Wednesday 22 April 2009

The Narnia Code!




I first read the Narnia books (all seven of them) when I was an adult, probably around the age of twenty-two. They are wonderful children's stories that, if taken at face value are just that, children's stories. But, when one is reading them there is no doubt that an obvious parallel is taking place between the world of Narnia and our own. In other words, the books are allegorical. They tell one story as a way of telling another. The first book, The Magician's Nephew, finds the children 'falling into' another world. At the time they arrive it is an 'empty world'. They find themselves there just at the point that Aslan, the Christ-figure, is creating life in the empty world. It's powerful writing and wonderful to read.





The second, and most famous, of the books is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This tells the story, in allegory form, of sin and redemption. In the story, the boy Edmund is skillfully tempted by the witch to eat her Turkish delight. He then, almost unwittingly, chooses the witch (sin) over Aslan (God) and then discovers his ill fate when it is too late. Aslan rescues the boy, but the witch demands blood! She refers to a 'deep magic' (really referring to deep spiritual laws that demand justice) that the boy's life 'is hers'. The climax of the story is that Aslan substitutes himself in place of Edmund and dies at the hand of the witch on the stone table. When all seems lost, Aslan returns to life - declaring that there was a yet deeper magic that the witch didn't know .."that when an innocent life"..gave itself in place of another .."death began to work in reverse." A true picture of what Jesus did for all mankind. The other books have different and exciting parallels.
However, Dr Michael Ward in The Narnia Code, finds a further cosmic meaning to the books of C.S Lewis. I must admit that I was sceptical to begin with and thought that this could be a lot of nonsense (the sceptic in me!). But, when I watched the programme on BBC iPlayer, I had that feeling that something has just quite easily 'slipped into place' and I believe he is right. The programme was excellent and toward the end had interviews and comment from some leading scientists who are Christians. I loved the way one of them put it, something like: "We can interpret the world through science, but there is another way! C.S. Lewis started from the point of man having consciousness and interpreted the world from that perspective" (my impression of what he said - it will not be entirely accurate). When Dr Ward was asked at the end "... and do you believe C.S. Lewis?" He simply answered "I do." If you get a chance to watch it or read the book, do it! Find out more here.

4 comments:

  1. I love these stories...thanks for the link to another way of exploring them.

    Glad that you made it out to the services...catching up with old (and not so old) friends is a tonic to the spirit...also, do keep up your good writing work...we are indeed reading and being encouraged!! Well done.

    Lorna
    x

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  2. Thank you, Lorna. You are an encouragement!

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  3. I must admit I spent the first half of the programme confused. Having read both the Ransom novels (wasn't Lewis a clever man) and being an avid Tolkien fan I already knew about their interest in Medieval cosmology and how it appeared in their books and influenced them. I hadn't applied that to the Narnian Chronicles though and must admit to not being totally convinced yet - maybe I need to read the book.

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  4. I loved the programme, the fact that all of this has been hidden makes it more interesting. I liked what C S Lewis said about Christ " being like a deep sea diver plunging right in, down to the bottom depths to bring up mankind; to redeem us. Amen

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