The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - Part I
—1. Overview
—2. Reviews and Blogs
—3. Cast and Crew
—4. Photo Pages
—5. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—6. Posters
—7. Production Notes (pdf)
—8. Spiritual Connections
—9. Presentation Downloads
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. (Eccl 3:11)
I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Near the conclusion, Aslan resurrected from the dead, and the theater audience erupted in applause. I was astounded, since the scene is taken straight out of the book by C.S. Lewis. What’s fascinating is that Lewis was allegorically, yet blatantly, writing about Jesus’ resurrection. Here is, in my estimation, half a theater of non-Christians cheering for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It happened in this day and age when the word Christmas, because it has the word Christ in it, is politically incorrect.
And I am in awe of the God whom I serve…for as it says in the Bible “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to God.� (Rom 14:11) That is exactly what happened when I was watching the movie, without knowing it people were praising God. How can I say that? Because I believe as Ecclesiastes says above that God “has put eternity in their hearts.� What does that mean you say? Well that’s what I’ll be writing about in this a first of three installments I’ll be blogging about this great movie…and book series.
Why do we love stories like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, even Star Wars, and the Matrix? Because they are a copy of the original story, in other words they are an echo of a bigger story. I believe that God is unfolding a terribly awesome, dramatic, comedic, action packed story. And it is etched as it were in our hearts…which includes our thoughts, emotions, and senses. Without even knowing it movies, fairytales, songs, poems, mythic stories all strike at that echo that is reverberating in our hearts.
Which is why we cheer when Aslan comes back to life…we might think it’s just because we love a heroic story…when the good guy wins. Actually it’s because it is written in our hearts to want the hero (that person who we put our hopes on…the one that just got killed) to come back to life and save us. Because we are in need of a savior and if he has that kind of power then he is the one we want to follow!
I’m thankful to C.S. Lewis for putting this story to pen in a fantasy setting for children. And to the producers and directors who put the story on the big screen. See I took my 5 year old with me…and it is a joy to see eternity being awoken in his heart. Was he afraid? Yes, but he still was bubbling when we got home about Narnia this and Aslan that. I could see it in his eyes…he got it as only a child could. The Narnia story is God’s story to him…and to us.
Also, for all my manly strutting I still can’t get myself to see the Passion of the Christ, I think because it is so REAL looking. I know my sins put him there and that grieves me beyond words. But for some reason seeing a Lion (Jesus) be put to death for a traitor like Edmund (me) all of a sudden gives me a window to see mythically what is hard for me to see realistically. I will tell you that I felt deeply my Lords pain and shame as well as the truth of what he did for me which is even more real now than I can say. I was cheering along with the rest of the folks in that theater…and my soul praised the living God for dying on the cross for my treachery. I even shed a few tears after the resurrection because I know in a deeper way that my Redeemer lives.
In that same theater, when the movie credits started going up, people exited as soon as possible, as they often do. A few people who must have seen the movie before yelled that it wasn’t over. They were right and I’m so glad I didn’t have to miss the Professor saying “keep your eyes open.� That is my prayer for each of us…Christian and seeker alike. Keep your eyes open for the bigger story that God is unveiling. It is written in your hearts…and even in the artist’s hearts that make movies, sing songs, write poetry, paint, and sculpt. God will find you even there…I hope you will find him too!
Stay tuned for Part II of my series on this great movie…until then remember that Aslan is on the move…and we'll answer the question why children to help save the Kingdom?
— Overview
— Reviews and Blogs
16 Comments:
Thank you for your Newsletter
but reg Narnia
we saw it
but it was rather secular
felt disappointed
did not see a Christian connection
if it was it was very hidden..
Thank you
Merry CHRISTmas
Romy
Excellent, article. When will part 2 appear?
Jeff
Movies are from satan, not God. The Bible says nothing about truth in other stories! You are dead wrong.
The Bible teaches…that Jesus is the Saviour of mankind and that there is no eternal life by any other means , John Ch. 10 V. 28 , 29 ; Ch. 17 V. 2 , 3 ; Acts Ch. 4 V. 12 ; I Tim. Ch. 2 V. 5. The Bible teaches…there is eternal life for the faithful, Matt. Ch.13 V. 43 ; Rom. Ch. 6 V. 23 ; II Cor. Ch. 5 V. 1 ; II Tim. Ch. 2 V. 10. The Bible teaches…the resurrection of the dead, when Christ returns , Mark Ch.12 ,V. 24, 25 ; Luke Ch.14 V.14 ; John Ch.5 V. 28 , 29 ; Dan Ch.12 V. 2 . The Bible teaches…that we are saved by grace through faith , Acts Ch . 15 , V. 11 ; Eph. Ch. 2 V. 5 , 8 ; Rom. Ch.4 V. 16 . The Bible teaches…baptism by immersion , Matt. Ch. 28 V. 19 : Acts Ch. 22 V. 16 ; Gal. Ch. 3 V. 27 . The Bible teaches…the baptism of the Holy Spirit , Joel Ch. 2 V. 27 , 28 ; Acts Ch.1 V. 5 , 8 ; Ch. 2 V.18 , 38 . The Bible teaches…the second coming of Jesus Christ , personally , that he will descend from Heaven , Matt. Ch. 25 V. 31 ; I Thess. Ch. 4 V. 16 , 17 ; II Peter Ch. 3 V. 10 . The Bible teaches…divine healing by means of prayer , Matt. Ch. 10 V. 8 ; Mark Ch. 6 V. 13 ; James Ch.5 V. 14 , 15 . The Bible teaches…that God gives prophecies , revelations , dreams , and visions by the Holy Spirit , Num. Ch. 12 V. 6 ; Job Ch. 33 V. 14 ; Ch. 2 V. 28 ; Matt. Ch. 2 V. 12 . The Bible teaches…the seventh day is the day of rest blessed by God , Gen. Ch.2 V. 3 ; Ex. Ch. 20 V. 10 ; Mark Ch. 2 V. 27, 28 ; Heb. Ch. 4 V. 4, 9 . The Bible teaches…the Holy communion , or the Lord's Supper , is to commemorate his death , John Ch. 6 V. 48-58 ; I Cor. Ch. 11 V. 23-32 . The Bible teaches…the washing of feet is a sign of humility , Luke Ch. 7 V. 44 ; John Ch.13 V. 5, 14 . The Bible teaches…that fasting and prayer are factors which strengthen the believer , Matt. Ch. 9 V.15; Ch. 17 V.21.
I'm not a Christian, but I've come so close to committing a few times. Every time I do I seem to come across idiotic & bigotted comments like the one above claiming movies are 'satanic' & think 'Do I really want to get caught up in a religion where I'm going to have to share pew space with narrow minded people like this?'
And now we have Narnia to be released in China! One can view it as a form of "pre-evangelism" --the movie will plant seeds of THE ORIGINAL STORY that most Chinese have probably never heard or read.
The Lord is at work... 8-)
Merry Christmas to one and all!
David Buckna
Wow I'm overwhelmed by the response and by David for putting me in the newsletter! Thank you all...I'll try to respond...
Romy could you expand on what made it secular to you? I'm not a huge believer in secular and sacred but I'd like to converse with you about it...I'm commenting on CHRISTmas so Merry CHRISTmas to you as well...btw we'll be celebrating Hanukkah this year too, so Happy Hanukkah.
Jeff Part II is in first draft form...i don't like lot's of drafts so that means in the next couple of days! Keep checking back...
Third commentor...there were movies back in Jesus day...they were called Parables. As John Eldredge wrote once [paraphrased] Jesus was the most brilliant person to walk the earth...with all the methods of teaching at his disposal isn't it curious that he chose parables...stories? No because he knew something most of us subconciously know the best way to learn is from the heart...not the brain. And the only way to get to the heart is through stories (parables) or songs (Psalms) or painting/sculpting (visions and dreams?). Not sure what all those verses were trying to tell me but they didn't prove that movies are from Satan...
To the seeker who posted 4th...if you really saw the value in committing your life to Christ you wouldn't let ANYONE stop you. Just like when I see a Krispy Kreme donut nobody can keep me away from it ;^) See we don't commit to join a religion we commit because we realize if we don't we are toast! There's a price on your head...like Edmund's for the treachory and selfish sins you have comitted (if you think you aren't like Edmund think again...ever lied? stolen? etc...) Jesus paid the price for us just as Aslan paid it for Edmund...that's why we commit...not to go to church...not to feel good or have our greatest dreams fulfilled...but because we realize we need Jesus as Edmund needed Aslan...and Jesus will say as Aslan did that we never have to talk about the past again...I hope you commit.
David Buckna AMEN! Let's be in prayer that Billions of Chinese will hear and see with their hearts the good news. Which makes it even more important to support or go do the work of getting Bibles to the Chinese that want them! I'm praying about going! Anyone want to join me?
Thanks CoachZ for your answer to all the comments and I would just like to add for the 4th commmenter, the seeker, that I agree fully with you, that following Jesus is so great, so wonderful and so important, that nobody could ever stop me. I do know, and have met many, people who are quite narrowminded but I do not believe because or in spite of them but because Jesus is worthy to be worshiped and followed. So seeker, don't look to others, look up?
My own feeling as regards the 'Aslan is Jesus' thing (where the movie is being used by evangelicals to bring people - especially children - into church) is that it is not what Lewis would have wanted. He stated somewhere that his intention with the Narnia books was to 'pre-baptise' his child reader's imaginations, so that when they encountered Christianity later in life they would be psychologically & spiritually prepared to understand & accept it more easily than they would otherwise have been.
Surely the problem with telling children that they are going to see the story of Christ on screen is that are likely to go with the same feelings of excitement they would feel if they were told 'Ok, we're off to church to hear a sermon!'
I think Lewis wanted children to come to Narnia as something new & mysterious - like the Pevensey children in LWW - & be overwhelmed & inspired with wonder, awe, sadness & joy & discover in their own time who Aslan is.
I wish no-one had even mentioned the 'allegorical' aspect of the story at all. Let children (& the rest of us) just be opened to the possibility of joy & wonder (the 'glimpse of joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief' as Tolkien put it) & in that 'opened' state we will be ready to recieve whatever gifts may be given to us. Harping on about the Christian allegory is rather like being sat in the cinema & being prodded by the guy behind & told 'Look - did ya get that bit - that's the death & resurrection of Jesus. Did ya geddit??? Didya, huh?
Last annonymous,
I somewhat agree with your point...if I get it. I remember hearing that Tolkien wasn't too keen on allegory, he said that he'd rather his works be thought of as applicable rather than allegorical. Besides most allegorical fanatics I know like to find Jesus in everything...like the guy who sold some water stained dry wall from his house claiming it was Jesus (Ebay what a wonderful thing!)
So I rather call myself an applyer...that's all I was doing with my son btw applying a movie, a story to his faith...notice his faith. He committed his life to Christ which should put my story into a bit more context. Rather than seeing me as the Church Lady playing the Holy Spirit nudging people left and right to see if they got what i got out of the sermon you'll see that i'm merely helping a 5 year old who looks to me for comfort and understanding of what he is seeing grow.
That bit of context should also help your comment about going to hear a sermon too. I hope.
I understand where you are coming from...if the child has not accepted the Lord yet and I'm SUPER SPIRITUAL DAD trying to shove it down his throat...but that's just not the case here. As far as the case where a kid hasn't come to faith in Christ would I still tell them they are seeing a story about Jesus? Maybe, maybe not...depends on the kid.
Last but not least a quick comment about harping on about Christian allegory...harping is bad...I try not to harp because i've never taken lessons and the guitar has too many strings or me as it is! Anyway it seems you are implying that I make this stuff up...maybe you aren't but if you are I'd categorically deny it. What I right is what I feel God is saying to me in the context of a story...a story that is being told in the world He created, controls, and sets the context. I believe God wants to be found in the day to day, in the average...in creation, art, the quietness of our own hearts. So I report on what I see and hear of Him. If I harp on anything it's that. The beautiful thing is we can argue all day long about allegory but you can't argue with how I experience my God...that's between me and Him.
Thanks for the comments...
First off, let me say that I wasn't aiming to accuse you of 'harping on' - it was more of a general 'rant' about the way certain Evangelicals have grabbed onto the movie as 'nothing but' a way to get people (particularly children) into church.
Is this a BAD thing?
Well, yes & no.....
