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Analysis Of The Book ' The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe '

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In 1950, eager readers approaching the children’s fantasy section of the bookstore were met with an unusual new title: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. To children, the combination of those three things was intriguing enough. To adults, the name of the author would have piqued more interest: C. S. Lewis, the renowned Christian writer. His name appears on such other titles as The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, The Weight of Glory, Miracles, and later Mere Christianity, a hallmark of religious classics. While the younger generation pondered how Narnia could fit into something as small as a wardrobe, mature readers would have mulled over a different question. How does The Chronicles of Narnia fit into his other religious works? …show more content…

Despite his “sin,” Digory repents of waking up the Witch and bringing her to Narnia (see Moses 5:10-11) and plants a Tree to keep the Witch away. It may not be a cherubim or a flaming sword (see Genesis 3:24), but it will prevent the Witch from coming within a hundred miles (The Magician’s Nephew, 189).
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The first book in The Chronicles of Narnia contains the most obvious Gospel reference. The story first gains traction when the Pevensies bring Christmas to Narnia. “[The White Witch] has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia—always winter, but it never gets to Christmas” (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 59). Likewise, the New Testament begins with the birth of Christ (see Matthew 1:1, 18). One of the Pevensies, Edmund, betrays Aslan to the White Witch, indirectly through Deep Magic (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 141-142). Judas’s betrayal of Jesus, while more deliberate than Edmund’s, is described in John 18:1-5. Aslan is able to overcome the Deep Magic by invoking Deeper Magic at the Stone Table, and defeats the Witch after coming back to life. Likewise, the scriptures prophesy of a Savior who will conquer death (see The Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:8) and the world (see John 16:33). At long last, “Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone [s]it at Cair Paravel in throne” and “[t]he evil time [is] over and done” (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 81). Aslan leaves and Peter is given the

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