Skyscrapers, Social Media, and Science: C.S. Lewis on “Progress”

Proof number 793 that I’m an old soul: I resonate with a poem that laments the evils of progress…from 100 years ago.

On my latest reading of C.S. Lewis’s The Pilgrim’s Regress, I came across this powerhouse of a poem in the last chapter. He hooked me with the very first line, but it took me a few more passes to get a better grasp of his overall pattern and meaning. I assure you, it was well worth the effort.

WAIT!

I saw you trying to sneak off when I mentioned that the poem took a little effort. …What? You were just going to grab your reading glasses and thinking cap? All right, carry on.

Since you’re all in, let’s start with a short synopsis of each stanza and then ever-so-briefly unpack the poem to see not just lament but also hope. Here’s my synopsis:

1: Skyscrapers and cities—Creation is dead, but God will recreate it.
2: Social Media and entertainment—Thought is captive, but God will free it.
3: Science and progress—Earth is changed, but God is changeless.

And here is Lewis’s masterful poem:

Iron will eat the world’s old beauty up.
Girder and grid and gantry will arise,
Iron forest of engines will arise,
Criss-cross of iron crochet. For your eyes
No green or growth. Over all, the skies
Scribbled from end to end with boasts and lies.
(When Adam ate the irrevocable apple, Thou
Saw’st beyond death the resurrection of the dead.)

Clamour shall clean put out the voice of wisdom,
The printing-presses with their clapping wings,
Fouling your nourishment. Harpy wings,
Filling your minds all day with foolish things,
Will tame the eagle Thought: till she sings
Parrot-like in her cage to please dark kings.
(When Israel descended into Egypt, Thou
Didst purpose both the bondage and the coming out.)

The new age, the new art, the new ethic and thought,
And fools crying, Because it has begun
It will continue as it has begun!
The wheel runs fast, therefore the wheel will run
Faster for ever. The old age is done,
We have new lights and see without the sun.
(Though they lay flat the mountains and dry up the sea,
Wilt thou yet change, as though God were a god?)

…Wow, right? My first thought was, “I couldn’t agree more,” which was shortly followed by, “What would poor Lewis think about artificial intelligence and smart phones?” But that’s a discussion for another time. For now, let’s take a quick peek at each stanza and celebrate the hope that God offers to a broken world.

1: Skyscrapers and cities—Creation is dead, but God will recreate it.

The scars of human “progress” mar countless landscapes, and skyscrapers scrawl the sky with the lie, “Metal trumps nature.” We’ve killed so much of creation, and there’s no going back. Like Adam’s apple, the choice is irrevocable.

But there’s good news today just like there was in the Garden. God didn’t reverse time and prevent the fall; instead, he looked forward to the day He would undo sin’s effects and resurrect what had died. As with salvation, so with creation. God will remake the world, and it will be even better than we could imagine.

2: Social Media and entertainment—Thought is captive, but God will free it.

“Harpy wings,/Filling your minds all day with foolish things,/Will tame the eagle Thought…” Oof. Guilty. In ancient myths, harpies (huge, loathsome bird-women) came and snatched the food from hungry warriors, leaving their filthy stench and refuse behind. Lewis saw the same being done to quality content and deep thought, leaving only stupefying amusement or trashy thrills behind. And this was before the internet!

But again, there is hope. Thought is a caged parrot, but God will free her. God purposed Israel’s bondage in Egypt and its release to the Promised Land. He can unlock the cage of social media, Hollywood, and AI; He can restore Thought to its former majesty.

3: Science and progress—Earth is changed, but God is changeless.

You can hear Lewis’s scorn at the seeming inevitability of progress. The man who thinks science is unstoppable is like a kid who throws a snowball from the top of a hill and expects an avalanche to cover the world. Progress declares, “We have new lights and see without the sun.” In other words, the gods can keep their fire—we’ve made our own. Little do they know, their faith is misplaced.

But Lewis offers one more word of hope: God won’t be outmoded like some human idea. The world may change and destroy itself, but it could never change or destroy its Maker. He is no mere god. He is Creator and Redeemer. He is above our petty self-destruction.

So the next time I’m tempted to feel satisfied with a rusty cityscape, sit and doom scroll through YouTube, or buy into a new trend, I hope I’ll pause a minute and think of this poem. The present always feels like the apex of society until we consider that we’re a mere blip on the radar, just a spark in the wind. Comfort comes from knowing that God is sovereign over it all.