Christian Themes: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

It is no new discovery that C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia is a profoundly Christian work and contains many Christian themes within its seven parts. I never read these books as a child but as soon as I read them as an adult I wished that I had. It had been a while since I read the series so I recently decided to read through it again. After reading the first book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I was reminded of its many themes that are in accord with ideas from the Bible and from Christianity.

Aslan is Not Safe

Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.

When the children first learn about Aslan and hear that he is a lion, Susan asks if he is safe. The response that she gets is that he is not safe, but that he is good. Within the context of the story, this is an important distinction that the children need to learn. So far, all the power that the children have encountered has been wielded against them. Likewise, anyone who has helped them has been relatively powerless. The children were helped by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and Lucy was helped by Mr. Tumnus the faun, none of whom are warriors or fighters or have much power. But the White Witch who has power has blanketed snow on all of Narnia, has abducted Mr. Tumnus from his home, and is seeking to kill the children to maintain her own power in Narnia. Even outside of Narnia, the children are forced to stay in the professor’s home because of the bombing done on London during World War 2.

Although they have not witnessed it yet, it is through this response to Susan’s question that the children are made aware that power and even violence can be wielded for good. While Aslan is the perfect example of power being wielded for good, Peter himself will later in the book take up the sword and kill the captain of the White Witch’s secret police to protect his sister. The side of good is not good because they do not fight, they are good because of what they fight for. It is not mentioned within the story, but of course the only way that the evil responsible for the bombing in London was defeated was through the use of extreme violence on behalf of good.

This idea of Aslan being good but not safe also connects with the biblical idea of God being both our Father who does not spare the rod (Proverbs 13:24) and also our friend (John 15:13-15) who comforts us in times of sorrow (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). There are some who repeatedly emphasize the former idea of God as holy and God as judge while ignoring the idea of God as comforter. There are others who emphasize the latter idea of God as friend while ignoring that God does indeed punish sin.

God is holy and separated from us, but for those who are Christians he has also adopted us into his household and called us his children. Who are we to deny our identity as his adopted sons and daughters? Likewise, God is our gracious friend who comforts us and forgives us, but that does not mean he is permissive of sin or has relented in his justice. Although we are invited to stand before his throne, we cannot forget how transcendent God is.

Upon seeing Aslan, Lucy remarks that his paws would be terrible if he didn’t know how to velvet them (to retract his claws). God’s power would be a terrible thing in the hands of anyone except God himself, because we know that he is good.

Deep Magic and Deeper Magic

[T]hough the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know.

The scene from The Chronicles of Narnia which serves as the clearest allegory to Christianity is Aslan sacrificing himself in place of Edmund’s punishment and then coming back to life. The story describes the Deep Magic as the rule that the White Witch is allowed to kill any traitor, which in this case is Edmund. After Aslan gets her to agree to kill him instead, it is revealed that the Deeper Magic says that if someone innocent is killed in place of a traitor, then that death will be reversed and they will be brought back to life.

This is clearly meant to represent the death and resurrection of Jesus and serves as a simple way of relating to it for children reading the books. The story makes it clear that Edmund was meant to receive punishment and so the reader can understand the significance of Aslan receiving the punishment instead. Understanding that we are like Edmund and deserving of punishment can be a difficult and abstract concept to grasp, and so it can likewise be difficult to truly understand why the cross is necessary. Sometimes we need it presented in story and allegory to make it feel more real to us.

We also see that Aslan does not remain dead just as Christ does not remain dead. While the punishment of death is successfully inflicted on Aslan and on Jesus, the condition of death is not able to remain on them. Like with a hot pan, you’re able to get it wet, but it won’t stay wet. Aslan and Jesus don’t stay dead because they are innocent and without sin, and therefore death has no power over them (1 Corinthians 15:55-56).

Reconciliation

Here is your brother,... and—there is no need to talk to him about what is past.

Possibly the most important theme within the story for our modern culture is that of reconciliation. Edmund is a traitor who sells out his siblings, and the story makes no effort to downplay that fact. However, the story does show us that he has genuine remorse for the decisions that he made. The consequences of his traitorous actions do not go away, yet his siblings recognize his remorse and grant him forgiveness.

For what reason I do not know, but reconciliation within social circles has seemed to become more of a rarity in our modern culture. I do not know how we might or if we can restructure society to help solve this issue, but on the small scale we can each remember that Jesus has forgiven us and so we ought to offer forgiveness to others. Along with this we can seek reconciliation where possible. Where we see remorse we should forgive and reconcile. This is the portrait of God’s love painted in the Bible and is also the kind of sacrificial love we should strive for in our Christian lives.

If you have not read The Chronicles of Narnia I would highly recommend it. Even if you have read it before, I would recommend reading it again if it has been a while. While it is clearly aimed at children, it is by no means uninteresting or unengaging for an adult reader. It has continued to lead me to think about my faith in a deeper way.