Narnia

[Giaour]

Come on WSB,

What part of the trailer did you think was evil?

[Giaour]

A gut feeling? That's premature judgement.

Comparing narnia books to pornography, alcohol and paganism?

Are you okay? This is a giant leap.

He blew a horn... OMG how evil.

The past heros were NOT DEAD!

He was calling them from another place, not from the grave.

[Gerioke]

NO THE BOOKS DO NOT PORTRAY WITCHES AND SORCERY AS GOOD!

Read up before you judge. You might actually come to like the books.

What part of the trailer did you disagree with?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I disagreed with it when I got the same wicked chill I got from watching the LOTR trailer, and from a certain, later-revealed-to-be-sex-cult so called church I visited. I disagree with it because I don't have to have perfect knowledge of the details of the text to know it isn't of God. I know through Biblical discernment and common sense from what I saw it wasn't at all of God. Walking through magical portals to fantasy worlds created by fantasy gods?! This not good for edification of the body, it is to lead you astray. I know from experience, and I know from the Word of God that these things only hurt.

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 5:14 - But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

I sit here typing this knowing full well that I am not totally free from this stuff my own self. You think you can handle this stuff, but it grows and it begins to control you. Just like the first time you look at pornography. Just like the first fix from a drug. Just like your first drink. You think you are controlling it, but it is already controlling you. For some, If you don't turn back, you will wake up one day and not even realize you are lost and dominated by a world of witchcraft, and at the very least it is already warping your understanding of scripture because you are defending occult/pagan practices and teachings.

Here are the "overview" of one of the narnia books

Prince Caspian.

Troubled times have come to Narnia as it is gripped by civil war. Prince Caspian is forced to blow The Great Horn of Narnia, summoning the help of past heroes, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Now they must overthrow Caspian's uncle, King Miraz, to restore peace to Narnia

Ah, necromancy by "good" characters. Much as I suspected. Not unlike Tolkien's Aragorn summoning the dead to fight for him. I didn't even have to read the book, just the overview that is on its very cover.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are struggling with fantasy books and the like. You should stay away from them.

There are some people who read books and when they are finished the book, they put it away feeling like they have just been entertained. Maybe you should give some people the benifit of the doubt.

[kodischild]

I think WSB might have been a bit quick to judge on this one. We all grew up knowing you can't judge a book by its cover and all that. Apparently that is what he did anyway.

[Giaour]

I opened the topic to discus biblical principles in the Narnia books and I get stuff like "wicked", "evil", "led astray","paganism" all from someone who hasn't even read the books.

Stop judging and do some research on it.

[nebula]

Anyone ever read the Pendragon cycle? It's a cool trilogy about Merlin and King Aurthor and the origins of Great Britain. I don't remember the authors name but he was christian. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not to re-hash the debate, but I thought I'd answer the question for you!

That was Stephen Lawhead who wrote this.

Hey, I never claimed to have read the Narnia books. But one look at the trailer for the film and...

You can't judge a book by the movie.

A major turning point in my life has been when atheists and pagans mocked me because I was a professing christian, but they didn't mock me becuase of my confession in Christ, they mocked me because my favorite texts other than the Bible was the same as theirs! I "loved" LotR. It was such a 'Good epic of good vs evil and so many "christian" principles in there to be learned from'.

"Hey, you fool. You hypocrite!" They said, "Don't you know your Bible forbids you to read and take part in this?!"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would have asked them to grab a Bible and show me what they were talking about!

"So, you know the Bible? . . . Tell me more! "

But it DOESN'T teach the morality that Jesus taught.

In Prince Caspian, there is a time when the four children are wondering around lost andnot knowing what to do or where to go. at one point, Lucy sees Aslan through thte trees beconing her to come. Then he's gone. Lucy immediately tells the others this, but they don't believe her (well, Edmund believes her - but since Peter was the leader they had to follow him), so they kept wandering lost.

That night, Lucy wanders off alone and finds Aslan. He asks her why she didn't come. Lucy responds by blaming the others and speaking ill of them. As she is speaking this, Aslan starts growling, showing his displeasure in her response.

Lucy shuts her mouth as she realises how wrong she was. Then Aslan causes her to realize that she should have followed him even if the others did not.

Does this sound like a Biblical principle to you? It does to me!

And ironically, quite often when I start blaming others for things going wrong in my life, this scene flashes across my memory, and like Lucy I clam up and repent to the Lord of my attitude, and start looking at myself as to what I did wrong.

Is it not true that these books portray diviners, sorcerers(sorceresses), witches and wizards as "Good" characters?

If so, and it is, then I rest my case.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As was pointed out - no.

The witch in TLtW and tW is very, very evil.

