Thursday, October 04, 2007

Prince Caspian


Recently I picked up C.S. Lewis second book in his Chronicles of Narnia series. Yes, I am ashamed not to have read Prince Caspian before. I loved it for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was on my level. Second of all, Lewis' worldview soaks every page of the book. Not only did I get chills when the Christ figure Aslan appears on the scene, but his quick conversation with little Lucy was profound. It went like this:

“Welcome, Child,” he said.
“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.”
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he.
“Not because you are?”
“I am not, but every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

That statement could be mulled over for a year. Is that not part of the "upside downess" of the Christian Life? As a young teenager, God was someone who loved me, heard my prayers, and created the world. Yet, the older we get, instead of him fitting in a nice little box, we slowly start realizing that is an impossibility. Our finite minds cannot comprehend His infiniteness, His eternality or His perfection.

And perhaps the greatest part, His infinite love for His people begins to boggle our minds. God sending His own Son to die on the cross for our sins was something discussed and affirmed as a child. Hopefully, the older you have gotten, the more you have begun to treasure His work. As the gospel keeps working its way into our lives, we see our own sinfulness and our own meager efforts at selfless love. As a result, we start seeing just how "big" God's love is for us and His words in John resonate in our life "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).

I for one am looking forward to the movie Prince Caspian coming out in May. I hope they keep this quote in the movie. Actually, I'm sure with the international prominence of sweet emotion, there is now no way they can keep it out.

3 Comments:

At 4:08 PM, Blogger Daniel said...

Doesn't that mean it's the right-side-upness of Christianity? Anyways I read Chronicles this summer. And then Harry Potter, which is also incredibly Christian and now sitting on my shelf between Lewis and Tolkien. You might think that's terrible, but it's because you haven't read them yet.

 
At 3:00 PM, Blogger Kel said...

The themes that are Christian in the Harry Potter books are themes that are common in all good story telling, including the story telling that goes proceeds the coming of Christ. That does not make them "Christian" but only points to the fact that the gospel is written on the hearts of God's image bearers to the extent that Christian and non-Christian alike love to hear stories about courage and self-sacrifice. But I would not go so far as to say that Rollings' Harry Potter books are on par with Lewis' Chronicles and Tolkien's works. Lewis and Tolkien were both literary geniuses long before they wrote their respective narratives. So that when they did they actually write they created amazing fantasy worlds that were more real than our own world seems at time. Hear me right, I am not taking anything away from the Harry Potter books they are really well done and well thought out. I really enjoy them and find much in them to be admired. Having said that, i have never had to put down one of the Harry Potter books because i was so overcome by emotion. But on every page of Lewis and Tolkien there is something that will make tears well up inside of me and cause me to praise God for Christ. Jesus. Potter just isn't quite there.

 
At 1:02 AM, Blogger Daniel said...

Harry Potter belongs with the two of them for so many reasons. In some ways, Rowling splits the difference between Lewis and Tolkien (allegory vs. worldview driven fantasy) by including several allegorical elements, while generally operating in a worldview driven world.

Before we go too far, for the uninitiated, here be *SPOILERS*.

I will agree that one sees a major progression in Harry Potter that you don't see in the more developed works of Lewis and Tolkien. These men were English scholars and linguists, and to compare Rowling to them on that level seems unfair. Rowling does pull a few linguistic tricks out of her bag, however, and ends up naming her characters and their spells far more interestingly than either Lewis or Tolkien (the latter making some abstract language that means nothing to all but the dangerously obsessed).

But as time progress, Rowling flexes some major muscles and beings to send Biblical shots across the bow. In the Chamber of Secrets, Harry kills the Basilisk (in mythology the king of serpents) to save Ginny's life. In doing so, he himself is injured. In fact, Harry injures himself by stabbing the basilisk in the head (the basilisk's tooth injures him). While he prepares to die, he looks at Ginny and says "It's over," which is as close as you can get without plagiarizing the Lord.

We first get a clue of the importance of love from Dumbledore. I suppose for you this isn't a particularly big deal. After all, plenty of stories have love as the defining theme.

Yet the love that saves Harry's life (and keeps Voldemort from killing him again) is a primarily sacrificial love. Harry's mother's love covers him and protects him against Voldemort. That's an effectual atonement that preserves those whom it covers.

My last example (it's past my bedtime) is J.K. Rowling's quotation of 1 Corinthians 15:26 in the last book (p. 328). Written on James and Lily Potter's grave is the verse: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

No one quotes this passage. No one that can read a book would dare quote this passage of Scripture just because it would seem quaint. If you quote this verse, and you don't believe what Paul is saying, then you are affirming an Ecclesiastes that doesn't give any hope. Life is futile, and anyone that would preach the gospel is a fool above anyone else. Rowling understands that. Rowling can use that verse because she's finishing her narrative of how evil is destroyed once and for all, and the proof that Harry's friends have in his resurrection, and the proof that we have in our Lord's that it is not just a story. It's reality.

 

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