THE NARNIA CHRONICLES -- BIBLICAL ECHOES

The Narnia Chronicles – Biblical Echoes

These seven books by C.S. Lewis are admirably written to give equal enjoyment to those of any age. Lewis not only tells an interesting interrelated set of adventure stories, but there are many theological points made along the way as well as purposeful parallels with events and personages found in the Bible. They are best enjoyed if read in the order intended by the author, which is not the order in which he actually wrote these fiction books. Most importantly, The Magician's Nephew should be read first and The Last Battle last. Without giving away too much of the actual plots, here is a very brief guide to some of the echoes they contain of biblical themes.

By the way, there are actually Christian guide books available to use these seven books as the basis of a series of Sunday school lessons. And if you are interested in a fairly short dramatic reading for two men and two woman based on some of these books, one I designed can be found on this blog site under the titles: “Alpha and Omega: Parts 1 and 2.”

The Magician's Nephew

In this book we get our first glimpse of Narnia, a sort of parallel universe to ours populated mainly by talking animals. We are allowed to see the actual creation of this land through Lewis' almost poetic description which has notable similarities to the events in Genesis 1.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

A number of important biblical themes are encapsulated in this, his most famous, book in the series. The Fall of Genesis 3 is reenacted as one of the children who enters Narnia falls under the spell of Satan (as a wicked witch). He is only saved when Aslan, the powerful ruler-lion as the type of Christ, sacrifices his life to redeem the boy and defeat the force of evil.

A dramatized form of this book appeared on TV years ago and became the topic of discussion by a group of us chemists in our break room the following morning. A friend of mine was confused about the plot since it seemed to make no sense to him that the lion would come back to life after being killed. This was interesting in that that particular chemist was raised and educated in Catholic schools. It actually took an atheist at our table to be the first to point out to him that this was obviously the story of Christ's atoning death and resurrection.

The Horse and His Boy

This book is filled with a number of battles between the forces of good in Narnia and those of evil, just as seen in I-II Kings. The similarity is especially seen in the names of some of the characters. For example, one of the arch-traitors in the Narnia Chronicles appears here under the name Rabadash, a man who attempts unsuccessfully to deliver Narnia into the hands of their enemies, only to be sent back to them in the form of a jackass. The biblical parallel appears in II Kings 18-19 in the person of the Rabshakeh who unsuccessfully tries to talk Israel into surrendering to the Assyrian forces and must return to his people as a failure. That parallel is strengthened when one realizes that the Assyrian Rabshakeh reports to his superior officer called the Tartan just as Rabadash reports to the Tarkaan in C.S. Lewis' book.

In addition, there is an interesting theological point regarding the subject of providence in that the title characters of the book, Bree and Shasta, realize at the end that all the events, both good and “evil,” they had been experiencing were actually the personal doing of Aslan himself, designed expressly to guide their actions toward the desired conclusion. I can look back at my own life to realize that even some of my greatest disappointments turned out to be my greatest blessings in the long run.

Prince Caspian

In this book, the children return to the land of Narnia after many years have elapsed there while only a few on earth, and the magical creatures are all in hiding from their enemies. The youngest child, Lucy, is the first one to catch sight of Aslan although it takes much longer for her brother and cousin to do so. Only then do the memories of their previous time there come back fully to them. One of the themes of this book appears to be the fact that as real as Bible stories are to us when we are quite young, as we age it sometimes becomes difficult to maintain that firm belief after we begin to grow up, even though they are still as true as ever. Sometimes we need help from above to recapture that earlier childlike faith.

There is also the reverse story of a dwarf who was raised among those who were afraid of Narnia, its inhabitants, and its leader Aslan. For that person, it took much more convincing before he realized that he had been brainwashed by his society for years. One can see the same thing on occasion in the conversion of those raised in an officially atheistic country. When they become exposed to the truth for the first time, some happily make an almost overnight change and become especially loyal believers.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

In this adventure, two of the children and their thoroughly obnoxious cousin Eustace enter the world of Narnia again through the painting of ship at sea. Eustace typifies the sort of product that results from a thoroughly “modern” education in which it is taught that all that exists is only which can be scientifically proved or experienced with one's own senses. Therefore everything else is treated as utter nonsense. I had another chemist friend at work who was the epitome of this attitude. His greatest scorn was saved for all that Walt Disney stood for, as well as any form of musical entertainment. He once told a group of us that he could not for the life of him understand how grown men and women could appear on screen dancing and singing without being thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Once Eustace experiences Narnia for himself, he becomes changed for life – for the better in every way. Similarly, after retirement my friend at work ended up returning to the church in which he was raised.

Also on this voyage, we become reacquainted with the lovable mouse-warrior Reepicheep (try reading it backwards while eliminating the mouse-cheeps and you will come up with his real-life counterpart, the Apostle Peter.) He is the epitome of the rash and often mistaken, but brave, St. Peter, who goes on to found the church.

The Silver Chair

This entry into the series is most interesting from what it says regarding the subject of Christian apologetics. Some of the Narnian children stumble into a cave and are captured by the stunted inhabitants of an underground land who have never been outside. The evil queen of that land tries to convince the children with her hypnotic voice that they have merely been imagining all of the wonders of an outside world which they have been describing. These are obviously only the result of wish fulfillment. In this manner, C.S. Lewis takes a potshot at Sigmund Freud and his book Moses and Monotheism in which the famous psychoanalyst attempted to explain that the whole notion of a benevolent creator God was invented in Moses' mind as a result of his growing up without a father. Because of that, Freud reasons, Moses came to imagine a sort of ultimate Father to fill that vacuum, one who was both loving and all-powerful.

The Last Battle

The Second Coming of Christ/Aslan in judgment over all the inhabitants of Narnia is presented here. Those who have always followed Aslan are overjoyed to see the loving beast and enter into eternal life with Him. But the vast majority of the pagan Calormenes who worshiped the bloodthirsty god Tash instead do not see Aslan as loving at all, but only the violent Tash who destroys them all except for one lone Calormene who had always pictured Tash as someone more in the image of Aslan. That one pagan is saved, reflecting Lewis' idea that even some who have never known Christ in their lifetime may experience salvation – a notion not shared by all Christian theologians even though there may be hints of that idea found in Romans 1:16-23.