Religion influences every aspect of a true devotee’s life. After the year 1931, C.S. Lewis was a devoted Christian and member of the Church of England. This means his faith when he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia was influential in what went into the writing of these stories. This influence was noticeable throughout all of the books in this series however it does not make the story automatically anything more then a great story. There are several basics of the Christian faith that C.S. Lewis believed and that are demonstrated in his writing. A few of the beliefs visible in these books are as follows: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the creation of the world and evil entering the world after creation had occurred not at the same …show more content…
Especially considering that in the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Aslan dies and is resurrected on the stone table which creates a very similar parallel to Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. However there are two great dilemmas when choosing to say that the series as a whole is an allegory, and the first being the fact that C.S. Lewis was set against saying it was written as an allegory. In a letter he wrote he states this, “If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity in the same way in which Giant Despair represents Despair, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?” The second great dilemma is dealing with the fact that the entire story does not lines up correctly for allegorical purposes. An event that was mentioned previously that makes it appear allegorical is the death and resurrection of Aslan. The biggest distinction however is why and for whom. Why did Aslan die compared to why and for whom did Jesus Christ die. Jesus Christ died for the entire world according to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” Yet when Aslan died it was not something that saved the
After reading this chapter I came to the conclusion that Aslan is “Jesus”. He took his life just as Jesus did for the people. He cares more about the people them himself just like Jesus. After Aslan died he came back alive just as Jesus did. This story was more than just a regular story, it was telling the story of god in a different form.
The books have Christian themes and describe the adventures of a group of children who visit a magical land called Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first published and the most popular book of the series. Lewis is said to have stated that he wrote the novels when he wondered what it would be like if Jesus Christ was incarnated on another planet or world to save the souls of those inhabitants”.
The plots and settings of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe only further prove that Narnia is an allegory. Edmund betraying Aslan is the same as us betraying God, yet Aslan as does God, rescues Edmund and is prepared to give his life for him. Aslan knowing he has to die to give Edmund life makes a treaty with the White Witch to sacrifice his life over Edmund’s and naturally, the White Witch is overjoyed and readily agrees, forgetting the “deep magic”. Christ was who died on the cross in payment for our sins and Aslan died for Edmund. On the way to Calvary, Jesus remained silent, as did Aslan. It is said that Aslan could have killed them all with one swipe of his paws and it was said that Jesus could have killed
In C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis emphasizes the three points of philosophy, themes, and symbolism throughout his writing. Lewis was a strong Christian man, and wanted to make children see and understand all the stories of the Bible. Therefore, he put Christian elements through his books, but with fantasy characters as well. Especially in this story, Lewis conveys the differences between good and evil. Aslan is represented as Christ just as the White Witch represents the sense of evil. Lewis wrote several books in this Narnia series, but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe became the most famous and recognized of his novels.
Lewis’s conversion to Christianity was the biggest influence on his literature. As stated before, Lewis was raised a Catholic by his parents, but he eventually turned his back on all of his Catholic beliefs and became an atheist. As time went on, the Holy Spirit kept on softening Lewis’s atheist heart until one day Lewis’s life would change. Lewis would turned away from atheism and turned back to God. This all started in 1929 when Lewis started acknowledging the existence of God again like his Catholic root taught him years ago. This is a big step for any atheist who is on the road of converting to Christianity. He would receive his first test of faith that same year however because that was the year his dad died. This was obviously hard for him to mourn, but he got through it by the grace of God. Lewis officially became a Christian after a long talk with fellow Christian writer J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis helped many other writers establish a discussion group of writers called The Inklings. Lewis’s Christian faith was a major influence on his
I view Aslan as Jesus in Narnia! They created worlds and inhabitants (Lewis 107 and
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fiction in which one of the main characters, the sturdy lion Aslan, has the most power and authority. There are tons of images of Aslan from the book and the movie that relate to Jesus in Bible. The most outstanding images are the death of Aslan on top of the stone table which represents the crucifixion of Jesus, Aslan’s rebirth which is similar to the Resurrection of Jesus, and Aslan’s offering the stone statues life just as the figure of God made everything. Shortly, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe includes a number of biblical images that are the details from the Bible which were reflected by the book and the movie.
C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because he wanted to write a children’s book “as a gift for his godchild” (Palmer). It began for him with a series of pictures that came into his mind. “Lewis stated, ‘Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion” (Kennedy). A fairy tale was forming in his mind and “‘At first there wasn't anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord’” (Kennedy), As the story progresses and Lewis’s characters and storyline begin to develop a seemingly clear relationship formed between The Bible and this novel. “Given Lewis’s strong Christian faith, that is not surprising. In fact, once the story was established, Lewis said he ‘...saw how stories of this kind could steal past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much of my own religion in childhood’” (Kennedy.) Even though C.S. Lewis started off writing a children's novel, many people perceive it to be a novel written in parallel to the Bible. Lewis has used Biblical references and a classic storyline to prove that good will alway triumph over evil. Aslan is labeled as a divine figure in the novel; he is also known as the son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Aslan’s death and resurrection is like that of Christ. The four children are all considered important to in the world of Narnia, but in the real world they are
C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of books that contain a countless amount of biblical allusions. In each of the seven total books of the series, there are references to both characters and major themes in the Bible. For example, in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, there are many allusions to the Bible such as when Edmund betrays not only his brother, Peter, and two sisters, Susan and Lucy, but also Aslan in order to stay with the Wicked Witch in her palace. This is similar to the story of Judas and the way that he leaves the disciples and betrays Jesus. Furthermore, in the same book, Aslan is killed by the Wicked Witch for the sake of Narnia similar to how Jesus is crucified for the sins of his people. Additionally, both
This paper will focus on the theological nature of CS Lewis’ book based film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This will include a number of noticeable parallelisms, allusions and symbolisms found in
With all the criticism directed at Lewis’ books for inconstancies. Two sides exist to be taken. Firstly, many say to avoid these books altogether, because they are false doctrines and should avoided. Secondly, the changes are fine since without these modifications the stories would be vague and bland. Several of these doctrines that do not line up with the Bible are plain different beliefs or ignorance. C. S. Lewis himself wrote, “Speaking personally, if I demanded that a person’s views on every subject under the sun be identical to mine as a condition to be helped by them, then if I had met myself 20 years ago, I’d have to disfellowship myself!”() Clive knows that humans are fallible and that no one’s beliefs are one-hundred percent correct, people continue to grow spiritually thus changing their beliefs. Later writes “We are all in process. None of us gets everything right all the time. That stands true for every Christian who has ever breathed oxygen.”() He knew that just because he was a famous writer of Christian literature he would still make mistakes. Before
However, something worth noting before delving into the argument of this essay, is the background of C.S Lewis. Although this is not a research essay, his personal religion does hold some relevance to the context of this essay. Despite some struggles with his belief in religion at an early age, by the time he was late into his adult years, C.S Lewis was a definite Christian. Not only was this his personal religion, but also very publicly so. He wrote novels explicitly outlining his Christian views and gave several
Sagas about princes and princesses, beauty, magic, and love, fairy tales like Snow White and Cinderella among others have become children’s favorite bedtime stories. However, as parents tuck their sons and daughters in, they fail to realize that there is a much more daunting purpose to these stories. American writer and poet, Jane Yolen suggests that fairy tales indicate life values. Furthermore, Yolen insists that these tales are “thumbprints of history” (Yolen 27). Studying fairy tales in depth, she proves that the “functions of myths” consist of “creating a landscape of allusion [and] enabling us to understand our own and out culture from inside out” (Yolen 18). Yolen confirms that these stories comment on, “the abstract truths of our
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe written by C. S. Lewis is a film adaptation of a fairly fantasy tale. It shows exciting adventures of four English children – Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan - who found the magical land of Narnia by way of a wardrobe that they found out in the house of elderly professor where they were sent by their mother.
When having to reflect upon the movies I have seen and trying and pinpoint a few that have made a spiritual impact on me without me even noticing, was very difficult. So, I took to Google and realized that one of my favorite series, The Chronicles of Narnia, is almost based on Christianity itself. One movie, in particular, probably the most well known is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The movie is found to have Christian themes. The writer of the novels the films are based on has religious views in almost all the books. This film adaption of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is filled with hidden religious content. For instance, Aslan is seen to be Jesus Christ, Jadis is Satan, and the plot of the movie follows the resurrection