Was there ever any doubt about Aslan?

Wow! I haven’t anticipated a movie like this for a long time. I am really looking forward to Narnia. This is one flick that I will gladly spend the big movie-theater bucks to go see on the large screen on the first weekend instead of waiting a year for the DVD to be released like I usually do. Even the art work is enough to send shivers up and down my spine - Aslan, in all his fearsome majesty. I just hope they get it right...

I was never much into fantasy fiction when I was a kid (The Sugar Creek Gang ruled my world), but the one series I did fall in love with and have read numerous times, even as an adult, is The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. (Hey Roger ~ great minds think alike! I guess I’m answering my own question on where to find great “Christian” literature…Now what about some stuff that been written in the last 30 years?) I remember when I got my boxed set. I was visiting my Aunt Betty and Uncle Art in Edmonton for a week one summer when I was about 9 years old. (I think she bought them for me, or was it spending money from Mom and Dad…) I had all seven books read in about 5 days.

As my buddy Roger pointed out in his comment, C.S. Lewis tales like Narnia are not typical Christian literature (thank God!). But for me they were - and remain - powerfully Christian. I guess I’m naïve, but I thought most people had that figured out. Remarkably, even Douglas Gresham, Lewis’s stepson, said recently that the Narnia books aren’t Christian novels, but rather adventure stories that draw on a variety of religious and folklore sources.

I don’t buy that. The allegory is far too rich and deep to be accidental. But because Lewis’ allegory is so powerful I suppose you could miss the point, especially if you really didn’t want to see it - kind of what Jesus said about why he spoke in parables.

Now we know for sure. The Sunday Times from jolly old England reports that a previously unpublished letter from dear ol’ Jack says that “The whole Narnian story is about Christ.” (Catch the article here) Come on! Was there really ever any doubt about Aslan?

I guess the one thing I'm bracing for is the typical response from the church and Christians, beating the religious drum about God and Hollywood. Can't we just let the movies (and the books) remain deliciously mysterious and speak for themselves?

For more controversy to chew on, check out the Washington Post. David Germain of the Associated Press is more positive.