Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Newly Discovered (C.S. Lewis) Letter Reveals Narnia Story is About Christ
The Christian Post ^ | 6 Dec 05 | Lillian Kwon

Posted on 12/07/2005 7:37:30 PM PST by xzins

Newly Discovered Letter Reveals Narnia Story is About Christ

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005 Posted: 8:51:21PM EST

This Friday, when tens of thousands head to the theaters for the motion picture release of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” church groups will have with them a new piece of evidence that the children's story tells a Christian message.

This Friday, when tens of thousands head to the theaters for the release of ''Narnia,'' churchgoers will have with them a new piece of evidence that the children's story tells a Christian message.

No More Christian Nice Guy by Paul Coughlin Retail Price: $17.99

Recent reports revealed the discovery of a letter written by the famed author in 1961. The letter, addressed to a child fan, reads: "The whole Narnian story is about Christ," according to The Sunday Times of Britain. It was found by Walter Hooper, literary adviser to the Lewis estate.

Christians and secularists have been tugging at their ends in debating Lewis' message in the popular children's series. Churches have cited allusions to the gospel and Jesus while others, including Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson, simply regard it as an adventure story.

Professor Andrew Quicke, professor of Cinema Television at Regent University, said Narnia was not written as "an evangelical religious tract" but rather "as a story."

"The nonbelievers and believers are getting much too uptight about this," he said.

Speaking more to the literary art of the allegory, Quicke quoted T.S. Eliot, who he said "summed up the discussion perfectly."

"Literary criticism (for us film criticism) should be completed by criticism from a definite ethical and theological standpoint," he said.

"The subject of literature was too important not to be completed from a theological perspective," he added.

Quicke attributed credibility to the recent letter finding.

"I'm sure the letter is genuine. I don't disagree with it at all," he said.

However, he clearly stated, "C.S. Lewis writes allegory and we should judge his stories in terms of their literary merit when we look at the story and cinematic merit when we look at the film."

While Narnia is not written as a way of promoting the gospel, Quicke says Lewis wrote stories "very much within the Christian tradition with strong Christian undertones and overtones."

Lewis converted to Christianity as an adult after having abandoned it as a child.

A volume of Lewis letters is slated for publishing in 2006.

Lillian Kwon lillian@christianpost.com


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: aslan; bookreview; cslewis; disney; letters; lewis; lww; narnia; titanicsinks; tltwatw
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last
To: randog
I thought it was common knowledge that the story was based on Christ.

Same here. I never realized there was a controversy.

41 posted on 12/07/2005 8:21:07 PM PST by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Mom MD

here's a cool trailer for the movie.
http://www.narniaweb.com/trailers.asp


42 posted on 12/07/2005 8:22:24 PM PST by justche (Many at FR would respond to Christ "Damn straight, I'll cast the first stone!" - MeanWestTexan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Duh.


43 posted on 12/07/2005 8:22:41 PM PST by Saundra Duffy (Never forget what they did to Terri Schindler Schiavo!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bikepacker67
Some people are slightly eccentric. Others are Olympic gold medal winning nuts. The authors of that website fall into the second groups.
44 posted on 12/07/2005 8:22:51 PM PST by KarlInOhio (In memory of Alvin Owen, Thsai-Shai Yang, Yen-I Yang and Yee Chen Lin:the victims of Tookie Williams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC

The story is older still...


45 posted on 12/07/2005 8:24:00 PM PST by BagelFace (BOOGABOOGABOOGABOOGA!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: imskylark


"His step-son said....."

Well, if one plainly examines C.S. Lewis' writings, and has a basic understanding of Jesus Christ, as well as allegorical style, it's truely a "no brainer."

What has escaped C.S. Lewis' step-son's understanding is beyond me.



46 posted on 12/07/2005 8:26:32 PM PST by This Just In ("Those are my principles, if you don't like them, I've got others" - Groucho Marx)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: xzins
I'm not questioning the letter, I'm questioning the timing. Just before the movie hits the theaters, this letter is suddenly 'discovered'. I'm tempted to put it in the same category as the sudden 'discovery' of Hillary's Rose Law Firm records.

