These were excellent stories. Children who read them will have a better understanding of the gospel, and lots of good clean fun!
As we begin I encourage the reader to Joseph Pearce’s work on the subject. He shares many clear analogies and lessons from these books, some of which appear in my notes here. When I recall specific ideas that came from him I will mention him.
I’ll treat the books in their chronological order, not the order of their release:
Book 1: The Magician’s Nephew
Book 2: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
Book 3: The Horse and His Boy
Book 4: Prince Caspian
Book 5: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Book 6: The Silver Chair
Book 7: The Final Battle
Lewis Narnia 1: The Magician’s Nephew
The book was a fun story and taught many good lessons.
It was common in those days for the children to be talked to and have it drilled into them thoroughly to not steal. And if they did something very naughty, they had a 2-hour time out in bed.
Note: Perhaps parents today have gotten too soft, and thus the children are out of control, self-centered, without skills, without focus, without proper attitudes, etc. Let us swing the pendulum back to center and take charge of the proper rearing of children in the home. See Dr. Leonard Sax’s Collapse of Parenting book for a good introduction to this rational though politically incorrect philosophy. End note.
The wicked witch was named Jada, similar to Janice, a wicked magician in Pharaoh’s Court.
An allegory of Adam and Eve is presented where a woman was taken away and the man had to join her.
An allegory of the creation occurred where the Creator is saying he brought the various types of life and appointed rulers.
Note: This is the true order of creation. God didn’t put a single-celled living organism here from which all other life evolved as evolution theory claims. Rather, as the holy word says, God placed various forms of life here. Is this not much simpler and obvious? It also conforms with known laws of genetics, that certain genetic limits cannot be passed – surely God didn’t evolve every living thing from a single thing. God has been making worlds for a long time, why not bring existing plant animal and human life from elsewhere and transplant it here? When it comes to human life, why not come and procreate here? Afterall, Luke 3 says Adam was a son of God. End note.
There was a magical word that could kill everyone. That single lethal word was a very wicked thing people weren’t supposed to learn.
Note: Clearly an allegory for the atomic bomb. End note.
The allegory of the tree of life giving immortality is presented, that you shouldn’t take that fruit until it’s your time or it will have the opposite effect and bring misery, leaving you permanently in a corrupted state.
Note: We can catch some more lessons along these lines. When you get things before you should ever get things, those things become corrupted and work against you, whereas the natural proper version of them works to your benefit. For example, if you get money without working for it. Or if a man and a woman come together before marriage. Or if a man looks upon a woman with lust and beyond the bounds the Lord has set. Or when a woman shows her body in ways that she should not, that godly thing rightfully hers works against her instead of to her favor. If she gives her gifts to the wrong person at the wrong time, the blessing for them both will be revoked, and only a fleeting happiness will be granted them as opposed to the fullness of joy they could have had. Or when the powers of procreation are employed without allowing natural life to flow from them. These are some of the great tricks of life, things which are inherently good being used at the wrong time in the wrong way. Let us be patient and trust in the laws of God and trust in the goodness of God, that He wants us to inherit the earth, that He wants us to be happy, happier than rejecting His laws could ever make us. Finally, there come the temptations of making life a luxury and a sort of a heaven at the expense of others and without considering the needs of your brothers. These temptations are also out of order. Heaven is the place of rest and abundance; this life is the time to prepare to meet God, to help one another in that class, and to serve the poor. Let us do all things in wisdom and order, preferring the right path to the fast one. End note.
The wicked man wants to marry the wicked woman. We all gravitate towards what we are.
When a sick mother was healed, she played more games with her children than ever before. It was said that she had become more of a child than them.
Note: This is a good reminder to give as we ought to give to the children. End note.
The magicians were wicked, thinking only about how things could be used for their gain and manipulation. They thought that the rules didn’t apply to them.
Note: There’s a good allegory in this for when we want to do all manner of things to override the natural life and heap up profits and power. End note.
Those who were completely closed to communicating with the magical or spiritual or otherworld beings will never be able to understand them. Their language seems gibberish. The mystery remains hidden. It’s like how some can’t speak the language of religion.
Lewis Narnia 2: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe
Those who are completely unbelieving won’t be able to enter the magical land. Like how those who completely refuse religion will never know it’s the truth.
The Turkish delight candy is something that you want more of the more you have of it, given to the point of killing yourself from having so much.
