| It has taken me decades - literally - to finally pick | | | | and then sets out to betray the others. |
| up another C.S. Lewis book and read it. In high | | | | Without giving away the storyline, the theme of |
| school I read Lewis' book, "That Hideous | | | | Narnia clearly reflects the captivity of this present |
| Strength" and completely missed Lewis' message. | | | | world under Satan, but its past and future |
| One decade later I read Lewis' "Mere Christianity" | | | | deliverance through Jesus Christ. In the form of a |
| and fully understood what Lewis was saying. With | | | | lion, Aslan, Lewis brings a savior to Narnia who |
| The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, part of | | | | eventually releases the land from its winter grip |
| C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, the gospel | | | | and vanquishes the White Witch. |
| message is clearly made evident in an allegorical | | | | For those unfamiliar with the gospel message, |
| mystical style. Lewis used the Narnia series to | | | | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe may be |
| explain Christ's love for humankind to children, | | | | hard to follow. However, Lewis wrote the book in |
| who are the series' principal readers. | | | | 1950 immediately after the horrors of Word War |
| This first novel in a series of seven books is | | | | II and with the Nazi air battle for London fresh in |
| currently a major motion picture now completing | | | | the minds of British citizenry. Lewis may have |
| a successful run on theatre screens across the | | | | been responding to a strong spiritual hunger of his |
| U.S. I have yet to see the movie, a Disney | | | | time when he wrote the series as "Narnia" |
| production, but I understand that it holds very | | | | successfully points seekers to Aslan, much as the |
| true to Lewis' storyline. I expect to see the | | | | Bible points readers to Jesus Christ. |
| movie before it leaves theatres later this month; | | | | I am not sure if I will read the remaining six |
| it will become available on DVD this April. | | | | books in this series, but I am definitely interested |
| Back to the story! The theme of "The Lion" | | | | in exploring several other writings of Lewis. |
| centers around four children, the Pevensie siblings, | | | | C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams |
| who get caught up in a land of magic. Entering | | | | were contemporaries who were a part of a |
| "Narnia" through a wardrobe [a tall cabinet that | | | | group of writers and intellectuals known as The |
| holds clothes] - located in a home where they are | | | | Inklings who met during the 1930s and 1940s at a |
| boarding - the children enter a land where it is | | | | public house in Oxford. Tolkien, like Lewis, used |
| always winter, but never Christmas. Under the | | | | Christian allegory in many of his writings including, |
| spell of the White Witch, Narnia is forever in the | | | | The Lord of the Rings, another series of books |
| grip of evil. The land is occupied by talking animals | | | | that was recently released as a major motion |
| [beavers, for one], spirits, goblins, sprites, but no | | | | picture. |
| humans. That is until Lucy Pevensie shows up | | | | Clearly, the renewed interest in C.S. Lewis' works |
| followed by her brother Edmund and, later, Susan | | | | is a positive step especially for a generation of |
| and Peter. | | | | children not familiar with the gospel message. |
| Quite obviously the White Witch a/k/a the Queen | | | | Disney, for their part, is interested in developing |
| of Narnia is most interested in humans so she | | | | the remaining six books of the series into individual |
| resorts to all sorts of magic and trickery to lure | | | | movies. So, expect Narniamania - as some have |
| them in. Edmund, the most impressionable of the | | | | called it - to continue unabated for many years to |
| siblings, is quickly captivated by the White Witch | | | | come. |