It could very well be genuine, in which case it was already known but is just now being made public to generate some extra hype for the film.

47 posted on 12/07/2005 8:27:20 PM PST by uglybiker (nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh BAT MAN!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: xzins
While Narnia is not written as a way of promoting the gospel, Quicke says

Sharp as an orange.

48 posted on 12/07/2005 8:28:02 PM PST by Windsong (FighterPilot)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VaGunGuy
Wasn't Lewis an Anglican?

Yep. Interestingly, he was an atheist in his early adult life. Here's more from Wikipedia.

Although an atheist for the early part of his adult life, Lewis began investigating the claims of Christianity during the twenties. In 1929 he came to believe in the existence of God, later writing "In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed", describing himself later as "the most reluctant convert of all time". In 1931, influenced by his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, he became a Christian and a member of the Church of England. He was later to write an account of his journey of faith under the title Surprised by Joy.

49 posted on 12/07/2005 8:33:15 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper ("Tucker Carlson could reveal himself as a castrated, lesbian, rodeo clown ...wouldn't surprise me")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: uglybiker

maybe you should get buckhead on it.

if ya ask me, there are probably several places you could find similar comments from CS himself. No one really bothered to look until folks started whining...


50 posted on 12/07/2005 8:47:13 PM PST by LearnsFromMistakes (We know the right things to do, why don't we just do them?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Right Wing Assault

I wonder if they knew that, laugh!


51 posted on 12/07/2005 8:55:53 PM PST by seastay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: xzins

bump


52 posted on 12/07/2005 8:57:54 PM PST by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: imskylark
According to C.S.Lewis' stepson:

"It's not a Christian film and the Narnia books aren't Christian novels....Jack didn't intend the Narnia books to be an evangelistic fantasy... The myths of Narnia are partly those of the great man-made religions - Norse mythology, Hindu mythology, as well as the true myth of Christ. Exposure to man's myths will make young viewers ask questions about themselves - and only later will the seed of faith take root.

h/t http://clivedavis.blogs.com/clive/2005/12/in_out_of_the_w.html

53 posted on 12/07/2005 9:01:23 PM PST by wigswest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: wigswest

I should say in reply to my own post, that Lewis' stepson has been agitating for years for the Christ references, metaphors, etc., be expunged from the Narnia series. Some recent print runs of the book series have actually complied with this.

It is to Disney's credit that they resisted this pressure, and did not flinch from including the messianic portions of LWW. (I'm not doubting that their considerations included monetary issues, mind you...;)


54 posted on 12/07/2005 9:07:58 PM PST by wigswest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Duh, ya think?


55 posted on 12/07/2005 9:29:56 PM PST by LiteKeeper (Beware the secularization of America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Nooooo, really?


56 posted on 12/07/2005 10:02:19 PM PST by sporkgoddess
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wigswest

Can you post a source confirming this? A few months ago I bought the series to re-read (Read them originally in Jr. High). I dont remember if anything was different, as it had been a while between readings. If its true, Im surprised there hasn't been more criticism of it.. but then again, Im sort of not surprised :P


57 posted on 12/07/2005 10:13:34 PM PST by somniferum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Its not like this was a secret or something before the letter


58 posted on 12/07/2005 10:25:43 PM PST by GeronL (Leftism is the INSANE Cult of the Artificial)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: atomicpossum

what ever happened to the ENDER'S GAME film??


59 posted on 12/07/2005 10:26:18 PM PST by GeronL (Leftism is the INSANE Cult of the Artificial)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Of course the story is about Christ. However, I'm finding the timing of this "find" just a little too convenient.


60 posted on 12/07/2005 10:27:26 PM PST by Melas (What!? Read or learn something? Why would anyone do that, when they can just go on being stupid)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson