An Analysis of C. S. Lewis &
The Chronicles of Narnia;
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
By: William Frederick, M. Div.
Author of The Coming Epiphany; Because You Need
to Know the truth About the End Times.
On December 9th, 2005 Disney will release a movie based on and named the same as the C.S. Lewis book; The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Many Christians are heralding the movie and for that matter the book as a great Christian work designed to engage the participant in a great spiritual experience. God tells us as a Christian; “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (I Jn 4:1) In this short paper we will do just that “try the spirits” to see whether The Chronicles of Narnia are a work of God.
The Author
In examining any written work of a spiritual nature it is standard procedure to examine the spirituality of the author. The spirituality of the author encompassed in the doctrines and beliefs of the author are a good barometer as to whether or not the literary work should be accepted as good Christian reading. This is especially true in the realm of fantasy writing where doctrines and beliefs can be veiled and easily misinterpreted. Let us now examine the spiritual beliefs/doctrines of C. S. Lewis.
The Word of God
C. S. Lewis does not believe that the Bible is inspired and inerrant. Here are some quotes from his works that demonstrate this fact.
all Holy Scripture is in some sense, though not all parts of it in the same sense, the word of God.[1]
Either this [John’s Gospel] is reportage, though it may no doubt contain errors, pretty close up to the facts; nearly as close as Boswell. Or else, some unknown writer in the second century, without known predecessors or successors, suddenly anticipated the whole technique of modern, novelistic, realistic, narrative.[2]
Naivety, error, contradiction, even (as in the cursing Psalms) wickedness are not removed. The total result is not “the Word of God” in the sense that every passage, in itself, gives impeccable science or history.[3]
It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true word of God.[4]
whether a particular passage is rightly translated or is myth (but of course myth specially chosen by God from among countless myths to carry a spiritual truth) or history.... But we must not use the Bible (our fathers too often did) as a sort of Encyclopedia out of which texts...can be taken for use as weapons.[5]
Lewis says not all parts of scripture can be considered the Word of God. He says John’s gospel in no doubt contains errors. He describes the Psalms with words such as naivety, error, contradiction, and concludes that they are not part of the Word of God. He plainly says the true Word of God is not the Bible. He also equates scripture with myth. It is clear by his words that C. S. Lewis does not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
The Deity of Christ
Lewis denied that Jesus was truly God in a discourse about Mk 13:30, 32 by claiming that Christ and scripture were in error.
“Assur-edly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place,” certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side. That they stood thus in the mouth of Jesus himself, and were not merely placed thus by the reporter, we surely need not doubt.... The facts, then, are these: that Jesus professed himself (in some sense) ignorant, and within a moment showed that he really was so.[6]
Here Lewis is saying that Christ was in error in what He said. Thus he is asserting that Christ was not truly God, for God cannot commit error. Lewis also made unholy and blasphemous connections between Christ and pagan deities. As you see in the quote below he actually believes that Apollo, the sun god/Baal, was a sub specie of Christ.
as I believe, Christ, fulfills both Paganism and Judaism[7]
I had some ado to
prevent Joy and myself from relapsing into Paganism in
Here he gives credence to paganism and asserts his belief that Christianity is an offshoot of paganism by saying that it would not be wrong to pray to Apollo because he was a sub specie or forerunner of Christ.
Salvation
Lewis did not believe in Salvation by faith alone. John W. Robbins after an extensive study of Lewis’ works stated;
Finally, missing from Lewis’ litany of theological formulae that will save us is the full Gospel: justification by faith alone. He did not even mention it.[9]
Lewis also asserted that Salvation was imparted through sacraments.
It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion.... He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us.[10]
Lewis believed that Salvation could be achieved through other religions.
There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it. Many of the good Pagans long before Christ’s birth may have been in this position.[11]
I think that every prayer which is sincerely made even to a false god or to a very imperfectly conceived true God, is accepted by the true God and that Christ saves many who do not think they know Him.[12]
This short expose on the doctrines and beliefs held by C. S. Lewis make it clear by his own writings that he does not believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture, the deity of Christ, and salvation by faith alone. John Robbins after an extensive analysis of the writings of Lewis summed up the spirituality of C. S. Lewis like this.
These statements demonstrate that Lewis not only denied the inerrancy of Scripture, but he also denied the inerrancy of Christ. Time will not permit me to discuss many other doctrines that Lewis believed and taught that contradict the doctrine of justification by faith alone, but a brief list is in order. Lewis taught and believed in purgatory, said prayers for the dead, believed in the physical presence of Christ’s body and blood in the bread and wine, a sacrament that he came to call “Mass,” practiced and taught auricular confession, believed in baptismal salvation, and free will. As we have seen, he rejected the inerrancy of Scripture and justification by faith alone, as well as the doctrines of total depravity and the sovereignty of God.[13]
In my opinion Lewis taught grievous errors. The most grievous being; that he denied the inerrancy and inspiration of scripture, the deity of Christ, and salvation by faith in Christ alone. We have examined the beliefs and doctrines of the author C. S. Lewis; we will now examine the story itself.