Note: It’s clearly an illusion to addictive drugs. It might also remind us of, dare I say, processed foods which also lead to our death though a little more slowly via diabetes and heart disease. The point about all this cursed stuff is that it’s of the devil. End note.
When the children complain about Lucy’s tall tales and magical stories, the good professor asks them if she is a liar and asks them how they know she’s not telling the truth. It’s a good stance of faith.
Note: We shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the supernatural and miraculous. End note.
The witch changed the land so that it’s always winter but never Christmas.
Note: This is like going through the hardships of life without the magic of faith and without the hope of religion. Instead of hope they get curses of famine, heavy taxation, and the lack of freedom to prosper. End note.
There are frequent mentions of respect to the human race as sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.
The fawn does a halfway bad thing, or, begins to do a bad thing, and then changes his mind. He’s contracted with an evil witch, and even though he turns back last minute to his credit, the report of his involvement still makes its way back to the witch and he is in great trouble.
Note: This teaches us never to make deals with these bad folks, and that word gets around easily of what you do. You see shows about making deals with witches to get what you want, even something good, like a child, but all of these deals are doomed, and good stories should show such deals as ending in ruin, not as being beneficial arrangements. End note.
The Christ figure, Aslan, is a son of the Emperor beyond the sea. Aslan is called the King and Lord of the world of Narnia. Of course there are places beyond Narnia. And these are places are apparently ruled by the father of Aslan.
You can always tell by someone’s eyes if they have joined the evil witch’s side.
Edmond wanted more of the treats that the witch had given him and the promises that she had given him of royalty, so he made excuses about how she must have been good even though he knew deep in his heart that she was evil.
The wicked witch has no human blood.
Note: It is as if to say she has forsaken the things that make people human in her obsession with magic and greed and power. End note.
The wicked witch turns people into stone.
Note: It is as though to say that when we forsake truth and religion, our hearts forget how to feel, and we too lose our humanity. End note.
The story is told with animals as intelligent beings with whom humans interact, which makes it fun for children.
Note: Adult readers might enjoy picturing all the characters as humans of different dispositions and abilities. Of course that’s what they’re supposed to remind us of. All good fiction is good because it points to reality. End note.
Father Christmas gives the young woman a bow and arrow, but it is only to be used in time of great need as she is not meant to go into battle. The younger woman gets a dagger and also is instructed that she is not supposed to be in battle.
Aslan was good and terrible (as in terrifying) at the same time. The good King can be overwhelming.
The witch could make things appear as they are not.
Note: There are a couple themes of what it is to be an evil witch. One is presented very well with the magician’s nephew, namely the trait of greed, a desire to turn everything into something that would advance them and put their own wants above the needs of others. Another theme of evil from some other fairy tales is that the witches often curse people with childlessness. These two twin habits appear frequently in our time. Women abort babies or contracept them to have a childless life so they can have more power and control over their day and their life and not be subject to the needs of many children, as is natural. So if you’re looking for modern witchcraft, look to whichever influences are encouraging women not to have children. End note.
There was deep magic from before the dawn of time. These were rules that had to be kept no matter what.
Note: This is just like eternal laws that govern the universe that God himself abides by. Here the word ‘magic’ is used to describe some law of nature not understood, rather than an occultic sense. In the world of children, the word ‘magic’ merely means something beyond understanding, and in that childlike understanding it is used here. End note.
One of these deep rules was that traitors belonging to the evil one could only be redeemed by blood.
Note: Blood atonement. End note.
One of the deep rules which the wicked witch didn’t know was that if an innocent person was sacrificed, he would come back to life and death would be undone.
When you are with the risen Lord you don’t feel tired or hungry.
It was at a bad school that Edmund started becoming bad.
Note: Peter Kreeft in his Culture War book taught that a good society is one that makes it easy to be good, and a bad society is one that makes it easy to be bad. End note.
After the four children had been Kings and Queens for some time their language became more refined.
The dress of Edmund and the others were all refined and they became very noble, trustworthy, wise and good rulers.
Those who have not been to Narnia were not to be told about it. You can see in people whether they have been told or not.
Note: There are a few comparisons here. One is something like a translated being who has been to the higher realm and must keep such a thing quite secret. The next is in general, not to cast pearls before swine. Alexander Solzhenitsyn talks about how at the Soviet gulag prison camps you had to be very careful of who you talk to. You had to learn how to recognize who was trustable because many people would turn you in for the little benefit it would give them. Finally, if we compare Narnia as the spiritual experience, those who haven’t had it can’t merely be fully told about it, its something you have to experience. End note.
Lewis Narnia 3: The Horse and His Boy
The boy wanted to go north all his life and the horse told him, ‘of course you do, you’re of Northern stock.’ (As in you’re really from there, or the type of person who would thrive there.) (The north was known for being a very good place.)
People used to learn how to tell stories the way we learn how to write essays. The difference is that people really wanted to hear the stories. Nobody wants to hear or read the essays.
A good servant says ‘to hear is to obey.’ Whatever their Master says, they do unquestioningly.
Note: Hearing is important. If we never hear the instructions, we have no hope of obeying. Learn how to hear God’s will, particularly by becoming acquainted with the teachings of His servants, of whom it is said in the D&C, “By their mouth or His it is the same.” These days we often talk about learning to hear the Lord as though it were some mystical thing, but it’s quite simple because it’s written down right on paper. Prophetic instructions from scripture and living prophets will get you the feel for it and you can go from there. God has not left us without an instruction manual. End note.
One of the high privileges of nobility and other people of rank back in the day was to send messages and have those messages travel all throughout the land.
People who know many of the same things can’t help but talk to each other about them.
Note: You can tell a lot about a person by what they like to talk about. End note.
People who have been mistreated all their life hold themselves much differently than those who have not.
The old saying goes, “See a bear in his den before you judge his condition.”
As the bird says, nest before eggs.
A poet said, “Deep drafts from the fountain of reason are needed to extinguish the fires of love.”
As a jewel retains its worth buried in the ground, so ought we respect the aged among us.
One great disadvantage of adventures is that when you arrive at beautiful places, you’re often too rushed and worried to appreciate them.
When there’s someone forcing you to do something, you can do more than you thought you could, and when there’s not, it’s hard to muster that same will. You’ll also run faster when being chased by a lion.
Note: Once Elder David Bednar footnoted in one of his discourses that we ought to pray for more commandments to keep so we can get more blessings. We must retain agency, but sometimes it is nice to be shown a direction to go, and maybe even to have a little fire under us to get going. God has built in many things of this nature into life, and we can do the best when we go toward the chaos head on rather than waiting for it to come to us. Jordan Peterson has some stirring things to say along these lines. End note.
The lion Christ figure pushes them to where they need to be even when they don’t recognize it and its intimidating.
Sometimes the lion (the Lord) looks more like a cat, or smaller than it (He) really is, blending in, looking normal.
When you do one good deed, your reward is often to be given another harder and better one to do.
Note: Always be grateful to have work. The really hard thing is to not have work. In the Lord’s parable, those who were called to work in the morning were paid the same as those called in the evening, but oh, what a wretched day it would have been not working! Similarly, if we live in sin, that time is where we cannot enjoy the Holy Spirit and the hope for eternity. To live without God pales in comparison to the joy that can be had with God. And bless God for strengthening you and giving you more tasks, for making you stronger to complete those tasks that before you could not. As the Book of Mormon says, the people in bondage didn’t have their burdens taken away, but did have their backs strengthened so their burdens became light to them. God is the great employer, always be glad to work for God. His work strengthens the soul and sets us toward becoming as He is. End note.
There’s no such thing as luck.
Often those who are the best in one group enter another to find they are very much not the best, and must be humbled, and accept that, and move forward with that fact in mind.
Note: Jordan Peterson talks about ‘becoming a fool’ over and over to become great; returning to the realms of ignorance as you learn in areas others know more than you, even when in general you may have more experience and knowledge than them. End note.
The lion (Lord) nudged the boat to where it needed to go. The lion chased the horses to make them fast enough to get them to where they needed to be on time to warn someone of an incoming army. The lion chased away wild beasts. The heroes didn’t know about any of these services being provided for their wellbeing behind the scenes.
The lion (Lord) accompanies us on the journey and waits for us to start the conversation.
The lion makes itself appear as two lions so as to chase and bring together the two heroes who are meant to journey together.
Note: This serves as an analogy of God split into the Father and Son. End note.
The lion/king explains your story to you, solving the riddles, helping you see why you went through certain things. He doesn’t tell you other’s stories, just your own.
Note: This training can come bit by bit as we pay attention to promptings of the spirit. It can and surely will additionally come as we meet the Lord in judgement. Perhaps when you understand your own story you will automatically understand that of others much better. End note.
In the dark travels there was an unseen cliff, but the lion stayed between the traveler and the cliff.
Note: This is like God’s grace and commandments helping us to avoid the worst of things. End note.
When you encounter something new, even when you can tell it’s good, it can take you a while to take it in, being so foreign to your past experience.
Note: Sometimes people need line upon line, precept upon precept. Here a little, there a little, as Isaiah teaches. Sometimes people aren’t ready for the Lord’s full system, and they need stepping stones to bridge the gap. Joseph Smith said when he revealed new things to the saints they flew apart like glass and called it blasphemy. End note.
Note: I remember once at the Missionary Training Center hearing a sermon from Elder Jeffry Holland. The spirit in the room was like a thick fog, and looking at the others present, you knew that they all felt the same thing. As the day wore on we were more quiet than usual, pondering on what had just happened to us. The message and feelings from that message came in waves over and over. We couldn’t take it all in at once. End note.
There are ways of seeing things that are not present, and those accustomed to seeing them can more easily recognize these visions and their messages. There was a reflection pool showing things, and only the experienced one could make out the shapes in it for what they were.
Note: This pool is not used in an occultic sense, but in the sense of an analogy, that there are things of the spirit, things which can be seen, and it does take practice to learn the art of it. End note.
The lion inflicts a wound on someone who had wounded someone else so they would understand how it feels.
Those who attempt to kill others forfeit the right to their own life.
Note: The Bible is very clear on this, and says for murder, we cannot substitute any other consequence – the life of the murderer must be forfeit. End note.
Never make fun of someone unless they’re stronger than you. (You don’t pick on the weak.)
The heir to the throne is required by law to become the next king. The first-born prince is required to become a king in the same way that a century is required to not abandon his post. The king doesn’t choose. It’s the law.
Note: In The Lord of the Rings movie The Aragorn figure is misconstrued as someone who does not want to be king. In the book he always knew that it was his mission in life. He embraced it, and he was just waiting for the proper moment. He had various missions to fulfill. And no, being a king isn’t about eating grapes on a throne, it’s hard work requiring many levels of skill and wisdom. End note.
Being a king means to be the first to face every perilous attack and the last to retreat. And in times of famine, it means laughing louder than others at small meals.
The young hero and the young heroine frequently got into fights and when they came of age they got married so they could continue doing so more conveniently.
Note: G.K. Chesterton said, “Marriage is a duel to the death which no man of honour should decline.” End note.
Lewis Narnia 4: Prince Caspian
If you come upon a great mystery there’s no sense in trying to sleep even if it’s bedtime because the mystery will keep you awake so you might as well investigate it.
Time flows differently in Narnia. A year in London would be hundreds of years in Narnia.
Note: This is like the scriptures that say a day to God is a thousand years to man, though not not an exact match. End note.
It was dangerous to speak of Narnia. Most of the Narnians had been driven out and executed, and it was illegal to talk about them.
Note: This is like persecution of Christians and the rule of atheists who ban the creation scientists and insist on Darwinism. End note.
The teacher had to take his student to a special private place to tell his student about these things where no one could hear.
Note: Such it is that we must proceed with caution in this world dominated by secularism as we seek to revive the ways of faith and forbidden truth. We must use boldness, but not foolishness. The whole of Narnia is an allegory for Christianity and the higher realms.
There were many who wished that their people had not driven out the Narnians, but few who dared say it.
Though the evidence of Narnia remaining was fleeting, something made the hope of it keep returning.
In all the stories Aslan comes from over the sea, so the bad guys make up rumors and myths about that being a dangerous area to travel in, making rumors of ghosts etc.
Note: This is like many of the false notions springing up around belief today, often accusing the church of the very evils it fought against. End note.
The wicked ruler, who was not the rightful king, one by one executed secretly and by supposed accident, all those who were loyal to the true king, giving them trumped up charges of treason, etc.
Note: Like what Joseph Stalin and others have done. End note.
Narnia isn’t man’s kingdom, but it’s a kingdom for a man to be the king of.
Note: This is like Father Adam, ruler of this world which belongs to God, and how God appoints people to rule in His world. And remember, the meek will inherit the earth. End note.
Faithful subjects of King Caspian knew that there was a time for giving advice, but that ultimately, they had to follow orders, even when they didn’t agree.
