That makes me want to read the book now.Reading the Lord of the Rings inspired a desire for virtue in me.
And this is a rather weak - and somewhat insulting - deflection of my points.
I don't want you to be anxious reading threads I've started either.
But thanks to all for your replies. I will read them more carefully later.
I borrowed a DVD from one of the few remaining DVD rental stores left in our city. Unfort. "Fellowship of the Ring" was unwatchable due to damaged disc it seems. I've watched an hour of "Two Towers". As I said before, I struggle with the genre. I wouldn't call it "enjoyable". "Intriguing" perhaps. To understand all that is going on. I will persevere though.
Like his hero George MacDonald, and his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis was not opposed to paganism, fantasy, or myth. To say that The Chronicles of Narnia could not have included Christian symbolism because they also included mythical elements is to utterly fail to understand C. S. Lewis. Lewis explicitly admitted that there was a great deal of Christian symbolism in Narnia.
That makes me want to read the book now.
But I haven't asserted that Lewis did not include Christian symbols/allegory in his Narnia stories. I said that in mixing those symbols with pagan creatures and thinking, he corrupts and weakens the Christian elements he has introduced into Narnia.
To be honest, I don't even understand what the charge, "It's not Biblical," means. Isn't all literature outside of the Bible non-Biblical? Would you only accept a retelling of Biblical stories in literature?
If a person is going to hold up "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" as Christian allegory, it seems quite obvious to me that doing so invites an analysis of how in accord with Scripture, how biblical, it is.
I understand your point of view, and, I too would have liked a closer rendition to the book, but the book was not written in a cinematic style, so license was taken.For one, I don't think Faramir was ever portrayed as being like Tom Bombadil. He never had the Ring in his hand, so him being able to resist it is closer to Frodo initially being willing to relinquish it. I don't see him ever having real power over it. I would also very much not put him in the same category as Gandalf or Galadriel--for them, their greater power (and in Galadriel's case, former rebellion and desire to rule) really augmented the stakes. Their situations were extraordinary and that made the Ring more dangerous for them, not less.
But your analysis here is basically, "These elements of the story aren't in the Bible, therefore it is not a Christian story."
And so we're back to my same question: Would you only accept a retelling of Biblical stories in literature? According to your criteria, the only thing that is Biblical is the Bible, and everything else is unBiblical.
How about Christian truth?I would not recommend teaching biblical truth from Lewis's stories of Narnia.
The story tells its readers that ordinary people matter and that goodness is about sharing power not exercising it over others. God is good because he shares his power with his people and he does not force his plans on them unwilling. This principle has implications for every aspect of theology. Tolkien's theology is completely unlike any theology that places power to force obedience at the pinnacle of God's attributes. When omnipotence is defined as power to achieve God's goals by means of his power and exercising that power means forcing creation to obey then power over others triumphs but when omnipotence is defined as God's infinite power to achieve what is good and goodness means letting creation freely choose what path to take and helping creatures who want to do good to achieve it then power is shared and freedom to be good triumphs.How did Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' help your faith journey?
Either book or movie is fine.
I just started watching it for the first time. Fantasy is not my favourite genre but since I heard this story is Christian themed I plan to watch the lot. And maybe read the book too.
Have you read the other books in the Narnia series? They migrate well away from classic orthodox Christianity. Are you aware that the lion that roars in Scripture is not Christ, but the devil? (1 Pe. 5:8) Does God work by way of magic? Does He require such a thing to accomplish His will? What of all the pagan creatures that fill the land of Narnia? Dryads, maenads, centaurs, vampires, witches - all these and more inhabit Narnia. Why a mixture of pagan mythology with biblical types? Is such a mixture really Christian? I see an allegory of sorts between the atoning sacrifice of Christ at Calvary and that of Aslan at the Stone Table but the parallel is seriously weakened and warped by the introduction of these other pagan elements into the story.
I'd love to be part of a discussion about the Narnia books, but perhaps we should start another thread for that?
I took the opportunity to reread my post, and you are correct that it came across badly, for which I apologize. It was not my intention to insult. I'm afraid I just didn't have my tactfulness engaged.
go for it. I don't mind at all.I'd love to be part of a discussion about the Narnia books, but perhaps we should start another thread for that?