The Story
The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy story based upon the beliefs and doctrines adhered to by C. S. Lewis. Even though many Evangelicals have adopted the book and promoted it as a good Christian book that teaches good doctrine I view it quite differently. As a matter of fact there is no religion in the book, there is a concept of salvation taught but it is not attributed to any religion. In actuality there are more pagan elements in the book than Christian as one author has observed.
Consider, for example, C.S. Lewis's The
lion, the witch and the wardrobe. A child from the normal everyday world
hides in a wardrobe during a game, and finds herself transported by magic into
another world, where she has tea with a faun, a figure from ancient Roman pagan
mythology. A faun is half human, half goat, and the encounter is an
introduction to a world of intelligent talking animals - beavers with sewing
machines and the like. Lewis has no hesitation in blending Christian and pagan
mythology in his Narnian books. There is even salvation. Salvation is at the
centre of the plot of the book, but one would have to look hard to find it
attributed to any religion at all, Christian or pagan.
One could give more examples from the other books in the series, but the picture one gets from all of these is far removed from some of the common Western perceptions of the Christian attitude towards paganism and pagan deities, whether seen from the point of view of Christians or of neopagans. That is, the perception that Christianity and neopaganism are, and perhaps ought to be, hostile to each other.[14]
Did you catch what the author said about
Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia
series; “but the picture one gets
from all of these is far removed from some of the common Western perceptions.
That is, the perception that Christianity and neopaganism are, and perhaps
ought to be, hostile to each other.”
So what this author is concluding is that Lewis’ fantasy books
promote the idea that Christianity and paganism can be melded together in
agreement with each other. However we
know that Paganism in its various forms is satanic. How can satanic paganism and Christianity be
melded together? They cannot they are
diametrically opposed to each other. Any
book whether fantasy or not that attempts to do that is not of God but is from
the devil himself.
Still not convinced? Let’s dig a little more deeply into the
Chronicles to see what they reveal. The
main character in the book, the supposed Christ figure, is a lion named Aslan. Aslan is Turkish for lion. Upon examination of the details of this
character in the book we see that Aslan the lion, though he possesses
attributes of Christ, is actually a representation of the melding together of
Christ and the pagan sun god. Here are
some quotes from the book that show the connection.
At the name of Aslan, Lucy got the feeling you get when you wake in the morning and realize it's the beginning of spring. p.65
Tell us about Aslan...once again that strange feeling - like the first sings of spring had come over them. p.74
An old rhyme in these parts...when he bares his teeth winter meets its death and when he shakes his mane we shall have spring again. p.74
Speaking of Aslan, "He'll be coming and going, one day you'll see him and another you won't...he has other countries to attend to. p.180
The plot of the story also gives
reference to Aslan being the sun god. When Aslan returns to the
It was a Lion.
Huge, shaggy, and bright it stood facing the risen sun. The Magician’s
Nephew
Digory saw the lion and it was so big and bright he could not take his eyes off of it. p. 114 The Magician’s Nephew
Aslan swings his
head around scattering golden gleams of light as he does so. p.173 The
Magician’s Nephew
These passages all show connections to the sun god concept. The next series of quotes clearly show the real identity of Aslan and his connection with paganism and the occult.
The crowd and the dance round Aslan (for it had become a dance once more) grew so thick and rapid that Lucy was confused. She never saw where certain other people came from who were soon capering among the trees. One was a youth, dressed only in a fawn-skin, with vine-leaves wreathed in his curly hair. His face would have been almost too pretty for a boy's, if it had not looked so extremely wild. You felt, as Edmund said when he saw him a few days later, 'There's a chap who might do anything --- absolutely anything.' He seemed to have a great many names --- Bromios, Bassareus, and the Ram, were three of them. There were a lot of girls with him, as wild as he. There was even, unexpectedly, someone on a donkey. And everybody was laughing: and everybody was shouting out, "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi. p. 152 Prince Caspian
Maybe you missed the significance of the passage; let’s examine it in light of pagan teachings. Here is what author Mary Van Nattan said about this discourse.
Note the wild dance, the extremely wild faced youth that is Bromios (otherwise known and Dionysus or Bacchus), the wild girls (Maenads), the man on the donkey (Silenus) who is also said to cry "Refreshments!" (which in the context of Dionysus would be wine), and the cries of "Euoi!". What Lewis is describing here is nothing other than a Bacchanalian orgy![15]
This next passage shows the pagan connection more clearly.
