The Chronicles of Narnia - January 22, 2006

By: Sellers S. Crain, Jr.

    In the article last week I mentioned the movie the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.  I must admit, I have never read any of the fifteen books on this theme written by C.S. Lewis.  I was aware that they had much religious symbolism in them.  Our family went to see the movie Saturday, and it was very entertaining.  For those who know the Bible the symbolism is very apparent, otherwise you may not really understand the connection.  Let me share with you a brief summary of the story and some of the symbolism that I saw in the film.

    The movie was set around the Second World War.  An English mother sent her four children, two girls and two boys, to live in the country away from the bombing of London, the Blitzkrieg.  At an English manor owned by a professor, the children were engaged in a game of hide-and-seek when the younger girl hid in an old wardrobe.  She went through the back into another world called Narnia.  When she returned and related her story to her siblings at first they did not believe her, but then while trying to hide from the housekeeper, they also stumbled into the strange world.  There they encountered several amazing characters including talking animals.  Among them was a huge Lion named Aslan who was the king of the region.  His competitor was an evil witch, who wanted to rule all of Narnia.  She had cast Narnia into a long dark winter.  The four children were believed to be the fulfillment of a prophecy that two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve would lead a battle to free them from the witch's domination.  In the end with the help of Aslan, they accomplished that goal and restored peace to the kingdom of Narnia.  Here is some of the Christian symbolism, most of it from the book of Revelation.  The four children, I believe represent the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  Aslan was called The Great Lion, and was meant to symbolize Christ.  At one point he sacrificed himself for the youngest of the two boys, and was killed on an altar by the wicked witch.  He was restored to life again and participated in a battle that was obviously meant to symbolize Armageddon.  The evil witch represented the evil woman mentioned in Revelation 17:1-7.  There was even a beast that was the leader of her army.  The four children led the battle against her army, and in the end they won a resounding victory.  The youngest boy was wounded in the battle, but his youngest sister poured a portion of a vial of red liquid into his mouth that she had been given and was told it would cure any sickness.  This represented the blood of Christ.

    While I appreciated the religious theme of the movie, and again it was an entertaining film, I was disappointed that it promoted the Premillennial doctrine.  In spite of that, considering the other movies that Hollywood presents us with, it does have a positive spiritual message.

Brotherly,

Sellers