Scott's Thoughts

The Chronicles of Narnia

I recently just finished reading the seventh and last book of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” I started the series earlier this year for a couple of reasons. First, the movie version of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” had come out a few months before. In the midst of the Narnia craze I heard over and over how good the books were. Secondly, I had read some C.S. Lewis works before and liked his writing. So, although I have never been a big fan of fantasy literature, I decided to give them a try.

Since then, I discovered an even better reason for reading the books. It gives me something to talk about with my five-year-old daughter, who is a huge Narnia fan. Her favorite, of course, is “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” She almost has the lines from the movie memorized, which means I don’t recommend watching it with her if you haven’t seen it yet.

I started with the first book, “The Magician’s Nephew.” At first I didn’t really enjoy it that much. It was a little slow, and I wasn’t sure what the point was. But the more I read, the more I found myself being taken in by the stories. Like I said, I’m not much for fantasy. But what drew me into the stories was the deeper theological meaning always lurking just under the surface.

Of course, some of the meaning is quite obvious. For example, Aslan’s death for Edmund’s transgression, and his rising to life again, are clear and powerful re-tellings of the gospel message: Christ’s death and resurrection for sinners. But there are to be found so many more subtle theological statements throughout the books. Just to give one example, I love Lewis’ portrayal of the civilized but cruel Calormen people in “The Horse and His Boy.” They are powerful, efficient, and masters of gaining and maintaining control over their people. But they are terrible poets! Lewis doesn’t come out and say they are terrible poets, but he gives us a sampling of some of their “poetry”: ‘Application to business is the root of prosperity, but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering are steering the ship of folly toward the rock of indigence.” Their poetry seems to be an expression of their soullessness. They have no sense of beauty, no appreciation for a transcendent reality that poetry seeks to convey. Rather, they are wholly earth-bound, people of this world, both masters of the world and yet at the same time slaves to it. Could this be Lewis’ assessment of man in the world without God – essentially de-humanized and spiritually dead?

Another feature of the Chronicles that I came to appreciate is the unembarrassed moral clarity that existed in Narnia. The evil characters were evil, and the good ones were good. “Old-fashioned” values such as chivalry, bravery, and self-sacrifice are abundantly on display. There is very little irony and sarcasm in Narnia. Maybe this is partly because they are stories meant for children, and children want their ethics and morals clear and simple. But is there more than that? A cynic may say that Lewis is being hopelessly naïve in his picture of a world in which there is only good versus evil, and you are on one side or the other. But what if the world of Narnia is a bit closer to reality than we realize? What if there is a “another world,” like Narnia, in which a cosmic battle is taking place between all that is good and all that is evil, and there is no gray areas in between? The Christian knows that there is such a world, and it has much more to do with what goes on in this messy world of ours than we ever realize.

Finally, I admire Lewis’ imagination. He communicates Christian truth, not with propositional statements, but with word pictures. I wish I had more of that kind of imagination, especially in my preaching. I can tell you something about the majesty and goodness of Christ that is true to Scripture. But far more effective is Lewis’ depiction of the glory of Christ when he writes about Aslan. Mr. Beaver is asked if Aslan is safe: “Safe?...Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”