Bacchus and the
Maenads --- his fierce, madcap girls --- and Silenus, were still with
them. Lucy, fully rested, jumped up. Everyone was awake, everyone was laughing,
flutes were playing, cymbals clashing. Animals, not Talking Animals, were crowding
in upon them from every direction. 'What is it, Aslan?' said Lucy, her eyes
dancing and her feet wanting to dance. 'Come, children, said he. 'Ride on
my back again to-day.' 'Oh lovely!' cried Lucy, and both girls climbed on to
the warm golden back as they had done no-one knew how many years before. Then
the whole party moved off --- Aslan leading. Bacchus and his Maenads
leaping, rushing and turning somersaults, the beasts frisking round them, and
Silenus and his donkey bringing up the rear. p. 192 Prince Caspian
Note in the above passage that Aslan is leading the Bacchanalian orgy! The next quote shows the group participating in the occultic summer solstice sabot.
Then three or four of the Red Dwarfs came forward with their tinder boxes and set light to the pile, which first crackled, and then blazed, and finally roared as a woodland bonfire on midsummer night ought to do. And everyone sat down in a wide circle around it.
Then Bacchus and
Silenus and the Maenads began a dance, far wilder than the dance of the trees,
not merely a dance for fun and beauty (though it was that too) but a magic
dance of plenty, and where their hands touched, and where their feet fell, the
feast came into existence -- sides of roasted meat that filled the grove with
delicious smell, and wheaten cakes and oaten cakes, honey and many-coloured
sugars and cream as think as porridge, and as smooth as still water, peaches,
nectarines, pomegranates, pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries -- pyramids
and cataracts of fruit. Then, in great wooden cups and bowls and mazers,
wreathed with ivy, came the wines; dark, thick ones like syrups of mulberry
juice, and clear red ones like red jellies liquefied, and yellow wines and
green wines and yellowy-green and greenish-yellow. p. 205 Prince Caspian
This latest discourse is a description of the occult satanic festival; the high day of sun worship on the witch’s sabot of the summer solstice as explained by Mary Van Nattan.
Next, we note that it says a woodland bonfire on midsummer night. This is not just any fire and not just a midsummer night. This is the real thing. A high day of sun worship. This comes from the burning of the bones from the sacrifices in the bonfire (bone-fire) on the summer solstice. It is a sabot of witchcraft as the marriage of the death goddess or moon goddess to the sun god. The days become shorter from this point as the sun god dies and is sent for his yearly visit to hell. On December 25th he will be reborn. Everyone sits in a circle around it. Again this is a powerful witchcraft symbol. Another pagan/witchy thing is the wild, magic dance of plenty. Those of "The Craft"are famous for their magic dances. The fruit is stacked in a pyramid - a powerful witchcraft/Luciferian/Masonic symbol. The whole thing, with Bacchus involved, sounds like a mixture of a typical English pagan/Wiccan midsummer night celebration and a Bacchus orgy.[16]
These discourses about Aslan from the Chronicles allow us to very easily see that Aslan is a representation of the pagan sun god. His leading of the party depicted in Prince Caspian and the characters attending him make it clear that Aslan is not a depiction of Christ. Would Christ partake in a Bacchanalian orgy, a satanic festival? No, and it is pure blasphemy to even make the suggestion and to try to meld the two together.
Putting it all together
C.S. Lewis by his own admission believes that the Bible contains errors and thus is not inspired. He also believes that Christ committed errors and thus is not truly God. He also made it clear that he believes in a works salvation via sacraments and that other religions are valid ways to God. It is also clearly evident that his Chronicles of Narnia fantasy series, which are rooted in and stem from his beliefs, meld Christian and pagan elements together in a very unholy manner.
In light of the information presented above I conclude that C. S. Lewis believed and promoted grave doctrinal errors. His Chronicles series serves as an introduction for children into the philosophies of the occult/pagan world. Scripture strictly forbids the melding of pagan and Christian concepts.
Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the
What concord has Christ with Belial? What concord has Christian with Pagan? There should be none, there is none. It is forbidden but that is exactly what Lewis has done. He has melded together Christian and pagan concepts and is attempting to indoctrinate children with them. This is a great evil indeed.
Sun worship was one of the main abominations to the LORD practiced in Bible times. It has continued throughout the ages to this very time. That Lewis would write stories for children to indoctrinate them in this revolting religion is bad enough, but that those stories should be passed off as an allegory of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a horrible blasphemy beyond description![17]
It is interesting to note that his books are sold in occult bookstores and were recommended by the makers of the occult game of Dungeons and Dragons.[18] The Chronicles are also one of the favorite reading of pagans; “Pagans also read the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.”[19] After reading this article here is what a pagan wrote to me; "I am a pagan in belief and do not understand why Christian parents would necessarily endorse this movie as a way to promote the religion. The pagan references are actually stronger than the Christian ones." Unfortunately most Christians do not have enough discernment to realize this and herald his books as great Christian works. Here is what Pastor Meyer who was a former witch said about the Chronicles.