Tyranny of the Self

I think my previous post was a little shallow. All I did was to point out that Paul's point is straightforward, without going into more detail about some of these philosophies in particular. I'll do that now.

Here's an example which demonstrates the kind of philosophy which Andy Tung was talking about today at service. It's a poem called "Invictus" (latin for 'unconquered') written by William Henley.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbow'd.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

This is a flaunting of the strength of self over circumstances, over anything that the world could bring. My pride finds some of these lines particularly appealing... my heady is bloody, but unbow'd... I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. That image of standing on my own two feet, reliant on no one, taking on the world with my own might. That imperious defiance, I am my own king, I do what I want!

I think C.S. Lewis would say that that is a picture of hell itself. Why? Because the fact of the matter is that the "I" has been corrupted by sin, and if we really wish to be the captain or king of our souls, God will let us. But sin is intrinsically misery-inducing, and our rule of ourselves becomes a tyranny. (see C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce")

In Plato's Republic, the great question is asked whether justice is worthwhile for its own sake, or whether it's only worthwhile for the benefits it brings. In the Republic book IX, praised by scholars for its psychological realism, Plato argues that a life that simply does whatever it wants (a life which completely disregards justice) is a life given over to the desires and lawlessness. And a life governed by this kind of lawlessness is misery itself.

He points out that "in all of us, even in good men, there is a lawless wild-beast nature." When this lawlessness within us grows and takes control, we become more enslaved by wickedness, and worst is when a man has the power to actually carry out all his lusts. Plato concludes:

He who is the real tyrant, whatever men may think, is the real slave, and is obliged to practise the greatest adulation and servility, and to be the flatterer of the vilest of mankind. He has desires which he is utterly unable to satisfy, and has more wants than any one, and is truly poor, if you know how to inspect the whole soul of him: all his life long he is beset with fear and is full of convulsions, and distractions.

See then, how this philosophy of complete reliance on self rather than on Christ is so appealing, but which in the end turns out to be hollow and deceptive. We are not good kings of ourselves; we need a new king, Christ, to rule us and save us from our tyrannous selves.