Some years back I read a comment from a man who'd read the Narnia books as a child. He said 'Jesus to me was just a man in a book, but I could have died for Aslan'
Shocking? 'Blasphemous'? Depends. What I think he meant was that the Jesus he'd been presented with was a boring, 'nice' guy who'd had no relevance to him, didn't inspire him at all. Aslan, however, did inspire him. He wanted to serve Aslan, even lay down his life for him. This was because Aslan was not associated in his mind with going to church & singing hymns & listening to sermons - with the image of church, of what it is to be a Christian, that so many people have.
What Lewis did was to present Christ in a whole new way, in a new setting, almost in the way that the disciples would have encountered Jesus. Its that very presentation of Jesus that so moved that child reader, but it had its effect because he read the books without knowing he was reading a Christian allegory.
Lewis was attempting, as I said, to 'pre-baptise' his child reader's imaginations. They would encounter Aslan, be amazed & inspired by him, & then, when they encountered Christ later they would would be reminded of Aslan, & of how they felt back when they had themselves been in Narnia. They would be able to see Christ for what he was - how they were supposed to see him.
To enter Narnia as the Pevensey children did, to meet the Aslan they met, would open children up to the wonder & awe the first Christians felt. To be told beforehand. 'this is about Jesus' simply fills their heads with ideas about having to go to church on Sunday when they'd rather be playing video games, or out at the skatepark with their friends.
Narnia should be be a place of high adventure & excitement, Aslan should be awe inspiring & wondrous, because once they've been opened up to awe & wonder as things in themselves, they will be ready for a greater awe & wonder to overwhelm them.
Hey anonymous (wish I could call you something else...even a fictitious name),
Love your last post and agree with it! Sorry to take your original post to personally...
If I understand you correctly you are saying that Churches and Evangelicals should just let the movie speak for itself. Rather than risk associating the movie with what is popularly known as the boring, irrelevent church. I can totally agree with that.
I also like your point about Aslan being inspiring but Jesus is not. I think this point and the point above can totally be true and there is one main reason why...that is the watering down of Jesus and what it means to follow Him, by the Enemy, the flesh, and the world.
Take for example Jesus what we see of him in general from the church is a bearded lady holding a lamb...when the Bible depicts him from the beginning of time to the end as a fierce captain of the heavenly armies, a King, and a conquerer who will vanquish Satan in the end. Sounds like someone I'd die for as a man!
Or even your point about boring church sermons with hymns and services. In general this is the picture of fellowship we see in the western church...rather than what it really is and can be! A handful of people fiercly fighting for each other, speaking words of encouragement, doing life together. Most of us have opted for or been presented with something much less than that...500-1000 people packed in a room never connecting with each other or God...it's sad really.
So thanks again for the comments...it makes me think of a story I heard when CS Lewis received a letter from a mother which said she was afraid because her son said he loved Aslan more than Jesus. CS Lewis wrote back and told her not to worry...the things he saw in Aslan were the same things that are worshipful about Jesus. In other words It's all good!
Thanks. Call me Dave.
I suppose I just want kids to be able to make the connection themselves - to have that wonderful moment, where the lightbulb goes on above their heads & they think 'Wow! That's incredible'.
After all, the Disciples didn't have a bunch of 'helpful' grown-ups around to tell them what it all meant. They were like the Pevensey's in Narnia. Suddenly they were in a whole new world, where all the old rules, everything they thought they knew, all the old certainties, were thrown aside & anything could happen. Frightening, exciting, awesome (in the original sense of the word). They were serving, & fighting for their 'Aslan'.
When we deprive children of their sense of wonder by telling them what everything 'means', rather than allowing them to discover it for themselves, we close them off, shut them down. We need to let them go through the wardrobe & have adventures - & not force feed them 'what's good for them'. Don't, for goodness sake, take them to see LWW after telling them 'This will be good for you. This will get you 'saved' - as long as you come straight to Church with me afterwards.'
They have to be allowed to make Lucy's discovery - remeber at the end of the movie - Mr Tumnis says to her that Aslan 'is not a tame lion' & she replies 'No. But he is good'? She didn't say that because some 'well-meaning' grown-up had told her he was good. She said it because she'd met him & had discovered it for herself.
