Churches using 'Chronicles of Narnia' as preaching tool

We all need to be somewhat aquainted with this Fine work by CS Lewis so that we may seize the oppurtunity when the movie releases. Rember how short lived the window of oppurtunity was for Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Also it would be good to not have our expectations to high in the accuracy of this Disney Motion Picture, but rember that the public won't care about accuracy and if we make it a big issue we might just lose any advantage we might gain by just allowing it to be a spring board for personal evangelism. So lets load up and be ready to use this tool/oppurtunity to reach the lost. :-) :-) God Bless Bro. Daryl

I must say I do not care for at all the use of things such as the Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and such as evangelistic tools. Unless, of course, you are planning to preach on Isaiah's famous "woe to those who call evil good and good evil." A lot of these movies/books are hardly what I would call "Christian." If they put things such as magic and the like in the positive, as being good things, when in fact, they are not good, and are inheriently evil-- even if highly mythologized and allegorized-- then I believe we are actually doing diservice to God. Fact of the matter is, we are only jumping at such movies because of the "Christian" background of some of those who penned the story. It seemed to matter not to us that J.R. Tolkien was not a Christian, and was in fact, Catholic. Yet, for trying to find "common ground" with the heathen, we were willing to compromise a bit, simply because Catholicism falls under the banner of Christendome, and promote Tolkien as being a Christian for the sake of mentioning it to somebody as a hope of making some sort of bridge.As far as I can tell, CS Lewis seemed very much to be a Christian. He had some wonderful insights, and is ever quotable. However, I think sometimes we toss discernment out the window, and because of the popularity of some of these authors and their works, we tend to embrace a lot of rubbish that some of these authors brought into their works. For example, "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis has a lot of powerful imagery, and is extremely thought provoking, yet is something how the Christian Lewis decided to pepper the book with a bit of profanity! As a literary work, it is no doubt brilliant, and philosophically, it is amazingly stimulating, but as far as providing edification for the Christian, I think such stuff should be strongly avoided. Yet, The Great Divorce and such is considered essential reading by many for Christians, when in fact, it's containing entirely unjustifiable profanity makes it a non-Christian work.Brothers, let's use a little more discernment. It's sad that we have to water down and compromise for the sake of a chance of witnessing. If a movie or book or song glorifies something contrary to the gospel, there is nothing Christian about it. It only contains the forms of Christianity. If you really want to reach the loss, go stand in front of your local cinema and preach against the ungodly parade of images and sounds that people are are gazing upon in the name of entertainment, things which people declare are good, yet God says "woe" to. As Keith Daniel once said, if you try to win the world by becoming like the world, the world will only win you. (note: I'm not against Christians going to the movies, just against Christians seeing movies that glorify ungodliness)

Is the Chronicles of Narnia commended SI? A guy from church said to me "I can't believe you haven't read it". I told him I never even heard the book, let alone read it.

I have to agree with you KingJimmy, wholeheartedly.I must say I do not care for at all the use of things such as the Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and such as evangelistic tools. Unless, of course, you are planning to preach on Isaiah's famous "woe to those who call evil good and good evil."

if paul had our religious attatude on mars hill, he would have told those idol worshipers they were all going to hell unless they burned those idols; especially the idol to the unknown god. jimp

But Paul did. Paul preached to them on the sin and folly of idolatry, and the judgment to come. Paul was neither entertained by the idol to the unknown god for that matter, rather, the Scriptures say he walked about and in felt provoked in his spirit by the many idolatrous images. Nor did he go about promoting this idol either, and encourage people to go out and see it.

the unknown god who i declare unto you... paul used the sinful, worly idol as the open door to preach the truth. what is the question in this forum? God has used me to lead many catholics to a saving knowledge of Jesus by using the jerusalem bible (catholic as it is) this comforts those who otherwise would be afraid of anything not blessed by the church. i also use non-rligious sounding(protstant) language. be all things to all people so you win some. its up to the Holy Spirit anyway, he is the convictor of sin ; not me. jimp

I've seen allegories to familiar secular things used to help non-christians understand the Gospel, but I've also seen many Christians slip on crucial issues because of attempts to do this.Lately, I've become a huge supporter of people like Ray Comfort, Paris Reidhead, and Leonard Ravenhill because of this simple fact: THEY TELL IT LIKE IT IS. They don't need anything other than the Word of God to help a person understand their condemned position, and their need for Christ.Also, I look at a family that I know. They were an awesome hard-core, sold out for Christ family. Well, they watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and thought it was great. After all, it's supposedly all about our battle as Christians, right?Well, the last I talked to them, they were getting ready to watch "harry potter". After all, it's just a harmless kids movie, right? Everyone knows it's just pretend.Here's the problem. It can give one of two very serious ideas: (1)sorcery is made up, like the movies, and it won't ever hurt anybody, or (2) you find kids that are running around outside pretending that they are themselves a witch or wizard, wishing they were one.Whey you offer up satanic things like this, and call them innocent because there's another [hidden] message that proclaims God, YOU MISLEAD PEOPLE!I don't support the use of these things as evangelic tools, let alone as entertainment for our families. Now, I don't know about the "chronicles of Narnia" series. I haven't read them. But how do they create an alligory? How do they portray what God calls evil? How do they portray God? And do the books/movie lead people to the Lord, or are they created meerly for our entertainment, weather deceptively or not?Grace and Peace...

We can discuss this till the cows come home, but we'll never come up with a clean-cut solution. God is the one who changes hearts and draws them to himself and he is the best one who knows what will get the message across. Christ never promoted any particular method. He used all kinds of imagery - wind, seeds, swords, doors, bread, water, etc etc. He, like Paul on Mars Hill simply took what the people (person) COULD understand and then made a spiritual parallel. We cannot underestimate God's ability to use anything he wishes - even if it is a book with swear words that are offensive to some Christians. I have a friend who got saved watching the disputed movie, "Jesus Christ Superstar". She was totally outside the influence of evangelicals at that time - and so ended up with a far purer faith than those who were infected by legalistic Christians - BECAUSE GOD TRANSFORMED HER MIRACULOUSLY Churches always seem to get on band wagons - eager to grab onto gimmics. So I'm not really impressed that they are doing that again. To me it's like cheating. Instead of letting Christ work within them to transform them into living letters radiating Christ through their lives, they'd rather use a method - that in the long run merely supports the movie industry. It's good to use imagery in our "evangelism" but if we are not working in sinq with the Spriit, we won't get results. God's timing is critical. But, having said that, we mustn't underestimate the ways of God - who may indeed use the movie. He can do that just as well (or better) outside the influence of the church. Diane

Just a thought, Tolken(sp?) Lord of the Rings seris was required reading in the public schools when I was a boy, along time ago :-) . And If you listen closely you know that people like Ravenhill, Tozer etc... have read C S Lewis who btw is the author of the Narnia Chronicles. I believe personally that the Lord is using these media's because the church isn't getting the job done :-( If this meat is offensive to a certain type of christian though , when in his/her presence I will refrain from eating it in order not to injure the one with a weaker conscience :-) I supose that would be a good precept to apply and stay with.

Jesus used parables, does this differ THAT much to make the main theme or message unbiblical? Ive never actually came across someone who thought C.S Lewis' writings didn't line up with scripture, but thats your conviction then stand with it. dohzman, that was well said, lets not get caught up on something that will make others stumble.btw, Ray Comfort's site has a tract about Lion witch and Wardrobe here :-)

That was a good tract. I'm going to send for some to hand out. :-)

Have you ever the the reference to something being 'like the curate's egg'? The phrase is stilll sometimes used in the UK. It comes from a cartoon in a humourous magazine called 'Punch' and must be well over a hundred years old.The curate, a trainee priest, has been invited to breakfast at the Bishop's palace. They sit next to each other at a long table eating thier boiled eggs. The cartoon shows malodorous fumes rising from the curate's egg which threaten to overpower him but he is conscious of the honour at being at breakfast with the bishop.The bishop notes the curates reluctance to start his egg and asks “I’m afraid you’ve got a bad egg, Mr Jones”, to which the curate replies, in a desperate attempt not to give offence: “Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!”.Forgive the long explanation but I wanted to explain why I regard Lewis's writings "as something of a curate's egg". :-) ps you can see the actual cartoon here,

Hey there is a new tract at Living Water Publications that is made directly for the release of the movie "Chronicles of Narnia" I happen to work for Living Waters Publications... Here is what the tract looks like and a short description. Peace. God bless!

lets not get caught up on something that will make others stumble.Just curious: Who would be prone to stumble, and how? So, if we leave the movie outside the church, would that avoid the potential problem?Diane

An observation about the tract. It starts out by using an episode in the movie as an allegory to explain our need for a Redeemer. (Aslan) That makes sense. Then it goes on an uses another word picture: being "born again", but it doesn't explaining what that really means. Jesus used that phrase "born again" once (actually meaning born FROM ABOVE) and when he did it was in context with the conversation with Nicodemus. In this case, it seems like these words in a way that would mean nothing to to those unfamiliar with Jesus full conversation with Nicodemus. Then there is a prayer for someone to copy. I am troubled by that because I've been through that - said that prayer etc etc, and meant it, and many years later discovered that I was just following the words of man, trusting in man, and had yet to be born FROM ABOVE - in God's timing. Jesus said, the way is narrow and few find it.Again, I say, the Holy Spirit does the work. The Bible gives no set prayers for people to copy, so we shouldn't either. If someone really wants something, do they have to be told how to ask it? Doesn't God read the real intent of the heart? Having said that, I don't doubt that God may use it in some way. Diane

I think sometimes we forget that the tract is really only meant to stop them so that we can actually do the witnessing. Statiscally if 1/2 of 1 % of all tracts are actually read , it's a sucess. The fact is that according to most marketing surveys I've read on any form of hand out or direct mail the read to distribution ratio is 1 to 1000. Its still by our personal efforts (preaching)that God choses to save lost mankind.

I think sometimes we forget that the tract is really only meant to stop them so that we can actually do the witnessing. Statiscally if 1/2 of 1 % of all tracts are actually read , it's a sucess. The fact is that according to most marketing surveys I've read on any form of hand out or direct mail the read to distribution ratio is 1 to 1000. Its still by our personal efforts (preaching)that God choses to save lost mankind.I can see what you guys are talking about. But if you want to here something really encouraging about those who pass out tracts and use a simple witness check this story out...Also Living Waters has unique tracts. I believe that Living Waters alone ahs boosted that precentage up. We constantly have people that call us about our tracts and their content. I have personally witnessed hundreds reading our tracts. I think that we need to seize this opportunity since the movie is out and pass out as many as we can.

I can see what you guys are talking about. But if you want to here something really encouraging about those who pass out tracts and use a simple witness check this story out... That was awesome, may I download it and pass out copies to my colleagues?

That was awesome, may I download it and pass out copies to my colleagues?Yeah you can go ahead and copy the download and pass it out to whoever you want!

something really encouraging about those who pass out tracts Surely it is God who is to be praised. This little man with the white hair did his "ministry" quietly, between him and God, and God used that broken vessel to pour out his Spirit. As was pointed out, it was his heart's love for God that God used more than his method. Diane

Surely it is God who is to be praised. This little man with the white hair did his "ministry" quietly, between him and God, and God used that broken vessel to pour out his Spirit. The man still past out tracts... The point i'm trying to make is that it was a simple witness with simple tools and it was effective. Obviously you don't believe that tracts can be used. I will disagree with you on this particular issue since I know a couple of people who have been saved by tracts.But beyond that, I want to also want to share something else that Living Waters will be given out with the tract. It will be an sudio message on CD that has Ray Comfort preaching the gospel using Chronicles of Narnia allegory.Peep it, click the link... I would encourage everyone to seize this opportunity and download this mp3 and burn it to convert to a wave file, burn them and pass them out to people when the movie comes out. You can also Check this site out...Chronicles of Narnia

Hello...!It appears that there are some strong misconceptions about The Chronicles of Narnia that have circulated throughout modern-day Christianity. As a child and a teen, I read each of the books several times. They are definitely well written works of "fantasy-fiction". While there are some occassional Biblical references (i.e. "sons of Adam" and "daughters of Eve" etc...), and the occassional Christian symbolism that was present (like Aslan's death as a symbol of Christ's sacrifice, etc...), the extent of such presumed allegory is debatable. There is a strong distiction that can be made between something that is an allegory, allegorical or symbolic.So do these books represent an allegory? It is definitely not an allegory in the Pilgrim's Progess example of an allegory. Like Tolkien stated about his Lord of the Rings books, C. S. Lewis refuted the idea that his books were an allegory. He wrote, "Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument, then collected information about child psychology and decided what age group I'd write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out 'allegories' to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn't write in that way. It all began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn't anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord" (from Of Other Worlds). C. S. Lewis stated that those who label the books as an allegory are reading more into the books than he desired. Lewis stated that the books were more an example of "alternate historical fiction." He wrote, "If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity in the same way in which Giant Despair represents despair, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, 'What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all." Thus, the argument that the books are an allegory is fundamentally flawed. However, the books are certainly allegorical in that they symbolize and make reference to certain aspects of Christianity. However, further speculation about possible Christian allegorical references is cloudy at best. One could argue that there is allegory present in many works of fiction -- including some blatantly sinful works, like the Harry Potter books. Indeed, to those that have read books from both series, there is nearly as much magic mentioned in The Chronicles of Narnia as in Harry Potter. Some people try to attribute Christian themes to secular fiction. It is typical with films like Star Wars, which probably borrowed more from eastern religion than Christianity. During high school, a literature teacher assigned Hemingway's book, The Old Man and the Sea. She sincerely believed the book was a Christian allegory. I read the book several times, but I could never find any allegorical references, let alone Christian symbolism. My college English professors laughed at the notion that the book represented a Christian allegory. Given Hemingway's questionable lifestyle and subsequent suicide, one might argue that the book was a non-Christian allegory. But it seems that Christians are often absorbed with the notion that Christianity affects the arts more than we realize. I tell people that are looking for Christian symbolism within secular sources that all one has to do is look up. For "the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork" (Psalm 19:1). But attibuting books about witchcraft and magic to Christian belief can be quite harmful to young believers. Instead, let's point them to a "sure" word -- God's Word! :-)

Excellent post Chris. It reminds me of Chip Brogden believing that the Matrix was something of profound prophetic significance. There is a sad desparation out there to make these things Christian. To me, it is quite embarrasing, especially when it is known that the authors had other motives. Such as Star Wars has no gospel in it, though some would swear it does. If they looked into it though, they would find out George Lucas attempted to create a modern day myth/story, as he was a big fan of Jungian philosophy/psychology, and the works of folks like Joseph Campbell, and based his work off these.

Is it possible that the redeemer/slain/resurrected hero concept as portrayed by Aslan might help someone become aware of the possibility, and thus help pave the way in their thinking for the Christ-redeemer?Diane

I understand what everyones saying, however I want to note a few things. When star wars first came out the whole church was decidedly against it because of its stand for middle eastern philosphy and pratices, "the force luke, use the force" :-( The potter seris is decidely demonic and directly promotes witch craft and not fanatasy. The church agreed on that when it first came out, like star wars its only recieved acceptance in the last 2 years.CS Lewis. I know that some don't like him and maybe some of his writtings are flawed. However he did much to promote the cause of Christ in his day. As for his writtings? There's an old saying that comes to mind, "you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy" , losely translated, Lewis' christian teaching came through all his writting and has stood the test of time. It has been used for the purposes of telling children about Jesus, heaven, the evil one etc... for years.Time tested and proven.It strikes me as sad when the church can't even agree on something that one of its own has written and accept it, or at least use it as an aid. Agree with it or not, come December we will be faced with an oppurtunity to use it to open up dialogue with people who wouldn't normally speak with us about spiritual things. Go at them with a critical words about that work and thier blood will be on your hands, because before you get a chance to witness they will have stopped listening. The oppurtunity vs. the choice that we will make , but know this that souls, precious souls , which God will place in each persons hands, weighs in the balance. Sometimes we just need to put away our personal prejudices.

