JWSJ Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Does the fiction of Narnia represent Christianity correctly? If not, why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 It does represent Christianity, but only Christianity as CS Lewis interpreted it, which might be substantially different from other Christians. If you are reading it to / with your children, though, bear in mind that the symbolism is not as glaringly obvious to children as it is to us. So if you like the books, I wouldn't avoid them just because of doctrinal difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 It doesn't represent Christianity correctly simply because it is not the Bible. It is a fictional story that is more of an allegory than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I remember reading somewhere that Lewis vehemently denied it being explicitly christian or allegorical. It was a fantasy, which according to him could look somewhat christian b/c that genre dealt with good and evil. I am not stating it as well as he did. Obviously. If I could I would be a Don over at Oxford. :tongue_smilie: But I agree with it. Wish I could remember where I read it. It was his words though and not someone speaking for him like I am doing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Well, Susan lost her salvation, and I don't believe the Bible teaches that you can do that. I thought that was pretty crappy of CS to do to her, btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 It's a fairy tale with Christian elements, not an explanation of Christian doctrine. You might enjoy reading the excellent book "Planet Narnia" for some great analysis. Susan did not "lose her salvation" yet--she's not dead at the end of the story. She has every chance to repent and return. I doubt that Lewis believed the "once saved always saved" idea, though (many Christians do not). And the children represent archetypes, and someone had to fall away. (Lucy is childlike faith, Peter is the High King, Edmund is the repentant sinner, Eustace is pride, greed, and some intellectualism thrown in, etc.--and Susan falls away and denies truth because she values the world more highly.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Well, kinda sorta. It wouldn't be something to build your theology on, but there are many truths in it. There are also good examples on things like honesty or integrity; and simple lessons such as our not needing to know someone else's story and not evesdropping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktkcb Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Here are a couple websites that address this rather clearly, I think. http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/lionwitchallegory.html http://members.lycos.co.uk/Jonathan_Gregory76/faq.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Lewis did say that he wasn't done with Susan yet- or something to that effect, so i don't think we ever got the end of her story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Well, kinda sorta. It wouldn't be something to build your theology on, but there are many truths in it. There are also good examples on things like honesty or integrity; and simple lessons such as our not needing to know someone else's story and not evesdropping. :iagree: While I don't agree with all of C. S. Lewis's ideas about doctrine and such, I love the Narnia series. I didn't "see" the Christian elements until I read them as an adult. When I was a kid they were just really great stories. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 The Chronicles of Narnia have some potent Christian themes and symbolism, but I'm not sure how they could be said to "represent" Christianity. The symbolism is more transparent than in many other works of fiction, and there is much in the books that has helped me, as a Christian, grasp a truth of my faith in a special way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Douglas Wilson has a great set of sermons entitled "What I learned in Narnia". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Thought this might prove helpful - "C.S. Lewis didn’t think of his Narnia books as being an allegory, strictly speaking. Instead, he though of them as exploring the nature of Christianity and God’s relationship with man in a parallel universe: "I did not say to myself ‘Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia’; I said, ‘Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as he became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.'" In a letter, Lewis outlined how the Narnia books compare with Christianity: The Magician’s Nephew tells the Creation and how evil entered Narnia, The Lion etc. - the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Prince Caspian - restoration of the true religion after a corruption, The Horse and His Boy - the calling and conversion of the heathen, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - the spiritual life (especially in Reepicheep), The Silver Chair - the continuing war against the powers of darkness, The Last Battle - the coming of Antichrist (the ape). The end of the world and the last judgement." (of course, I just pulled it off about.com, and don't have a hard reference for these letters, but I've read it before. And hey! I have GOT to go to bed!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 (edited) nt Edited September 8, 2009 by Geo double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 (edited) I read this awhile back on: http://www.godlyplay.org/view.php/page/lefthand ((a Montessori style bible curriculum I have used in children's church). Stealing Past The Watchful Dragons C. S. Lewis was often asked why he, an Oxford scholar and lay theologian, wrote The Chronicles of Narnia. Once, he responded by writing: "I thought I saw how stories of this kind could steal past certain inhibitions which had paralyzed much of my own religion in childhood. Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or about the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings. And reverence itself did harm. The whole subject was associated with lowered voices, almost as if it were something medical. But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday School associations, One could make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could." ©CS Lewis Company and Harper Collins Publishers In other words...to present a fresh picture of Christ...free from religious trappings that keep Him at a distance? I believe he intended Narnia to ring true inspite of prior religious exposure. Geo Edited September 8, 2009 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWSJ Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Thanks for all the responses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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