Lewis wanted to open up the possibility for children to come to that realisation for themselves. Meeting Aslan in Narnia shouldn't be used as a 'treat' for good children 'who eat up all their greens' (ie go to Church when they're told). It should be a great big adventure - because they need to see how wonderful adventures are, & so come to want more, & bigger adventures - & what's the biggest adventure of them all.....?
Dave,
Have you ever thought of being a Movie Reviewer here at Hollywood Jesus? Dang...what you wrote is good stuff.
As I was reading your last post I was thinking...the Professor is the perfect person to be the guys that tries to tell the kids about the adventure before they go on it...instead he let's them discover the wardrobe. When Peter and Susan tell him about Lucy's supposed lies he doesn't sit them down and say, "Now children all this is true, go through the wardrobe and find out, this is what you'll find, prophecy this and centaur that." No! He just says be family to her.
I'm thinking what? Be family? You are the one who knows everything about Narnia...tell them! But he knows what you are writing here about searching and discovering is half the adventure and makes it all worth the journey.
How hard that must have been for him! Just like it is hard for us who know the truth to sit on our hands while we watch people we love and care for go through the discovery process. Many just can't do it so they resort to the tactics that you list here...
Great stuff! Take care Dave...btw you can choose Other instead of Anonymous and type Dave. Just a suggestion.
I suppose it is hard, but then if we just tell them the answer what will they learn - really learn.
Of course, there's fear - will they get hurt? Will they learn too late? Don't we have to hurry them to the Truth, avoid all that silly 'adventure' stuff? ('Nasty, uncomfortable things, adventures - make you late for dinner!' as Bilbo said to Gandalf.)
No. We have to let them go - in fact, we have to be like Gandalf sometimes & arrange for a bunch of Dwarves to turn up & then hurry them out of the door (without even a pocket handkerchief), or like the Professor, & keep out of their way while they go find the wardrobe.
Its all about trust. Julian of Norwich wrote (about 600 years ago) 'For sin is behovely, but all shall be well, & all shall be well, & all manner of thing shall be well'.
The professor could rest easy & let them go have their adventure, because he knew Aslan would look out for them. All would be well because, though Aslan is not a safe lion, he is good.
'But...but...The Witch is terrible (AAAAAAAGGHHHHH!!!!!) We have to protect the innocent helpless little muffins!!!. Lock that wardrobe door! NOW!!! Lock the attic door!!!! Lock the house!!! Wrap those kids up in cotton wool this instant! '
But Aslan says 'I need those Sons of Adam, those Daughters of Eve. They have a job to do! Don't worry about them - I'll look after them'
And we respond: 'What do you need them to do? Something serious, & solemn, & High, & ....?'
And Aslan replies: 'Yes, yes, all of that - in time. First though, I want them to have an adventure! A big, exciting, wonderful adventure, & meet me, get to know me - the real me, not the version of me in those old stories - not that the stories are wrong, but I'm bigger than the stories. I'm not a tame, storybook lion. I'm a big, dangerous lion! But I'm a Good lion!. Look, just stop worrying so much. They're in good hands. Trust me! I love them. I'll take care of them'.
We need stories, adventures, because they prepare us for real life (remember Lewis said that this world is the Shadowlands - real life hasn't begun yet. Bilbo asked 'Don't adventures ever have an end?' Well, no they don't. They just get bigger & better & more interesting. Or as Merry told Pippin 'Its best to love first what you are fitted to love: you must start somewhere...'
So, you let the kids go to Narnia & meet Aslan, then, when they've had that adventure they will be ready for another, bigger, adventure, & another & another. Step by step, till the prophecy is fullfilled.
You just have to trust that you're in safe ...whoops! did I just say 'safe??? Sorry, I meant Good hands.
The movie Narnia is GOD from the beggining to the end. I watched it in a nice Saturday afternoon. On that same Saturday, but at night, I went to listen to a famous "preacher" here in Brazil that came to my city. I have to confess that I felt GOD´s presence 10 times more during the movie than I felt during the preaching that night.
Anonymous that's great! Like one author said (I know I've quoted him before) Jesus was THE most brilliant man to walk the earth...cause he was also God...and he chose stories to communicate his message. Not theological diatribes or even verse by verse study (as good as those things can be) he used stories.
The Kingdom of God is like...
a farmer...
a builder...
All of us preachers famous or not could learn from him eh?
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