^th was in many ways bittersweet. We were touched to be asked to share the Student Charge, the message to the graduates.

 

Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary, Ukraine

Phil has continued to recruit teachers and to teach at Zaporizhzhya (Ukrainian name of the town; I used to use the Russian name) Bible Seminary.  He taught the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in May via Zoom.  He continues to recruit teachers for the MTh program there and to coordinate when courses are taught. We are looking forward to moving there in June 2022 for a two to four year term.

 

Summer in … the Netherlands & the US

We are very pleased that our house here in the Netherlands sold for what for us is an incredible sum of money. The process of the “sale” is still in process.  The buyers have signed off that they will buy or face a stiff penalty.  On the other hand, the closing is July 14, 2021.  We were advised that we ought to remain in NL until the final sale due to tax reasons.

This has changed our summer plans.  We had expected to be at EMM’s Oasis retreat and be involved in a family vacation.  Fortunately, we have been able to change our airline tickets and other arrangements.

We are expecting to return to Pennsylvania to Lancaster, near our mission’s headquarters and our daughter, Beth, and her family.  We are looking forward to seeing our children, grandchildren, Phil’s siblings and Phil’s.

 

A year in the US

            We haven’t spent a full year Home Ministry Assignment in the US since 2005-06.  I, Phil, frankly feel much older and tired!  I am “owed” some sabbatical time (real rest, not academic sabbatical, which means writing, etc.). We will also spend a good amount of time traveling around to see our supporters.

            We hope to buy a house in Lancaster, PA which we will live in for the year in the US and then rent out during our time in Ukraine.  While in Ukraine we expect to rent a small apartment.

 

Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary Graduation

Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary in Ukraine also had their graduation on May 29^th. 

Please pray for several issues in the seminary and in the region.  First, Seminary President Vladimir Degtyaryov has announced that he will retire. Vladimir’s wife was diagnosed with cancer last fall and died one month after the diagnosis.  Vladimir has a son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and daughter in Zaporizhzhya, but it is still a great adjustment for him.

Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary Chairman of the Board, Mark Mackey, fell and had a serious brain trauma.  Once his condition was stabilized, he flew to Seattle, Washington for evaluation and treatment.  The doctors found that he needed a pace maker and had very low blood pressure, which had resulted in the fall.  Mark is doing well, but needs prayer for recovery of his health.  Mark and his wife, Joanne, live in the Seminary building in the “penthouse” apartment.  Mark has been the main fundraiser and guiding force in the school for many years.

Pray also for the Union of Christians Evangelicals Baptists in the Zaporizhzhya region.  There was a long discernment process to find a new bishop for the Union.  This past spring a replacement, Rev. Dr. Aleksei Ivanov, was chosen.  Pray for his assuming of these duties and for the Union as adjustments are made.  

 

Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary site

You can find English, Russian and Ukrainian pages of the ZBS site at this address: https://zbs.com.ua/en/  or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/zbseminary

 

Entertaining Angels Unaware: Welcoming the Immigrant Other

Phil’s book about immigration was published in late January by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf & Stock publishers.  In the book Phil tries to ease people’s fears of immigrants, address their false conceptions of immigrants, direct them to a biblical view of immigrants and our role in helping them.  

The book is in three parts. The first part addresses our fears and misconceptions. The second part discusses various countries and their attempts to integrate immigrants.  The third part contains stories of our own experiences with immigrants: as teenagers in church, as a seminary student in Chicago, as missionaries in Yugoslavia during the war, as seminary professors in Leiden and finally as teachers in Ukraine during the great displacement of people from East Ukraine when the Russians took the cities of Luhansk, Donetsk and surrounding regions.

 

A review of the book can be found at Entertaining Angels Unawares EMM review

 

You can buy the book at Entertaining Angels Unaware Amazon

 

            You can also find postings about the book at Entertaining Angels Unaware Blog and Entertaining Angels Unaware FB page

 

Thanks for your prayers, support and gifts!  

