Home Media Magazine - July 13-19, 2008 - (Page CER-10)

+product profile >> co-editor with his dad, Ted, of Narnia Beckons. Aslan isn’t exactly Jesus. The White Witch isn’t exactly a Satanic figure. Elements of faith, skepticism, temptation and sacrifice are strongly represented in the “Narnia” books, but they don’t match perfectly with any tales from the Gospels. Lewis wrote in letters that it wasn’t his intent to make the “Narnia” books Christian apologies or allegories. In a letter to a child, Lewis wrote: “I don’t say, ‘Let us represent Christ as Aslan.’ I say, ‘Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there.’” In another letter, he wrote: “[Aslan] 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?’ This is not allegory at all.” It was Lewis’ genius to take genres such as fantasy (see “Hobbits in Narnia?” below) and transform them into “supposals,” Ted Baehr says. Suppose there was a character like Jesus in another world. Suppose important Christian ideals developed in another world. How would they play out? Baehr says these supposals are examples of Lewis’ wider approach to Christianity and the secular world. Hope Is Found “SUPPOSING THERE WAS A WORLD LIKE NARNIA, AND SUPPOSING, LIKE OURS, IT NEEDED REDEMPTION …” Lewis didn’t retreat from secular culture, assimilate into the culture, or fight openly with the culture. Lewis put the culture, literary genres and entertainment to holy purposes. Baehr points to the lesson of Romans 1, which chastises those who worship nature as God, but says everything in the world, including nature, is a sign of a transcendent God: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes — His eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made.” Baehr says Lewis followed the tradition of theologians through the centuries who took pagan and non-Christian holidays and ideas and put them to the work of glorifying Jesus and Jesus’ ideas. Lewis took the things that appealed to people throughout history — such as good stories — and put them to Christian use. A rediscovery of C.S. Lewis in film, Baehr says, is a symbol of Christian churches and Christians themselves returning to a Golden Age. Once, churches had offices in Hollywood that advised movie studios on film content. In 1966, the last such church office closed in Hollywood. But Baehr points to the huge success of family-friendly films as a return to wholesome entertainment, inspired by and for Christians. Lewis himself knew the effect good stories could hold for people and where the fantastic characters of Narnia might take people. In a letter to a reader of the “Narnia” stories whose faith was strengthened through the story of Aslan’s sacrifice and redemption, Lewis was moved, yet humble: “It makes me, I think, more humble than proud to know that Aslan has allowed me to be the means of making Him more real to you. Because He could have used anyone — as He made a donkey preach a good sermon to Balaam. Perhaps, in return, you will sometimes say a prayer for me?” “Lewis as a writer pulls back the curtain to reveal a greater truth, the Kingdom of Heaven,” Baehr says. “His ‘Narnia’ books and these films are a portal to Lewis’ other works for the entire world.” And those who find Lewis, Baehr says, are on their way to reinvigorating their own faith and rediscovering God. Hobbits in Narnia? C 10 .S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, the godfather of the fantasy genre, were friends and colleagues. They met while teaching at Oxford University, and scholars say they encouraged each other’s forays into fantasy writing and modern myth, and exploring religious thought. Tolkien encouraged Lewis’ exploration of Christianity, and Lewis was supportive of (L-R): Prince Caspian and Aragorn of “Lord of the Rings.” Tolkien’s now-legendary “Lord of the Rings” saga. The magazine Christian History published an interview online with the author of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship on their legendary working relationship. To read the interview online with Colin Duriez, visit www.christianitytoday.com/ history/newsletter/2003/aug29. html CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW / JULY 2008 http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2003/aug29.html http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2003/aug29.html http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2003/aug29.html

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Home Media Magazine - July 13-19, 2008

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