The magician in The Magician's Nephew is nothing close to a good guy - very devious and selfish and uncaring. The two children almost get killed because of his actions.

I disagreed with it when I got the same wicked chill I got from watching the LOTR trailer, and from a certain, later-revealed-to-be-sex-cult so called church I visited. I disagree with it because I don't have to have perfect knowledge of the details of the text to know it isn't of God. I know through Biblical discernment and common sense from what I saw it wasn't at all of God. Walking through magical portals to fantasy worlds created by fantasy gods?! This not good for edification of the body, it is to lead you astray. I know from experience, and I know from the Word of God that these things only hurt.

(snip)

Ah, necromancy by "good" characters. Much as I suspected. Not unlike Tolkien's Aragorn summoning the dead to fight for him. I didn't even have to read the book, just the overview that is on its very cover.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The interesting thing I found about the Narnia series is that if you really pay attention to it, it's not about "good versus evil". Sin is sin - and Lewis makes no bones about it.

Again - you shouldn't judge the book by the movie - producers can bring hteir own "stuff" into what they produce.

In aslan, Lewis was trying to portray Christ - not "fantasy gods". Aslan is even known to be the son of the great king - or something like that (I forget the exact title).

I recall a movie titled Miracle in the Wilderness, I believe. in this movie, a husband and wife try to teach the story of Jesus' birth to the Native American tribe that had captured them. Since these people had no concept of Israel and lamb sacrifices and all the Old Testament tradition and accounts nor Hebrew culture or anything, they figured a way to explain the story using language the People would understand. For instance, when it came to mentioning the angel that visited Mary, the People had no understanding as to what an angel was. So, they worked it out this way - the angel is a winged messenger - by the Natives understanding a "winged messanger" would be an eagle - so they told the People that an eagle spoke to her. And the people understood what was happening.

Now, you can become upset that they encouraged the Native People in their animalistic religion - but the couple had to explain this story to the people in a way that would make sense to them, or they would never have understood.

In Narnia, Lewis was atttempting to share Biblical truths in a way that had meaning to an audience that might not have gotten it by conventional means.

Is that sinful?

And if Lewis used the word "magic" in replace of "miracles" so people could relate better . . . does it make that much of a difference? For the "magic" in Narnia is nothing close to the casting spells sort of things - it's just like the world of Narnia runs on a different set of physics than our world does - and "magic" is just the best(?) term to use to describe it.

And why do I care this way?

I have had friends who lean towards New Age and fantasy and Neo-Paganism and such. My heart bleeds for ways to reach them with the Gospel. The conventional method sure isn't reaching them!

Why can we not try to speak their language as a means of presenting the Gospel to them?

[Giaour]

Awesome post, Neb!

Aslan was also shown as a lamb. The lion and the lamb, hmmm sounds familiar.

[yomotalking]

YOu can't judge cos of a 5 min trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved the books!

I'll be the first to watch the new film!!!!!

It's ia Bibilical.

WSB....I challenge you to read the book.

Then, we may see what you think.

But as for me.......my consiense is totally silent on this one.

Yep.

Call me a Narnia fan!

[Pipit]

One of my fav. chapters in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the one where Aslan explains, after he comes back to like, about 'the deeper magic.' There was a rule that stated the blood must be shade for a trator, which Aslan spilled for Edmund on the stone table. When Aslan comes back to life, he explains to the girls how before time there was a deeper magic which states that when an innocent and blameless person shades his blood for the guilty, the old law and its magic is broken. What a parrallel between the law of sin and death and the workings of grace! I get teary eyed and emotional every time i read that part!!

What is awesome is that the movies coming out soon will bring both the popularity of the books and of the whole Narnia world to the forefront. It cannot be denied that C.S. Lewis was a Christian and that the Christian message is found throughout his works, and because many will be more likely to pick up a Narnia book and read it then a Bible, it will allow us an awesome opporunity to use the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe as a means of sharing the gospel. Hey, i plan to invite a few none Christian friends out to watch the movie, and sit around over a coffee (tea in my case) and explain to them what it is all about.

CAN'T WAIT!!

[apothanein kerdos]

Let's see how this works:

One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." Titus 1:12

Now, this is from Paul. Paul is quoting a Cretan poet/philosophy/prophet Epimenides...and he's quoting what Epimenides said as truth. In fact, Paul was so in love with Epimenides writings that he appealed to them again in Acts 17:28. The thing is, Epimenides was steeped in mythology, much like Narni, Lord of the Rings, and other writings are. Yet even in all this mythology the truth of God could be found. Paul saw this and appealed to it.

If it is okay for Paul to do with someone who was obviously Pagan, why can we not appeal to writings that are written by Christian thinkers?