[Vision2020] Narnia

[Michael]

Joan,

Yep.  But that is what I think C.S. Lewis said himself.  He wanted to get
children's imagination going so that they could grow into the true Myth. I
read something he wrote a long time ago saying that folks sometimes mistook
the Chronicles as allegory-they were never meant to be.  But there are still
many delightful parallels. In fact, I read a review of the movie criticizing
the movie's ability to transfer over some qualities of the book's Aslan that
were more Jesus like. The problem with a donkey perhaps is figuring out how
to present the donkey once he rose again.  Also, isn't man created just a
little lower than the angels?  The incarnation was an act of ultimate
humility, but it was not ugly or perverse.

Michael Metzler

 

 

On 19 Dec 2005, at 12:42, Michael wrote:

Children love reading C.S. Lewis' Narnia books.  The Christianity in them is
not preachy and in line with the broad appreciation for Lewis in both
non-Christian and Christian circles. Lewis does not consider Narnia
allegorical, but just his faith and scholarship naturally exposing itself in
the creative process. I'd highly recommend them; they are truly classics.
(his space trilogy is cool too;  heck, all his stuff is cool..)  My wife and
I go to see Narnia Tues. First time out on a movie date in years.
 
Michael Metzler
 


Now, I don't say this to spoil Narnia -- I imagine that Tilda Swinton's
White Queen is even more terrifying that her portrayal of the Angel Gabriel
in Constantine; Ms. Swinton is always worth the price of admission -- but
there is something deeply NOT Christian about the Chronicles of Narnia.
While they may succeed as literature, the Chronicles (according to Tolkien
and many others) fail as Christian allegory. Why? Because Aslan as Christ
does not work. Aslan is the noblest of beasts, not the lowliest; not the
most humble. One of my favorite writers, Terry Pratchett, has written that
the books would work better as Christian allegory if Aslan were, say, a
donkey rather than a lion -- a modest, scorned, frowned-upon beast -- not
the king of the beast but the least among them.

Theologically, Michael (and others), what do you think? We can enjoy Narnia
as a Disney spectacular, but I do wonder about it as Christian allegory. I
think it's a slippery slope. 

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com



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