Posted on 11/29/2005 9:15:34 AM PST by sionnsar
This somewhat blurry article about the author of Narnia, one of many that I'm sure is coming, the vanguard of a certain CSL demolition I begin to detect, seems to miss CSL entirely. For example, Narnia is not Earth, Alsan is not Jesus, and the "spiritual needs" of Narnia are of a different order and type than those of our world. CSL wasn't rewriting the Gospels, but doing something else.
If we have to personalize CSL's work (something he would have detested), it's more interesting to consider how brilliant images-the lampost in the forest, the floating islands, the well in the woods in That Hideous Strength-work. These images seem to have dropped like pebbles into the deep well of CLS's imagination. He constructed stories around them-maybe the better image is grains of sand that become pearls. Sometimes the stories are good, sometimes less so, but the images are evocative and refreshing, and remind us that CSL's first ambition was to be a poet.
CSL's personal life may have been muddled and odd seems to bother the author a little. Why it is that being a Christian is often assumed to be a portal to being scrupulously moral, I don't know. It happens sometimes, but not always, and when it does it is the result, the consequence, not the purpose. Being a Christian is about being called into a relationship. CSL had to come to grips with the notion that if the Incarnation and Redemption are true, historic, objectively real events, then they are also dominant, revolutionary events that change everything. When he realized that the "Beyond Personality" that was the source of the mysterious "Joy" that haunted him had come into the world, acted in the world, suffered in the world, it changed everything for him. It isn't a matter of being one religious path among many others, all of debatable merit. The historic Christian story is that God came into the world, wrote Himself into the story, and that event, if true, changed everything. CSL came to grips with the importance of "The Incarnation-Truth or Superstition?" Those whom Kendall Harmon calls the reappraisers among modern Christians prefer to slide over this issue, and I think that is why CSL is so popular among the non-reappraisers or reasserters or traditionalists. CSL never shied from the implications.
The more militant secularist sections of the mass media will probably declare open season on CSL over the next few months. It will be interesting to see what they toss at him. The point, though, is not that CSL was flawed. Aren't we all. The point is that CSL, flaws and all, knew himself to be loved and sought by God, and wrote about it clearly and vigorously.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. You are right about Hollywood, but so far the movie appears to be pretty solid. I saw a trailer this afternoon (check my posting history) -- looks great so far!
Fear not; it is not a Hollywood production, but an independent production, by Walden Media. Disney had no part in the creative process.
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