McLaren and Lewis on the demystification of the universe in A New Kind of Christian

[C.S. Lewis, in "The Discarded Image"] explains that medieval European Christians had developed a sophisticated worldview that was so intertwined with their faith that to them it was an essential part of their faith. In this worldview, the universe consisted of a series of concentric spheres, the smallest of which was the earth. As spheres ascended from the earth, they held objects of increasing perfection - the moon, then the planets, and then the starts, the angels, and so on. The spheres moved around the earth in a beautiful kind of cosmic dance, and it was thought that as they moved, they produced a beautiful music, symbolic of the harmony of God;s creation.

Near the end of the book, Lewis notes now new developments - especially new observations in the field of astronomy... - forced the medieval model of the universe to be 'adjusted' and the adjustments were becoming increasingly complex. Here's how Lewis explains this tinkering with the model."...

The old scheme... had been tinkered a good deal to keep up with observations. How far, by endless tinkerings, it could have kept up with them till even now, I do not know. But human mind will not long ensure such ever-increasing complications if once it has seen that some simpler conception can"save the appearances" (account for the data), Neither theological prejudice nor vested interests can permanently keep in favor a Model which is seen to be grossly uneconomical.

In other words, ... the medieval world had developed a working worldview, a working model of reality - a paradigm, a mental map - that could not account for or adapt to increasing amounts of new data (like the scientific findings of Copernicus and later Calileo and of course later still Darwin). Perhaps like a contract of constitution that is updated with more and more footnotes, fine tuning, and other amendments, people tray to keep the old contract alive, but eventually the amendments outweigh the original document, and someone says, "Why don't we just start over from scratch on a new one?"

But it's not that easy, Trading in an old model of reality for a new one has real costs associated with it. True, something may be gained, but a lot is lost too. [Later on in "The Discarded Image", Lewis] starts making clear what was at stake in trading in the old worldview for a newer one.

In our universe [the earth] is small, no doubt; but so are the galaxies, so is everything -- and so what? But in [the medieval] there was an absolute standard of comparison. The furthest sphere, Dante's maggio corpo is, quite simply and finally, the largest object in existence. . .Hence to look out on the night sky with modern eyes is like looking out over a sea that fades away into mist, or looking about one in a trackless forest -- trees forever and no horizon. To look up at the towering medieval universe is much more like looking at a great building. The "space" of modern astronomy may arouse terror or bewilderment or vague reverie; the spheres of the old present us with an object in which the mind can rest, overwhelming in its greatness but satisfying in its harmony. . . Pascal's terror at le silence eternel de ces espaces infinis never entered his mind. He is like a man being conducted through an immense cathedral, not like one lost in a shoreless sea.