The children's classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, will hit theaters on Friday. Be sure to check out Narnia Web for all the latest news, reviews, and clips.
In other news, the following excerpt is from one of the most balanced Narnia-related stories I've seen in a mainstream newspaper:
Lewis, an atheist turned devout Christian theologian, weaved plenty of religious symbolism into "The Chronicles of Narnia," a seven-volume adventure series of which "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was the first book published, in 1950. The hero of the series, Aslan the lion, is often viewed as a Christlike figure: Aslan dies at the hand of his wicked enemies, is miraculously resurrected, and saves those who believe in him.
But the Narnia books also include plenty of nonreligious mythology and fantasy as they spin out their fairy tales of moral courage and good vs. evil. (Source)
I actually made it to the end of the story without cringing.
People with a bias against Christians, or Christians with a bias against fantasy literature, are quick to point out that C.S. Lewis didn't intend to write the book just for a Christian audience. As I wrote a few days ago, that hardly matters. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe clearly has Christian overtones. In fact, they are obvious.
But if you're an unbeliever who hasn't read the Bible and doesn't know the Gospel message or any such things as "salvation" and "redemption," you can still relate to "Christian" traits like self-sacrifice, honor, loyalty, and love. We believe that everything good comes from God, and Christ-like qualities can be found in any type of literature.
Some think the Christian message is a heavy-handed lecture about hell and damnation. Well, part of it is about hell and damnation, but that's not the whole message! They also believe that to judge others shows lack love. Christ followers know better. We are commissioned to take the Gospel to all men, and part of the message is that unless one repents of his sins and believes that Christ died for those sins, he is under God's wrath and will be eternally damned if he dies still in his sins. We can't judge sin, but we must tell people that they are sinners in need of a Savior.
Now that may sound like fairy tales to unbelievers, but to those of us who believe, it is a joyous, miraculous revelation! God has graciously provided a way for us to avoid just punishment and be reunited with him forever. A holy God washing away the sins of rebellious, contentious, and depraved man. I know of no greater love.
Are you going to see the film tomorrow? I'd love to know what you thought of it.
Related:
(Disney image)
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December 7th, 2005 at 12:31 pm
Hey, challenging site! I wrestle with the idea of Christian themed fantasy only because I think the Bible is fascinating in itself as even a history book. It's got action, adventure, sex, violence, hope, victory, a hero and a villian. It's been enough for me!
I'm more of an X-Men, Fantastic Four comic fan. I know that there's often an underlying message, but it doesn't give me the feel of…hmmmm…needing to reduce God's story to a manageable form.
I'm not making a declaration on it's value so don't yell at me yet, I'm just expressing the struggle I personally have in enjoying Christian themed fiction. Although…one could consider such a thing as an animated parable I guess….
(O/T: we are supposed to judge sinful behavior, but not the person's heart.)
December 7th, 2005 at 12:38 pm
Thanks for visiting, Mark.
Yell? Who, me?
I agree with you about the Bible, but I also know God wants us to use our imagination to glorify him. I don't think that glory comes from Bible-related themes alone. Stories like the Narnia Chronicles capture children's imagination, whether secular or religious, and I think there's so much fertile ground for planting the Gospel and teaching them to share it with others.
December 7th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
I think I've probably just gotten to the point where I'm a little cautious about anything that so many people get behind. (Gotta defeat that "spirit of cynicism"! Lol! Oh no, now I've done it… I'm suddenly getting ideas for a story involving "spirit of this" and "spirit of that" creatures. See what you got started?)
December 7th, 2005 at 5:10 pm
doesnt't it open on the 9th? (or are there midnight showings?)
December 7th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
You're absolutely right.
I'm not sure about the midnight showings.
December 7th, 2005 at 5:24 pm
hey, I wish it was tomorrow though
December 8th, 2005 at 7:08 am
In and Out of the Wardrobe
I'm much more of a Screwtape Letters man myself, but I'm still hoping to drag my sons away from The Lord of the Rings for long enough to go and see The Chronicles of Narnia some time soon. The crowds are out in London for the world premiere tonight.I…
December 8th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
Absolutely we're going tomorrow! In fact I'm taking my daughter and three other girls on a field trip just to see it. Earlier this year I started a reading club at her school specifically with this book in mind. I wanted my daughter to read it before seeing the movie and hopefully to understand it as well. She goes to a very small school (Only about 60 students) that teaches kids with learning differences so sometimes getting the students to read recreationally is difficult (the school specializes in teaching dyslexic children). I have four students in the reading club, including my daughter. I played the book on audio CD (read by Michael York - excellent!) while the girls read along. Interestingly, two of the girls (twins) didn't like to read along. What they did do was play while they listened but since they would build things out of play dough of the characters and places in the books as they were hearing it I didn't try to redirect their attention.
When we got to the death and ressurection of Aslan I told them what parables were and asked what it reminded them of. All four girls yelled out "Jesus!". Even the two Jewish girls. They got it. It may not have been written for a strictly Christan point of view - you can translate the text to support other religions as well but it's a wonderful fantasy story just by itself.
And, of course, they are all very excited to see the movie tomorrow.
Happily, the girls liked it enough to want to continue the club next semester. *dance* Next Wednesday I'll give them list to choose from and they'll have a vote on which book we'll read.
Spring
December 17th, 2005 at 4:35 pm
Last week's release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW) has created quite the media buzz, and quite a blogstorm. Blog coverage began long before the movie's release, and reached a crescendo just before release. And even before its release, the vitriol was evident, as RedState.org pointed out (more on the vitriol later). Several bloggers have weighed in, and collected the thoughts of those that did: