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Monday, October 16, 2006
Christian Fantasy & Allegories
Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time, knows how much we love books & reading, & are always looking for additions to our home library that are godly, edifying, well-written, classic & have good morals in them.
I've discovered a problem with some Christian fiction books, that I would classify as fantasy or allegory.
Some allegories I love. eg. John Bunyan's The Pilgrims Progress (I found out 10 years ago that I'm a direct descendant of John Bunyan, through my paternal grandfather-all of my Dad's side of the family love to write). I'm not biased though- It's a brilliant book. I also love Hannah Hurnard's "Hinds Feet on High Places" & "Mountains of Spices". I would describe these allegories as very pure with clear biblical pictures.
Now here's where I feel the problem lies...We have a lovely volume of Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales, some of which are beautiful, clear allegories that point us to Christ & the Bible.Eg. I love "The Loveliest Rose in the World", "What the Whole Family Said", & "The Emporers New Clothes" & a few others are lovely & Pure. But I've found some very "muddy waters" in the same book & some others where I can't sense a peace to read them to my children. Some seem quite frightening, & while I don't mind a story having a witch in it if she gets her just desserts; I DO have a problem when the hero or heroine participates in the magic to achieve something-even if the end is good. To me this is an abomination. The good & bad are mixed together & the truth is muddied. How can this be spiritually healthy for our children?
The Narnia series presents the same problem for me. I read the whole series when I was a younger Christian & was troubled enough to get rid of the books. I have no problem understanding Aslan as a type of Christ, but the first book in the series has the main characters practicing magic & references to what sounds like a pre-Adamic race & the Gap Theory, which after studying I find biblically incorrect.
The story of the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, is probably the least problematic for me, but still the mix of the pagan & Divine imagery, especially the half-human/half-beast mythological creatures, bothers me.
We've decided not to include the Narnia series in our library. We might let the children, when older, watch the new Disney Narnia movie under supervision, explaining how Aslan's sacrifice is similar to Jesus dying in our place & rising again.
What do you all think? Do you have any favourite Christian books? 1 Tim 1:4 says "Neither give heed to fables & endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith:so do". Does this scripture, as well as Phil.4:8, guide you when choosing good books-or not? I welcome your thoughts on this.
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 9:26 pm
7 Comments:
I think it's a bit much to say The Magician's Nephew refers to Gap Theory. After all, it's a myth.
Just because it happened that way in that world, that doesn't mean it happened like that in our world.
Thankyou for commenting on my blog.Yes, TMN is a myth, but just as Aslan is very similar to Christ,even with Him singing the world into being, so the history of the white witch is very similar to the teaching on the Pre-Adamic race & the Gap(which I think I said I disagreed with ).The Narnia books are very well written & I believe there is some debate over whether CS Lewis intended them to be an allegory or not.
I visited your blog & was happy to see the AA Milne quotes.We are collecting the Pooh Bear books & our children loved "The House at Pooh Corner"
Claire
I believe there is some debate over whether CS Lewis intended them to be an allegory or not
Indeed there is. Lewis himself said quite clearly that they are not allegory, and that he did not intend them to be allegory - but lots of people refuse to believe him.
Thankyou for this. I think I can remember reading something similar on the web recently to this effect.There is another CS Lewis story you may have some clarity on:A little girl who had read the Narnia series,wrote to Lewis,asking who Aslan was (?).She was given a cryptic answer giving reference to him coming at Christmas, & being both a lion & a lamb?
Is this true? I no longer have any Lewis books to check up on this,but I'm sure that readers of this blog would be interested to know,whether they like Narnia or not,as it's had such a resurgence in the media since the movie came out & has made heaps of money for the Christian book industry too!
Claire
I couldn't agree with you more, Claire. Unlike most Christians, I am troubled by C.S. Lewis' books. I have to say, I very much admire your wisdom with raising your children. You don't take things too lightly, and I do believe the Lord has blessed you with the gift of discernment.
Somewhat unrelated, I find it awesome that you are related to John Bunyan! That explains your passion for books :) My brother is currently reading "The Pilgrims Progress". I haven't read it yet, though I intend on doing so as soon as my brother is done with it.
Thanks for another great post.
I couldn't agree with you more, Claire. Unlike most Christians, I am troubled by C.S. Lewis' books. I have to say, I very much admire your wisdom with raising your children. You don't take things too lightly, and I do believe the Lord has blessed you with the gift of discernment.
Somewhat unrelated, I find it awesome that you are related to John Bunyan! That explains your passion for books :) My brother is currently reading "The Pilgrims Progress". I haven't read it yet, though I intend on doing so as soon as my brother is done with it.
Thanks for another great post.
I don't have a volume of Lewis' letters, but this article, Did C.S. Lewis Create Narnia as an Allegory? might help. It mentions to letters that he wrote - one two a girl, and one to a married lady. In the latter he says that Aslan 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?"
Oh, and talking of John Bunyan, I saw a slide today by a guy who had been overseas, and he visited the cemetery where Bunyan is buried! Isaac Watts and John Owen are there two - it'd be a great place to be when the dead are raised!
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