Roadsign: Yes, many a person has asked this. A mother of a nine-year-old boy named Laurence wrote C.S. Lewis in fear that her son was falling more in love with Aslan than Christ. Lewis responds: Laurence can't really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that's what he is doing. For the things he loves Aslan for doing and for saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said. So that when Laurence thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus: and perhaps loving Him more than he ever did before.Even better, in the Dawn Treader, Aslan explains out his purpose in response to Lucy's fear of never seeing him again: "But you shall meet me, dear one," he reassured. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."Upon being questioned by an anxious little girl as to this "other name", Lewis writes: As to Aslan's other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2.) Said he was the son of the Great Emperor. (3.) Gave himself up for somone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4.) Came to life again...Don't you really know His name in this world.So, Lewis was pleased that his works were bringing about the questions that draw focus to Christ.Perhaps, we should look to his own conversion to understand this phenominon that he said "crossed the great frontier" towards the quest for joy. For, He was awakened to his own search for joy by the writings of a 19th Century preacher named George MacDonald--his fantasies, not his sermons.Therefore, let us not "throw the baby out with the dish water" by casting off his works for the magic in them. For, I must give the question, though I am by no means a supporter of magic or the occult: What could he have substituted for magic? "Force" would lead to cries of "Pantheist". "Power" would still ring in the ears as "magic". Indeed, we have to struggle with diction on the matter that the english language offers us no real decent correlation to the word "miracle" (as Lewis, being an english teach at the Magdalan College in Oxford, would know).Personally, I was excited to see his works make it to the main screen. Perhaps, again we will hear of little girls asking, "What is Aslan's other name?",giving an open opportunity to present Christ to the world. :-) Blessings,BenjaminPS: A good book to read is Finding God in the Land of Narnia by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware.

It strikes me as sad when the church can't even agree on something that one of its own has written and accept it, or at least use it as an aid.Perhaps fear is the reason. When we have become accustomed to certain "correct" phrases, then anything outside the box is suspect. One "evangelical" organization rejected my testimony because it "doesn't clearly give the way of salvation" I admit that it doesn't have the familiar phrases that are expected, but it was MY journey to true salvation - to finding Christ. We want to give the answers before the questions are raised. Perhaps it would be better to learn how to stimulate people to ask the right questions. We'd have a lot fewer passive "Christians" - those who have become conditioned to just eat predigested, spoonfed "answers". Really they are merely borrowing someone else's faith, and have never grown up - ie learned to think and ask. CS Lewis could get people thinking. Diane

Obviously you don't believe that tracts can be used.This is an interesting implied interpretation of my words, but not quite accurate. I say, anything is only a gimmick if the Spirit doesn't make it come alive in the minds of people. Tracks are merely white paper with black blobs. A darkened heart that is blind, deaf cannot get the TRUE message without divine enlightenment. However, God can catch the attention of anyone - no matter how lost they are. Christians are often tempted to "grab onto" something that "worked" and run with it. The gimmick is then given power that it doesn't have. Moses' serpent on the pole in the desert is a good example. When we Christians run the show ourselves in our own strength, we have strayed from God, and are in danger of what the Pharisees were accused of: making their prostilytes more a son of hell than they were. As I said many times: God can use anything. For example: He has spoken his word to me through the most unexpected methods. I'm not a movie person, but there have been times when God prodded me very powerfully to watch something (against my desire), because he wanted to get something through my thick skull. That message may have been somewhere in Scripture, but through over- familiarity, it had become dulled to me, or misinterpreted. Perhaps prayer is the best response we can make to this movie - then let God direct us beyond that. Diane

Ok...But you still have to acknowledge that the bible is paper with blogs of ink on it and God has used that marvelously throughout the ages. I don't see tracts as a method but rather the written word of God on different type of paper other indian paper(cambridge). Anyways I do agree that they must be illuminated but the Word of God in written form is able to make a sufficient enough platforom for the Holy Spirit to work. St. Augustine was converted in a similiar fashion. He read a piece of paper that had Rom. 13:14 in the gutter as he moaned about his depression and questions, and the Holy Spirit drove it home to his heart and conversion took place.Amen?Diane, You being from canada, you probably would not like this new tract that Living Waters just came out with but I would suggest that you consider using it... it's great!You have to agree with me Ray Comfort put's out the best tracts... Amen?