Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia

Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia

C. S. Lewis, a well-known author and apologist, is best known by people of all

ages for his seven volume series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia. As Lewis

wrote about the land of Narnia, an imaginary world visited by children of this

world, he had two obvious purposes: to entertain the readers and to suggest

analogies of the Christian faith. Although some feel that his stories are

violent, Lewis is successful at using fiction to open peoples' hearts to

accepting Christ as their Savior because he first entertains the audience with a

wonderful story.

Lewis talked about how he came to write the books of Narnia, saying that they

"all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy

wood" (Lewis 79). The Chronicles tell of the different adventures of English

children as they visit the kingdom of Narnia and fall in love with the lion

Aslan. Aslan, "the son of the Emperor over Sea," can be compared to this world's

Jesus Christ (Schakel 133). As a child, Lewis always favored fairy tales and

fantasies; as an adult, he decided to write one (Lewis 60). And so began The

Chronicles of Narnia. Rather than planning to write a fictional book that

succeeded in using apologetics, Lewis admits that the "element" of Christianity,

"as with Aslan," entered "of its own accord" (Hooper 31). Walter Hooper, C. S.

Lewis' biographer, describes Lewis as being the most religious man he ever met

(Schakel 132). For this reason, no matter what Lewis wrote, his religion would

greatly impact all of his works.

Although Christian symbolism can be found...

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...rtainer.

Works Cited

Dorsett, Lyle W. and Marjorie Lamp Mead, eds. C. S. Lewis Letters to Children.

New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985.

Holbrook, David. The Skeleton in the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis's Fantasies: A

Phenomenological Study. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1991.

Hooper, Walter. Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C. S. Lewis.

New York: Collier Books, 1979.

Lewis, C. S. Of This and Other Worlds. Ed. Walter Hooper. St. James Place,

London: Collins, 1982.

Martin, Holly Bigelow. "C. S. Lewis in the Secular Classroom." The Bulletin of

the New York C. S. Lewis Society 22.4 (1991): 1-7.

Schakel, Peter J. Reading with the Heart: The Way Into Narnia. Grand Rapids,

Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979.