Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the fictional world created by C.S. Lewis, the Oxford lecturer, that has now been turned into a large blockbuster film to rival those such a s Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
I have just got back from watching the movie, i read the books as a child and have actually started to re-read them recently.
What about the story though, is it just that. A tale telling the adventures of four children and a lion, one story in five that make up the Chronicles of Narnia. Did Lewis write to just entertain or maybe something else.
Looking at Lewis's other works, we see that he was a very serious christian. Mere Chrisitianity is heralded as an all time christian classic, having read the book I must agree. And in the screwtape letters, he uses his great talent as a writer to teach the reader a lesson about the schemes of the devil. And there are of cours emany more.
As we look at the story of Narnia, it is possible to draw very strong parrallels with the truths of the christian faith. Many opinions have been offered about the story, whether you are Steve Chalke basing your theology on them, Phillip Pullman; "one of the most ugly and poisonous things I've ever read," "propaganda in the service of a life-hating ideology," "blatantly racist," "monumentally disparaging of girls and women," and marked by a "sadomasochistic relish for violence."
Or a secular gaurdian writer; "Atheists get so fixated on the propaganda elements they fail to see that, like all enduring fiction, Narnia holds multiple messages. I'm happy for my daughter to be reminded that siblings should support each other, and that accepting Turkish Delight from strangers may have serious consequences."
Or possibly in different light? I read Narnia and the plot and characters shout at me, that Lewis was writing a story that shows on a certin level his faith in the God who created the World and each one of us. In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Aslan plays the role of Christ as he gives his life in exchange for Edmund's, the boy who betrayed his family; "And now, who has won? Fool, did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the deep magic will be appeased"
As the story continues, Aslan of cours rises from the dead, goes to join in the battle and defeats the White witch, turns to Peter and speaks the very words "It is Finished" spoken by Jesus in John 19:30 just before he died, and by doing so defeating the devil, taking the sin of the world on his shoulders and absorbing the wrath of God against that sin.
(This idea of a sacrificial death is being seen more and more in the media, harry Poter of course only survived from Voldemort's attact because of the sacrifice of his Mother. This is love that Voldemort's magic can do nothing against.)
It is important to remeber, that we must never base our theology on such things as Narnia for they are only stories and completely fallible. But narnia shows us something very special. far more special I think than the guardian writers advice to her children about Turkish delight. It shows us our great need as Human beings of a sacrifce, only Aslan could hve been killed for Edmund, in order for the prophecy to come true, only Aslan could then rise from the dead and finally defeat the evil in the land of Narnia.
As we loo at the world around us, we all need a sacrifice. someone who lived a perfect life, and died a sacrificial death, taking all the things that we have done wrong upon himself and allowing us to go free. this person is Jesus Christ, the God-man of history who came to the world on a rescue mission, to defaet evil once and for all, to deal with sin and the righteous anger of God against it.
What must we do, well just like the four children and all the good animals of Narnia. Trust in the one who made you, and died for you so that you may go free.