Favorite Christian message from Narnia?

[Ithilwen]

No- Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all one. Jesus knew all. Jesus /did/ take a human form on earth, but that didn't affect his knowledge of all things past, present, and future. If it had, how would he know that Judas was going to turn him in before the fact? In this old movie I watched, about St. Joseph of Cupertino (I think), Joseph used "One blanket, three folds" to explain the trinity.

I don't think you quite understand what I'm saying, 12. I'm saying basically the same thing as St. Joseph. He said three folds of one blanket. I said three parts of one being. I even stated in one of my posts that I agreed they were One.

But, although Jesus did know many things divinely, He didn't know as much as the Father. Such as, say... the day the world would end. They are One, but there is still a level of seperation at the same time. After all, if they were not seperate at all, it would have been a little difficult for Jesus to say, "The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me." in John 14:10. If God and Jesus were exactly the same, no difference whatsoever, then He could say that the words were His own. But there are times when He credits things to His father and not to Himself.

Plus, if there was not at least some seperation, then we wouldn't say three parts of one blanket. We would just say one blanket.

Also in Genesis 1:26A, it says, "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image..."" (bold added by me), which shows it is plural. If there was no seperation at all, it would read 'Let Me make man in My image'.


~Riella

[Ionic Bonding Rocks]

Wow, where to begin???
I think one of the messages that has always stood out to me has been the dwarfs in The Last Battle. While their stubborn refusal to see what is in front of them has its roots in their unwillingness to submit to the authority of Aslan, a big part of their blindness also resides in the bad view/experience they had of [the fake] Aslan and his followers. It always reminds me that, as a Christian, I need to be living the way God wants me to be living every second of the day, both for Him and for those I don't know may be watching my example. Because just saying I'm a Christian doesn't necessarily mean I am a Christian, it's also in the way I act. How horrible it would be to turn someone off Christ and His eternal plan for them! So yes, that has to be one of my favourite pieces of imagery.
Another is at the end of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, where Aslan says, "I am also in your world, but I there I go by a different name. You must learn to know me by that name." I LOVE that. It's so clear, and it manages to make my heart beat with excitement every time I read it!
Lastly, I think the last paragraph of The Last Battle is perhaps the most beautiful piece of literature I have ever read. When it talks about how

SHOW SPOILER

the whole Chronicles of Narnia were just the cover page of the Great Story, which nobody has ever read but in which every chapter is better than the last,

I am often brought near to tears. It's so lovely; it's something I often read five times over simply because it's such a wonderful taste of things to come!
Sorry, I know it was supposed to be favourite message, but I really couldn't choose!

[puddleglum32]

I like the end of VDT, when Aslan says that he is in their world, and he has another name.(Jesus)

[Graymouser]

I remember way way back (and I first read the Chronicles as a believer) how surprised I was by this:

Then, in his despair, Digory looked up at Aslan’s face. “Great shining tears stood in the Lion’s eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself. ‘My son, my son,’ said Aslan. ‘I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another.’”

The shock that this wild and splendid Lion who has just created the world also bears such grief ...

And not only that He can be good to Digory (of course!) but that Digory can be good to Him.

Still brings tears to my eyes every time.

[Graymouser]

The scene where Bree, at the Hermit's house, is so condescendingly explaining how Aslan is, of course, not a real lion....

You can just hear the plummy tones of a modernist theologian on a Sunday public radio show explaining how it's all so metaphorical.

[Tesseract]

Nice one, Graymouser.

I think my favorite message from Narnia (and it can be debatable whether it's really Christian, I suppose) is one that occurs in The Last Battle. It concerns Emeth, who was raised in a society which taught him to worship the wrong god and hate Aslan. When Emeth goes into Aslan's country, he is still fixated on Tash. And yet when he sees that Aslan is the real god, he is still able to be accepted by Aslan into heaven.

I find that kind of cool, since may Christian exclusionists will say that although people who have lived good lives without ever hearing the gospel will go to heaven, they will also say that anybody who has heard of Jesus and rejects it but still lives a good life will go to hell. That sort of belief seems to suggest that evangelizing to very anti-Christian societies is counterproductive in their holy battle to save the world's souls.

One thing that has puzzled me, though, is who the Calormenes are supposed to represent. Narnia seems to resemble Christians, but although the Calormenes are described of having the stereotypical appearance of someone from the Middle East, the Calormene religion is nothing like Islam. They aren't monotheists, and their most powerful god, Tash, actually exists. Since Tash plays the role of Satan in TLB, are they supposed to represent Satanists?

[Ithilwen]

^^ There's a lot of threads explaining what the passages concerning Emeth really mean, and how Emeth was actually a follower of Aslan, though he was a bit mistaken about the name. As Aslan himself said, Emeth would not have searched so hard and so truly if it was not really Aslan he had been searching for. In the end, it's always the heart that counts. And if your heart is reaching toward Christ, God will count that, even if the person is a bit mixed up about who they're worshipping.

As for the Calormenes, I think they're mostly just a made-up race by Lewis, not supposed to exactly represent any group. Although their culture is much like something in the Middle East. Maybe they're like a mixture of Muslim and Satanic cultures?


~Riella

[Louloudi the Centaur]

My favorite Christian part of the Narnia series is in MN, when Aslan shed tears for Digory's mother.

