The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

That clearly doesn’t mean we can’t see the parallels between Aslan’s sacrificial death on the Stone Table for Edmunds treachery and Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for our sins. Rather, it’s a “supposal” of what would happen if a land like Narnia did exist, and the Son of God came down to a world of talking animals. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narniaas allegory, but Lewis rejected the label, instead calling the series a “supposal.” In a letter to a fifth-grade class who had written him about the Narnia series, he kindly tells them they’re wrong to assume “everything in the book ‘represents’ something in this world.” Narnia, he says, is not intended as a story to represent Jesus as a lion in another world. If we limit ourselves to stories that only perfectly mirror Scripture or serve as direct allegories to our world, however, we will miss depictions of biblical truth in fiction stories everywhere-including one of the most famous Christian stories of all. The Pilgrim’s Progress is meant to be a one-to-one allegory of the Christian life, with even the main character having the name “Christian.” Those can be helpful and enjoyable.

Every book, movie or TV show does not have to be a retelling of the Gospels for us to recognize components of the grand narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.Īllegories, like George Orwell’s Animal Farm or John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, use fictional stories as direct commentary on real world subjects. So how are Christians to respond to grace in a galaxy far, far away or in any other fictional world? Supposals and the Grand Narrativeįor the Christian, you and I do not have to find a story that maps directly on to Scripture to notice biblical truths present. The season ended not with a climatic resurrection but salvation through unity. You will not find a promised Messiah dying by public execution to redeem people lost in their sins. Yet, obviously, there is no Mandalorian Christ in the show. One floated in a basket as a child, another was saved from the water by a princess, and the third was raised in the palace but spent years in exile unable to lead their people. Mosaic parallels existed all season with the show’s three primary characters: Grogu, Din, and Bo-Katan Kryze, a member of the deposed royal family of Mandalore. If they couldn’t make it any clearer, the creators of the show had Din display a stone fragment of text that contained part of Exodus 10 transliterated into the Mandalorian language. Like the Jewish people, they were waiting for their promised leader to come and usher in a new age. The season opened and closed on a baptismal scene with a young child reciting the creed to show he has embraced “the Way.” In between, viewers encountered episodes entitled “ The Apostate” and “ The Convert.” The Mandalorians were cast in the light of a diaspora.

The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis