Transcript Document
Controversial Issues in The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe Controversy: Christian Allegory? • Are The Chronicles of Narnia intended as Christian allegory? If allegorical, events and characters in Narnia represent symbolic statements about OUR world - is this the case? • What theological problems, if any, arise if Narnia is allegorical? Narnia Allegorical? • Theological inclusivism? – Tash worshipper enters Aslan’s heaven in ‘The Last Battle’ • Predestination of Christ? – Aslan has sure knowledge that he will be resurrected Allegorical Reading - The 7 Deadly Sins? • The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe - Gluttony. Edmund's taste for Turkish Delight leads him to a point where he betrays his siblings. • Prince Caspian - Luxury or Lust. Lewis would probably have considered the normal meaning of Lust unsuitable in a children's book. In Prince Caspian, King Miraz shows a lust for power, which can be seen as one meaning of the older Luxury. • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Greed. Eustace Scrubb's greed for gold gets him turned into a dragon. • The Silver Chair - Sloth. Jill and Eustace are told of four signs they must remember, but apathy and carelessness lead them to forget at the crucial moments. • The Horse and His Boy - Pride. The horse Bree, the girl Aravis and Prince Rabadash all have their pride humbled by Aslan. • The Magician's Nephew - Anger. Both Digory and Polly are inclined to lose their tempers and fight. One of these angry quarrels results in Digory waking Jadis the White Witch, whose own bad temper brings trouble to Narnia. • The Last Battle - Envy. Shift the ape is envious of the respect given to Aslan. His scheme to have Puzzle the donkey impersonate Aslan brings the whole world of Narnia to an end. Controversy: “Imaginal?” • Lewis states, “Supposing there really was a world like Narnia . . . and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened? The stories are my answer. Since Narnia is a world of talking beasts, I thought he would become a talking beast there as he became a man here. I pictured him becoming a lion there because a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; b) Christ is called ‘the lion of Judah’ in the Bible.” Controversy: Disney • Disney vs Conservative Christianity - the Disney Boycott (1995-2004) - AFA • Family values • Subliminal messages Controversy: Disney Has The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe been Disnified? Theological changes in the Disney film the Secularization of Aslan? QuickTime™ and a DV/DVCPRO - NTSC decompressor are needed to see this picture. People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly." -- C. S. Lewis. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Theological changes in the Disney film the Redemption of Edmund? QuickTime™ and a DV/DVCPRO - NTSC decompressor are needed to see this picture. “Please, your majesty, said Edmund, “I’ve done the best I can. I’ve brought them quite close. They’re in the little house on top of the dam just up the river - with Mr. And Mrs. Beaver.” A slow cruel smile came over the Witch’s face. “Is this all your news?” she asked. “No, your Majesty,” said Edmund, and proceeded to tell her all he had heard before leaving the Beavers’ house. Theological changes in the Disney film the Redemption of Edmund? QuickTime™ and a DV/DVCPRO - NTSC decompressor are needed to see this picture. “Please, your Majesty, said the Fox. We were given them [by] Father Christmas.…” “What?” roared the witch… Then she raised her wand. “Oh, don’t, don’t, please don’t,” shouted Edmund, but even while he was shouting she had waved her wand… And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself.” Theological changes in the Disney film Law, not Grace? QuickTime™ and a DV/DVCPRO - NTSC decompressor are needed to see this picture. • “It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.” Theological changes in the Disney film Law, not Grace? • “Interpreted the Deep magic differently…” Religion as a matter of interpretation? • Sacrifice written into the Deep magic of Narnia - no implication that the Law can be superceded by a “different incantation”? • Sacrifice written into the Deep magic of Narnia - grace implicit in Law? • Jewish Law, Natural Law, and Grace - Fears of anti-semitism?