Not only do I find that similar to when Jesus wept when Lazarus died, I am reminded me of Jesus' love for the little children of the world. A mighty Lion so powerful and fierce yet so compassionate and forgiving.

[Lilygloves]

I love Puddleglum's monologue about living like a true Narnian even if there isn't any Narnia. That's a great message and a great quote I think all Narnia fans love. I wish they had gotten the message of Eustace's redemption from VDT right in the film. It was one of the most important parts of the book and I completely love it. Another Christian message I love is when the White Witch was trying to get Edmund back from Aslan and it says that Edmund just looked at Aslan and it didn't seem to matter what the White Witch did. It really shows to me how I should keep my eyes set on Jesus no matter what.

[Narnia-Forever]

There are SO MANY!But these 3 tie on first place:
-The conversation that Ed has with Aslan after being rescued from the WW's camp. Even though we are not told what its said...for me it has so much meaning, I get really emotional when I think about it, and of course how later Aslan dies for him...gosh it just all gives me the chills!!
-When Es. is a dragon and no matter how hard he tries to get rid of his dragon skin he can't by himself...only with Aslan's help can he be totally "clean". I like this because it shows that we need Jesus to be pure, and "clean", we can't do it ourselves, only though the blood of Christ.
-When Shasta talks to Aslan, (without even knowing its him because of the fog), and he tells him to tell him his sorrows....its just so touching!
(Does this make any sense? Sorry for the bad English-not my first language)

[redwood]

this isnt my favorite but i think it very important and very descreate!

In PC when peter susan lucy edmund and Trumpkin cant cross at the ford so thay go back to the gauge wher lucy saw aslan. Lucy falls through the ground and the all follow the path that has been probably building uplike that for years, while they were gone. As if aslan knew,before they even came to narnia the second time, so he set that path for them.

This reminds me of how God knows our path through life before were even born and he has every thing ready for that, if we chose to take it.

If we do take the path we are like lucy who knew it was the right way the whole time and she knew aslan was going to help them.
If were sitting on the fence were like edmund who didnt know wich way to follow.
If we think our own way is better then we are like peter or susan and they got it wrong and would of got themselfs into alot of trouble if they didnt go back

This teaches us our own path will leed us into trouble, and to trust in God (aslan)!

[FrecklefaceJill]

I think my favorite is when Aslan said something like: 'I will be with you in your world too, but there you will know me by a different name.'

~FFJ ♥

[princesslucy28]

i love the part in vdt that aslan tells the chlidren that in our world he has a diffrent name.. thats an amazing hint... a realy obviouse hint but ...

[Lilygloves]

I think almost every Narnia fan can say that one of their favorite Christian moments in the series is when Puddleglum said he would always believe in Aslan and I think his quote "I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia!" is the most popular quote among Narnia fans. I personally love this quote and in my mind I sometimes think, "I'm going to live as like a Christian as I can even if there isn't any Christ!"

I love the message of Eustace's undragoning. It has such a strong message of the power of redemption and how much we need Jesus.

My most recent favorite Christian message is when the White Witch is talking to Aslan and says that Edmund belongs to her. It says that Edmund didn't look at the witch, he just kept looking at Aslan. My favorite line is, "But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning. He just went on looking at Aslan. It didn't seem to matter what the witch said." I was reading LWW last summer and when I read that quote, that's when I realized I loved Aslan and it helped me understand my love for Jesus.

A message I recently noticed in PC was the message that as Christians, we walk by faith, not by sight. They were literally doing this when they followed Aslan. Most of them couldn't even see him!

And last but not least, (I have a lot of favorite Christian messages) is when Aslan reveals to Shasta that he had been there through all his travels and everything was according to Aslan's plan. It really emphasized the verse, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declared the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

[HollyDolly]

This is my favorite from The Last Battle:

"And as He spoke He no longer look to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

<3

[twinimage]

Was just recently reminded of a line Puddleglum says in SC. Paraphrasing him, He says that Aslan told Jill what the signs would be and what to do. He never said what would happen to them. Just because it could be dangerous to follow the signs doesn't mean they don't have to follow them.
That's a very good point. As a Christian, we shouldn't disobey God because of fear, danger or inconvenience. I find this part of the book to be very encouraging and empowering. We don't have to know the outcome. God is in control.

Another favorite of mine is in PC, when all the Pevensies are finally able to see Aslan. Susan admits to Lucy she believed her but didn't want to. She then humbly goes to Aslan and admits her faults. The next part I love. Aslan tells her she has been listening to her fears. He then breaths on her and simple tells her to forget them.
That's an excellent example of God's love and grace. Susan also displays a terrific example of how Christians should humble themselves and confess their faults to one another and to God.

I read some of the posts in this topic and wasn't sure if some people think that everything in Narnia is supposed to represent something in the Bible or our world. The Chronicles of Narnia isn't supposed to be allegory (where everything represents something else). I think that's one common misconception of the book series. I'm no Narnia scholar, but I personally feel you will glean more from the books if you do not try to match up every character or event with something in the Bible or our world.
Rather, look for the Christian concepts and messages that appear in the books. For instance, Prince Caspian could be compared to the story of Moses. But the point of Caspian's story is about restoration, restoring truth and order after a long time of untruth and darkness. Hope you don't mind me bringing this up. Just adding my two cents.