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The Gospel in Epic Literature: The Chronicles of Narnia

Pastor’s Study | November 4, 2009 | Rev. Doug Pratt
 

CS Lewis’s Biography
Clive Staples Lewis was born in 1898 in a suburb of Belfast, Northern Ireland. His father was a lawyer and his mother a mathematician (apparently Lewis came by his intellect the old-fashioned way: he inherited it!). His older brother Warren, and young C.S. was nicknamed “Jack” (the name his friends and family called him all his life). His mother died when Lewis was 10, and his father — unable to emotionally deal with his grief and care for his sons — packed Jack and Warren off to various boys boarding schools in England for the rest of their childhoods. Though he had been a churchgoer with his family as a child, Lewis lost his faith in his teens and became skeptical atheist or agnostic.

His evident academic skills led to his admission to Oxford University. For a brief interlude he served in the British Army in World War 1, where he was wounded in the trenches, survived, and after recovery was discharged. Returning to Oxford, he earned degrees with majors in philosophy, classics and English lit. He was invited to become an instructor at Oxford upon his graduation (in English Literature).

Lewis began an intellectual and spiritual journey to faith in his 20’s & 30’s (which is described in his autobiography Surprised by Joy). In these years he also became involved in the weekly literary discussion group called “The Inklings” (along with Tolkien, Charles Williams, and other noted authors and scholars); this group proved to be a great cross-fertilization of ideas and books for two decades.

After a time of growing in his faith and understanding of the Bible and Christian theology (largely self-taught), Lewis began to write and speak as an advocate of Christianity. His role as a Christian popularizer and apologist included:

• The Problem of Pain, 1939
• Radio messages on BBC beginning 1941 that were combined and published as Mere Christianity
• The Screwtape Letters, 1943
• The Great Divorce and Till We Have Faces (stand-alone novels)
• The Space Trilogy, begun in 1939 and finished in 1945 (the books in order are Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength)
• The Chronicles of Narnia were published between 1950 and 1956 (1 per year).

Lewis was a lifelong bachelor, who had no regular contact with children; it is thus remarkable that he could have written a series of successful children’s books (many scholars speculate that he must have remembered and written out of his own vivid childhood recollections and imagination). He met American divorcee Joy Davidman (who had two sons and had moved to Britain in 1952). They married in 1956 (she was 41, he 58). She underwent bone cancer treatments soon after they were married, then experienced remission for two years, and when the cancer returned it took her life quickly. Their relationship is portrayed in the film Shadowlands, and Lewis’s diary after Joy’s death was published as A Grief Observed. For the final nine years of his career Lewis was a professor at Cambridge University. He died November 22, 1963 at the age of 65.

The World of Narnia
The seven books of the series have sold millions of copies for almost 60 years; have been read by generations of children, and were re-introduced to children (and adults) by two recent Disney/Walden films (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian).

Different publishers list the books in a different order (triggered by debates among Lewis scholars as to which order they should be read). The order of writing/publication is as follows: (1) The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, (2) Prince Caspian, (3) The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, (4) The Silver Chair, (5) The Horse & His Boy, (6) The Magician’s Nephew, and (7) The Last Battle.

The chronological order in “Narnia Time” is: (1) The Magician’s Nephew, (2) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, (3) The Horse & His Boy, (4) Prince Caspian, (5) The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, (6) The Silver Chair, (7) The Last Battle. Each chronology ends with The Last Battle, as is appropriate.

I personally that first-time readers use the order of publication to read the seven books.

Synopsis of Each Book (in the order they were written)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
This is the best-known, and second only to The Last Battle in Christian symbolism and metaphors. It tells the story of four English schoolchildren (two brothers and two sisters) who are magically transported to the world of Narnia through an old wardrobe in a country house where they are staying. They discover an entire land, populated by talking animals, in the grip of 100 years of winter, and ruled by the White Witch. The witch is a tyrant who has seized Narnia from the human kings, and cruelly turns her enemies and all who dare oppose her into stone statues. The arrival of the human children (“sons of Adam and daughters of Eve”) heralds the return of Aslan, the great all-powerful Lion who is the true Lord of Narnia. Aslan causes spring to come and the Witch’s power begins to decline. But one of the four children, the youngest boy Edmund, has tried to betray his siblings to the witch in return for his own glory and benefit. The Witch requires the life of the traitor, but Aslan offers Himself as a sacrifice to save Edmund. Following His sacrificial death, Aslan returns to life and leads the four children and the rest of the creatures in a climactic battle that defeats the Witch and puts the English schoolchildren on four thrones to rule Narnia. After many decades of a golden age of peace, they magically and accidentally return to Britain, where no earth-time has elapsed and they are again school children.
 
Prince Caspian
The same children as in the first book return to Narnia a year later in earth time, where time has advanced by hundreds of years in Narnia. A usurper to the throne has gained controlled and turned Narnia to evil, and the children and Aslan help the rightful heir, young Prince Caspian, to overthrow the coup and regain his throne.
 
The Voyage of The Dawn Treader
Only the two youngest children return for this story, along with their cousin, for a seagoing adventure with Prince Caspian across the ocean to many unusual islands (with Aslan making his appearance again). Many consider this to be the weakest plot line of the seven books.
 
