Narnia-Last Battle...need help....

[milkncookiesmom]

To make a long story short...

Our neighbor"s new age grandma is visiting this week. Our kids and the neighbor kids, with the help of their grandma are writing a story to dramatize in the back yard. It all sounds very fun and I applaud this grandma for spending time with the kids in this way.

However, the story seems to involve crystals with powers and I don't know where this story is going. DH and I had a talk with our kids to be wary if this project should turn into something not pleasing to God. So far it all sounds innocent, but the grandma has made some suggestions for their story that are not so innocent in our view.

At any rate, our kids are young, 9, 7 and 4 and they view the grandma as being a very nice person and having a hard time understanding how wary they need to be. The two oldest began to talk about how she isn't a Christian, but she is nice and maybe just hasn't asked God to forgive her.

We found ourselves discussing some tough issues regarding deception, false gods, false religions and beliefs etc, but one thing led to another and DD had this question......

She has been reading the Chronicles of Narnia. Not just reading them, but has been devouring them. She told me about a "scene" in The Last Battle, which in our copy of the book is on page 164-165 in the chapter titled Further Up and Further In. In this scene a character named Emeth is relating a conversation he had with Aslan in regards to his worship of Tash, a false god. I'll quote below what was bothering my daughter....

page 164
Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I over came my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him, for I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost though understand child?



Okay, admittedly I have never read the Chronicles of Narnia, but always thought they were worth reading. I don't understand why this was written into the story. Is there a twist later on that explains this or is this Aslan quote meant to stand as is?

Can anyone enlighten me? I don't know how to explain to my daughter what C. S. Lewis wrote here.

[70thWeek]

There are several things at play here.

1) is the concept of previent grace (though Lewis was not a Wesleyan, the principle would seem to apply in this case). This is the idea that anything good has to come from God. The Holy Spirit works within all people to some extent. Therefore, all good things, even in non-Christians, is the result of God.

2) Let's just say that as much as I admire Lewis and appreciate his work, we have some differing views on soteriology. He is inserting a little inclusivism here.

I would answer your daughter in terms of #1. Whenever you see a non-Christian doing charity, etc. that is because God has given some amount of grace to that person. That doesn't mean such a person is saved, it just means that whatever good happens in the world, is the result of God. In contrast, anything evil, cannot be from God, like Lewis says.

Or, without having the book in front of me here, that is how I see what Lewis wrote here.

[toddlemom]

That part puzzled me, too. ANd I thought well, Prof. Lewis and I will just have to disagree on that one. Although the books are really good, they are not perfect.

YSIC
ann

[antsinmypants]

...The Last Battle, which in our copy of the book is on page 164-165 in the chapter titled Further Up and Further In. In this scene a character named Emeth is relating a conversation he had with Aslan in regards to his worship of Tash, a false god. I'll quote below what was bothering my daughter....

page 164
Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I over came my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him, for I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost though understand child?


While I do not like The Chronicles for reasons I will not state here, I can see where C.S. Lewis is going with it.

This involves taking vows and swearing by things... which is mentioned quite a few times in scripture... as well as false gods v.s. the True El.

When one swears, you are held by the oath, even if sworn on a false thing, or by the earth, or the temple. Your yes is yes, and your no is no.
This is backed by Torah and affirmed by Y'shua in scripture, where some had perverted the mandates and said if you swore by this, or say that, you don't have to uphold-- whereas scripture disagrees.


We cannot worship false gods, or use methods of worship of false gods and think we're getting at YHVH, and being true to Him.

The false ways are such a different direction than true worship, such polar opposites.

However, whatever we make an oath of, is always verified and upheld by Him, per scripture, as all is owned of Him.

[milkncookiesmom]

We cannot worship false gods, or use methods of worship of false gods and think we're getting at YHVH, and being true to Him.


See, this is what my daughter got out of that. I guess I wasn't even thinking of the oath issue. She is only 9, but had issues with this in the book. She brought it up in our discussion when we were talking about how other people think they are worshipping The One True God or they think that the God of the Bible is the same god of the Koran or any other religious book. Kind of like, "all roads lead to Heaven".

My kids understand that not all people know and love God, but yet they see "good" in them. I think this is difficult for people of any age to really understand if we use a human definition of "good". There are a lot of "good" parents and grandparents, but they don't all Worship our Holy God.

In the case with the neighbor's grandma, I know that she homeschooled her youngest son for several years and also said they read the Bible daily as part of his curriculum because she thought it was good for him. Yet, I also know that she has new age beliefs and holds to eastern religious teachings. It is all "good" in her opinion and all holds a bit of "truth". I would even consider her a very "religious" person because she values "religious" thinking, lives what she believes and it comes through in many of her conversations. By all human definition, she is a very "good" person.

Yet, by God's Holiness, she, as we all are, is like filthy rags. She does not name the Name of Jesus and all her religious beliefs are not going to save her.
It takes an understanding of sin and God's Holiness to understand the Truth.

I think my daughter concluded on her own that C. S. Lewis was confused about the Truth like the neighbor's grandma. :confused :noidea

[DeeLeeKay]

I think Lewis may get this from the idea that when the wheat is seperated from the chaff some will be saved unbeknowest to them, where as some will be thrown into the lake of fire where there is gnashing of teeth.