Narnia Fans » Lessons

By Earl A. Clampett Jr.

I just saw the “Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

C.S. Lewis in allegorical fashion hits the cricket ball out of the ballpark in capturing the real essence of the Gospel story.

Christians who are exposed to these writings of Lewis are taught and understand the heavy use of symbolic references to the redemption account in the Bible. Jesus Christ is seen as the rescuing Messiah through the character of Aslan, the lion. The White Witch represents the illegitimate, rebellious ruler (Satan) of the fallen earth, Narnia, who stole the rightful rule of Narnia from mankind. Aspiring mankind is represented by the four children protagonists.

What is often missed by Christian critics of this work is that the interpretation of the Bible story by Lewis emphasizes not only the forgiveness dimension of the story, but also the redemption and restoration aspects as well.

In the beginning of the Bible account, man has it all. He has a relationship with God. He also has the role of ruler over the earth creation. He was designed for earth, having been given a body. However, man allowed a rebellion begun in the heavens to invade and contaminate the earth, causing man to lose his relationship with God and his position of rulership over the earth.

We learn in the movie that the arrival of the children in Narnia creates a furor of fear in the White Witch kingdom as she and her minions try to prevent the children from learning and attaining their destiny to reclaim their crowns and thrones of authority and power over Narnia.

[Read the rest at WorldNetDaily]

The founder of an Internet-based ministry, which helps church leaders and spiritual educators use modern movies as teaching tools, says the recent release of the blockbuster movie The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has a strong biblical message. Dr. Marc Newman, founder of MovieMinistry.com, believes that message is one that should be drawn out rather than downplayed.

Newman started the website as a way to provide pastors and lay leaders with tools and insights to help reach others with the gospel message, an often challenging objective in a media-saturated and entertainment-obsessed culture. He says Christians can use movies in the same way the New Testament parables were used, to present truth that engages people’s hearts with the illustrative power of stories.

The head of MovieMinistry.com says the new Chronicles of Narnia movie has powerful Christian elements. “Anybody who’s read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe knows that the death scene of Aslan on the great stone table and his resurrection the following morning is the gospel story,” he says. “To try to deny it is like trying to deny you’ve got an elephant in your living room; there’s just no getting around it.”

In fact, far from being a simple children’s story or allegorical fantasy, Newman says the movie based on C.S. Lewis’ book provides many parallels to the story of redemption through Christ in scripture. “Every single aspect of the gospel is present in this film,” he notes, “beginning with the way sin slowly encroaches on people’s lives all the way to our inability to deal with it outside of divine intervention to the need for blood sacrifice.”

Just as the Bible teaches that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ,” the ministry founder continues, “so, in this world [of Narnia], Jesus is embodied in the character of Aslan, who much sacrifice himself in order to free the traitor, Edmund, from the clutches of the White Witch, who demands his blood.”

[Read the rest at Agape Press]