The Silver Chair
This story takes place underground in great caverns and passages. Eustace and his friend Jill are called back to Narnia to help Caspian’s son Prince Rillian, who is captured underground. Another witch has taken control of a colony of dwarves and plans to invade Narnia, but is thwarted by Aslan.
 
The Horse and His Boy
No earth visitors are in this story, which is about a kidnapped prince and a kidnapped talking horse, and their long journey back home to Narnia. (Many scholars consider the three middle books — 3 thru 5 — as versions of The Odyssey by Homer, taking place in different environments, with numerous fantastic adventures.)
 
The Magician’s Nephew
This story is the “prequel,” telling how Narnia was created by Aslan, how the White Witch and the first human king and queen arrived there. It also tells how the old Professor of the first book (when he was a boy) visited Narnia at the creation and brought back a magical fruit from the Narnia Garden of Eden to earth (that fruit’s seeds grew into a tree, and years later that tree was made into a wardrobe that provided the entry to Narnia for the four children).
 
The Last Battle
The final story tells how Narnia ended in seeming defeat by foreign invaders and their demonic “god,” and how Aslan turned that defeat into the final reward and eternal life. The conclusion of the book is the most philosophical of the seven, and the one that explores the doctrines of salvation and eternal life.

The Christian Message in The Chronicles of Narnia
The Christian message in this series can be divided into three primary areas:

The Character of Aslan
Aslan is the most prominent and memorable character in the series, is the only character who appears in every story, and is the true hero and main character of all the books (as Christ is the true hero and main character of the entire Bible)

He is Supernatural and All-Powerful; yet he is truly a physical lion, not just a spiritual being. His body is real, yet not completely bound by physical characteristics. As we’ll see, he can die and feel pain, yet he also is stronger than death (these characteristics compare to Christ in every respect).

Aslan’s ways are not completely understood or predictable. His timetable is different than creatures expect. At times he seems to delay for very long, then acts quickly. He is not a “tame” lion or “safe”. But he is good. He inspires a mixture of fear/awe/ reverence along with love/devotion/affection in those who obey him; but he inspires pure fear and hatred in those who don’t.

The Lion is not just a figure in secular mythology (the “King of the Beasts”), but also is rooted in Bible (Christ is called the “Lion of Judah”). The more the human characters grow in their faith and understanding, the “bigger” Aslan becomes in their eyes. Aslan is always portrayed as the initiator, the one who seeks and calls. Yet characters have a will and can choose to resist him and fight against him, even when he offers grace (does not force himself on anyone).

Aslan not only the King but also the Redeemer of Narnia. In the climactic scenes in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe his sacrificial death is followed by his resurrection.

The Nature of the Universe
The natural and the supernatural are woven together seamlessly. Both evil and good have supernatural dimensions. There is “magic”, in the sense of things beyond the understanding of the senses. Many animals and even some plant life (trees) have abilities to talk, relate to others as humans do, make moral choices.

The humans who are brought to Narnia are all initially skeptical and unbelieving (as Lewis himself was), until convinced of truth and reality. Narnia is created perfect but not incorruptible. Evil enters this world soon after it is created. While evil is real and an active force, it is not as powerful as ultimate good (represented by Aslan).

No world is eternal. All worlds have a beginning and appointed end, except “Aslan’s own country”. Narnia time and earth time are not synchronized, and Aslan is outside of both. The creation of Narnia from nothing is portrayed as coming from Aslan’s song, comparable to Genesis 1 when God spoke the universe into being.

The Nature of Human/Intelligent Life
As with all the Epics, moral choices and their consequences are repeatedly spelled out. Courage, love, truth and other Christian virtues are praised and rewarded, while vices bring ultimate disaster. Sins are exemplified, with the greatest being pride.

No created beings live forever. Each has an appointed time for life and an appointed time to die. But those who love and trust Aslan can live forever beyond death in his country. The final book gives remarkable descriptions of the experience of death and eternal life for a Christian, consistent with biblical hints.

Summary and Assessment of Narnia and Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia are the most “juvenile” in writing style of the three epics. They are the shortest books, and are less rich and detailed than in Tolkien and Rowling). Adults will notice the style as being targeted for children; critics tend to think less of the quality of the writing than the other two. Even Tolkien criticized Lewis for borrowing from many sources (ancient, medieval) but not developing Narnia as fully as he had developed Middle-Earth.

The Chronicles of Narnia are the most specifically and obviously Christian of the three epics. They alone have as the main character an all-powerful outside Creator and Lord who intervenes in affairs within the fantasy world.

Lewis was the most diverse of the three authors; the fantasy epic genre was only one small portion of his legacy. His adult science fiction, and other fiction, and his apologetics books, have no counterpart in the work of Tolkien or Rowling.

Lewis’ is theologically an orthodox Anglican/Protestant, and philosophically a Neo-Platonist; his politics generally conservative. He has repeatedly been rediscovered and embraced by evangelical and traditional Christians of many denominations and traditions as one of the greatest and most original of Christian thinkers.