We would not be here without you!

 

Phil & Linda Gottschalk 

 

Serving with Zaporizhzhya Bible Seminary, Ukraine 

under Eastern Mennonite Missions

 

Contact information

pagottschalk@gmail.com

 

gottschalkstuckrath@gmail.com

 

Three types of thinking

As we, professors at Tyndale Theological Seminary near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, were discussing problems about how to help our students understand our subjects, I thought of David Hesselgrave's teaching about these two forms of thinking, abstract – logical and concrete - relational.

 

Actually he advocates three forms. (My memory of 40 years ago is probably failing.)

1) The "conceptual postulational thinking" of the Western world.

2) The "concrete-relational/pictorial thinking" of China.

3) The ''psychical/intuitional thinking" of India.

 

I have attached an article he wrote which explains these ideas and how they can be used in missiology (and teaching).

 

It was interesting for me after forty years to think back on this material.  We used Hesselgrave's first edition of his Communicating Christ Cross-culturally and his book on Dynamic Religious Movements which came out at the time.

 

I was struck that Russian thinkers are somewhat similar in their mindset to Hindus.

 

Nicholas O. Lossky, on whom I wrote my dissertation, had a three tiered approach to knowledge:

 

1. Sensual intuition - ("concrete-relational/pictorial thinking") which meant what Kant meant by our faculties, which process sense data and construct a "phenomenal" world.  Everyone is engaged in this type of knowledge production. It takes no special training or giftedness.  It is something everyone does "intuitively" without any thought.

 

2. Intellectual intuition - ("conceptual postulational thinking") Some, who are trained, can become logicians and mathematicians.  These people must also have a native ability for this type of thought, but anyone can also improve their grasp and use of this sort of knowledge with training. (He does not mean what Kant means by intellectual intuition, which only God would have: thinkings something creates it.)

 

3. Mystical intuition- (''psychical/intuitional thinking") Only a few adepts can reach this type of knowledge which we might call intuitionism.  Through spiritual exercises and asceticism, they reach a non discursive knowledge of God and spiritual things.

 

I think we as Western Evangelicals have traditionally focused on the 2nd tier.  We (like Norman Geisler, for instance) give arguments and expect people to learn to think this way.  (Geisler is actually using Thomas Aquinas' method.) Often average believers cannot follow such arguments. Fundamentalists eschew these arguments for a "simple preaching of the Gospel" or other theologians prefer some sort of fideism.

 

These days more Western Christians are enamoured of Eastern Orthodoxy and just these sorts of mystic experiences and exercises.  Many feel that there is much more than simple rationalistic arguments.  They hate apologetics.  Many are reading the works of mystic saints, e.g., Theresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, et alia.  Ignatian spirituality is gaining a lot of ground.

 

If Hesselgrave is right, we use all three types of thinking.  Our students from Africa and some parts of Asia are using Concrete relational thinking.  They tell stories and use discrete examples, simple examples.  They often do not understand making an argument and simply continue "circling" around an idea without drawing conclusions and don't see the need for an explanation or a structure.

 

Our attempts to give rational explanations or logical structures (XYZ statements a la Turabian) seem unclear to them, if not pointless.  We need to try harder to use concrete examples, but continue to teach logical argumentation and its importance.

 

Gary Habermas gave me a simple illustration to help people understand the cosmological argument. He would draw a caboose and a train car and ask, "What pulls the caboose?"  He would continue on with car after car and then ask, "But what pulls the whole train?" “The locomotive... This is God. He draws all things towards himself.”  (This is pure Aquinas, his First Way (proof) of his Five Ways; which is also Aristotle's Prime Mover argument.)

 

In Apologetics I would ask students to memorize the ontological, cosmological, teleological, moral or deontological and Francis Schaeffer's argument from the Trinity.  They would memorize like anything. However, they often couldn't explain them at all.

 

The idea of the teleological argument and the moral argument are clear enough and easily demonstrated. Who created the eye? Who is the judge of the moral law within? But still I couldn't get them past raw memorization.

 

North American students and European students (even those without a BA) had no problem with logical arguments or understanding these arguments (even if they thought that they were dull).  My children when they were in high school had a course called "Theory of Knowledge" at the Rijnlands Lyceum in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands.  It was, in fact, a course in argumentation.  They excelled in the class.  When asked how they knew how to argue so well, they said, "Our dad is a philosopher.  We argue this way every night at dinner." ;-)

 

Some professors give some assignments using mystic literature. But in general we as Evangelical eschew the "subjective."  If the subjective is rooted in the scripture, it is not a problem, but as evangelicals we have no authorities, no way to limit such experiences to say which are legitimate.

 

In the Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church each monk or nun has a father confessor (a priest), a spiritual director (abbot/ abbess) and must submit to the rites of the church.  They must confess the creeds or symbols of faith.  They must make confession on a regular basis and do penance.  There is a "rule" or “anchor” which directs their days: 

• Matins (during the night, at about 2 a.m.); also called Vigil and perhaps composed of two or three Nocturns
• Lauds or Dawn Prayer (at dawn, about 5 a.m., but earlier in summer, later in winter)
• Prime or Early Morning Prayer (First Hour = approximately 6 a.m.)
• Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer (Third Hour = approximately 9 a.m.)
• Sext or Midday Prayer (Sixth Hour = approximately 12 noon)
• None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer (Ninth Hour = approximately 3 p.m.)
• Vespers or Evening Prayer ("at the lighting of the lamps", about 6 p.m.)
• Compline or Night Prayer (before retiring, about 7 p.m.)

This arrangement of the Liturgy of the Hours is described by Saint Benedict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgy_of_the_Hours#Major_hours

 

There are also rules about working a physical job, a regular routine of the hours and taking the sacrament (Eucharist).

 

There are also the Pope and Magisterium which determine orthodoxy.  A mystic can be disciplined, if they do not follow their Rule or do not take the sacraments or refuse to say the creeds.  

 

In the end only the "profession of the lips" can be known objectively.  If they refuse to say the creeds or promulgate known heresy, they are disciplined.

 

Having a Pope and a Magisterium has been appealing to some who left Evangelicalism (e.g., Thomas Howard, Elizabeth Elliot's brother).  Others want an "Apostolic succession" and a bulwark against modernism (e.g., those who have become RC or EOC to protest ordination of women).

 

Since Protestant churches lack this sort of structure, mysticism is more dangerous and cannot be challenged except by appeal to scripture, though the interpreter can always be rejected (just start another church).

 

Some Reformed communities focus on creeds (and synodal decisions). James KA Smith is a member of a Christian Reformed Church NA congregation.  He manages to stay "orthodox" by submitting to the creeds (I guess), though he attacks logic and "Enlightenment Reason."

 

I think we can learn from Hesselgrave and Lossky.  Most people are on the Concrete - relational level.  They need examples, pictures and stories.  Some are Conceptual - postulational thinkers.  We must teach logic and argumentation, rational belief. We dare not become fideists, which will lead as Hesselgrave says to liberalism and universalism.  We can use psychical - intuitional thinking, but we must be sure to (as we do) ground students in the concrete - relational (OT stories, Gospels), but also insist on learning logical arguments and reasoning (Pauline epistles and apologetics / systematic theology).

 

We who call ourselves Evangelical apologists fall into two camps: Evidentialists and Presuppositionalists.  I am an Evidentialist (like Norman Geisler or William Lane Craig, et alia (those who Smith calls the "California school" (Talbot))). We must be very careful to avoid giving the impression that anyone can interpret the Bible without a worldview (theism and a commitment to rationality, the laws of logic).  We must avoid in my opinion falling into the sort of fideism which Hesselgrave speaks of which lead to the demise of the Japanese Evangelical Church.

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