Will People See Jesus in Aslan?
C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe opens in theaters December 9, 2005. Randy Alcorn, in the most recent Eternal Perspectives, asks Will People See Jesus in Aslan (roughly 2 meg pdf):
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan tells the children that though they must return to earth, they can find Aslan here. Aslan says, “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.”
This demonstrates Lewis’s central purpose in the Narnia stories—that readers (and in the case of the movie, hopefully, viewers), may have their eyes opened, so they will look for—and hopefully find— Aslan here on earth.
An eleven-year-old American girl wrote Lewis to find out Aslan’s real name on earth. Lewis responded with a series of questions:
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 someone else’s fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people; (4) came to life again; (5) is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb…. Don’t you really know His name in this world? Think it over and let
me know your answer!Please pray that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie will be true to the book, and thereby true to the nature of Jesus, which Lewis so beautifully portrays in Aslan the Lion. Pray that it will start a discussion about who Aslan is. And that in falling in love with Aslan, they will be drawn toward the Jesus who Aslan truly is.
Courtesy of Eternal Perspective Ministries, 2229 E. Burnside #23, Gresham, OR 97030, www.epm.org.
See also, On Lions, Witches, Wardrobes, and Demoninational Differences.
Chris Hook said,
October 29, 2005 at 10:19 am
Well the movie will not be as close to the book as possible. I have already noticed that on the posters for the movie that the queen is being pulled by polar bears instead of reindeer.
It would be a small mistake if it didn’t take up so much room on the poster. It is also a Disney movie and often Disney contorts their information and ruins the moral or life lesson, also called the theme, of the stories.