God in the Dock

C.S. Lewis in his essay "God in the Dock" writes that before we can ever present the Evangelium (the "good news") to a pagan world, we must first convince them of their own sin. We must convince them there is an insurmountable problem with horrific consequences before we can tell them about this "good" news. The problem, Lewis says, is that man is not naturally inclined to feel this guilt towards God's law. He says:

The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock.(1)

(1) Lewis, God in the Dock, pg. 244.