The only criticism I have of Mr. C.S.Lewis is that he mistook hope for the future for historical fact. I agree with Dr. Johnson the idealized savage has never existed. But I agree with Mr. Lewis entirely that the harmonious union of God with Man might well dramatically change the bio-chemistry and physiology of man’s body, and his potential length of life; no-one can know before it happens. Similarly if a man and a woman ever became truly one, they would cease to be able to distinguish between their own desires, and the others’ desires. Indeed their joy would be that it did not matter whose desires they were. There would be no distinction between self and other; just as there probably was none with primitive tribal man.
You find the same idea among the Jehovah’s Witnesses too. They say they believe literally in the story of Adam and Eve; but they also look forward to a paradise on this earth during the 1000 year Rule of Christ. Well, if this is not just imagination, they must believe that faith will affect the inner workings of the body too, as I have indicated. In one of Teilhard de Chardin’s books, there is a footnote suggesting that although man was created from pre-man, only one man and one woman were created; so it was metaphorically Adam and Eve! Well, I’m sceptical. But the only point I seek to make is that it is deeply written into the human psyche to think that immortality in the flesh is possible sometime, somewhere.
To sum up: if you are an immortal person, you can only be immortal. You cannot think about it, because there is no insight into immortality, if it exists outside space and time. All thoughts about immortality are the flawed thoughts of mortals. Yet I believe Professor Whitehead was right: we are all immortal as well as mortal; they are aspects of the life we lead. And my perfectly relaxed consciousness is a glimpse into this reality. And I suspect if you are steeped in immortality, you do not want to be anything else, even if it involves your being crucified.