From an AP article in my local newspaper:
But many regard them as Christian allegories and the heroic lion, Aslan, as a symbol of Jesus. . .Douglas Gresham (C.S. Lewis' stepson), wanting no part of America's culture wars, says some characters and events could be interpreted as Christian symbols. But Lewis didn't regard The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a Christian book, though his beliefs influenced the story--as they did everything he wrote.
From The Sunday Times Online (Britain):
An unpublished letter from the novelist C S Lewis has provided conclusive proof of the Christian message in his Narnia children’s books.
In the letter, sent to a child fan in 1961, Lewis writes: “The whole Narnian story is about Christ.” It has been found by Walter Hooper, literary adviser to the Lewis estate.
Douglas Gresham, Lewis’s stepson, said recently: “Churches in Britain and America are promoting the film as a Christian film, but it’s not . . . and the Narnia books aren’t Christian novels.”
The letter, written from Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Lewis was a don, contradicts this. “Supposing there really was a world like Narnia . . . and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?” he wrote.
“The stories are my answer. Since Narnia is a world of talking beasts, I thought he would become a talking beast there as he became a man here. I pictured him becoming a lion there because a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; b) Christ is called ‘the lion of Judah’ in the Bible.”
I'm sure this is old hat for all you Narnia fans. Isn't it astounding, though, that secularists will go to such lengths and depths to deny Christ, even in a book of fiction? I love the AP article quote: "But many regard them as Christian allegories. . ." The word "regard" implies that it's debatable; it's not. All one has to do is read the books--particularly the final novel--and the answer is irrefutable. Suggesting otherwise simply is a lie.
And Gresham; what a class-act he is: He honors his stepfather's memory by planting seeds of doubt about the intentions behind the books, when there is no doubt at all. The AP article mentions as an aside that he once had a "spiritual epiphany," and now works with his wife in an ecumenical ministry. Of course, his epiphany is not defined in the article. For all we know, he believes Irish potatoes have devine qualities, and should be objects of adoration and worship. Or perhaps he practices Druidic rites, naked under a full moon.
This is just a bit of extrapolation on my part, but I suspect that he didn't share Lewis' religious views, so admitting the overt Christian message behind the books irks him to no end. So just as with Tolkien's works, we have people scrambling out of the woodwork in droves, denying or questioning the Christian principles behind the stories. After all, we can't designate two of the greatest creations in modern literature as Christian in their origins. The mere thought is horrible beyond words.
What's next? Maybe Quo Vadis? and Ben-Hur had no relation to Christianity, either?
I know the Bible isn't fiction, but it is the world's bestselling book. Pretty soon we'll have folks smiling and shaking their heads in condescension, informing us in all their wisdom that scripture isn't Christian; it was a great book of adventure written by rabid secularists.
No comments:
Post a Comment