The best swordsman can be disarmed by a trick he never knew.
Note: This is one reason we don’t pick fights with devils and go looking for trouble. There’s plenty of tricks and lies out there, and we shouldn’t think ourselves master of them all, only the Lord is master of all. End note.
There was a miraculous event, the blowing of the horn summoning the children to give aid to the Narnians. It was a large miracle, and some wondered about it, but were reminded that if they believe at all, why should this be unacceptable? God is capable of great miracles, not just small.
The creatures of Narnia began going wild and you didn’t know who was safe – who was the talking animal, and who was the wild animal. This analogy was made in the book, that in the world of men, many of them are going wild and you can’t tell just from looking at them which ones can be trusted.
Note: This is clearly another reference to what happens in a world without faith and religion, consumed by secularism. End note.
The heroes didn’t recognize a place, but soon realized that since it had been around 1000 years since they had been there last, that the area could have been changed dramatically by an earthquake or waterflow reshaping the land.
Note: This is, or at least ought to be, an allusion to how the flood of Noah reshaped the Earth, demonstrating a young Earth, catastrophism over uniformitarianism, key factors in dismissing the lies of evolutionary theory. End note.
A visionary girl sees the Aslan Christ figure in a moment of distress, signaling to them which way they should go. Others don’t believe her and vote about which way to go and they end up taking a more perilous route.
Note: How often in this world do the voices of the world drown out the voices of the visionaries? End note.
As the heroes returned to Narnia their old skills and memories began to return.
Note: An analogy here is that as we embrace the faith of old and realign ourselves with our premortal identity as children of God, we can make a quick progress, embracing those traits we began to cultivate long ago. End note.
No one has been told what would have happened if they would have acted differently.
When the Lord appears to you and tells you to come, you don’t vote on it, you don’t go with the majority, you just go.
Things never happen the same way twice.
Note: I suppose, as others have, that this is the case for each world. That God wouldn’t make two houses, much less two people, alike. Brigham Young said he never made two houses alike. End note.
The older children couldn’t see the lion like the younger ones could and they had to trust and learn how to see.
Some people are good in times of peace but under pressure turn bad.
Talmarilians didn’t want to go to where they wouldn’t have positions of power.
In earlier days of the world there were more portals to other worlds, in caves and such, but today only a few remain.
Only a son of Adam can be a king of Narnia, and Caspian turned out to indeed be from the world of men who had come there earlier as outcasts. The lineage of Adam and Eve is a great nobility, something you should be aware of even if some of your ancestors were less honorable.
Lewis Narnia 5: The Dawn treader
The parents of Eustice don’t eat meat, have a particular undergarment, and a few other identifiers clearly set them as being in a certain unfavorable group (Joseph Pearce points this out).
Note: Time in the prior book was a ratio of much occurring in Narnia while little did in our world. In this book he says it’s less predictable, that much time or little time could go by in Narnia compared to ours. I think this is a step backward; it would have been nice to keep the same high analogy of 1000 years to man being 1 year to God (or as it was in that book, 1000 years to God as 1 year to man). But we could suppose that there are many worlds with different times for each of them. But some consistency with the Narnia to home time ratios would have been nice. End note.
Eustice was a spoiled annoying boy without friends who delighted in tormenting others. Eustice blamed everyone but himself for the problems he encountered. He describes himself as a republican and a pacifist who doesn’t believe in violence.
Note: Lewis makes clear that he is in fact not a pacifist, see his essay “Why I Am Not a Pacifist.” Lewis says there are things worse than a fight or a war, like tyranny and oppression. That though war may not solve all problems it does solve some, and that we can’t say how things might have been if we had not gone to war and we can’t say things would have been better because we don’t know. End note.
The lion calls all times “soon.”
Note: I wouldn’t say this is exactly accurate, but it does make a good point and is often applicable, indeed we see several occasions in scripture where the Lord says something is soon, but just how soon, on what level, is sometimes unknown. End note.
It’s no good to eavesdrop even if by magic.
Note: This could be an illusion to government spying increased by our many recording devices everywhere today. As Joseph Pearce points out, in these stories the evil use of magic is often an analogy for technology. End note.
The slave trade wasn’t necessary for production, it was just to line the pockets of the traders.
Note: And later people found out that it’s even more cost effective to pay people since they work better when paid. But there’s always some excuse or other for tyranny, and it returns in different forms. There’s always more ways to be dishonest and cheat ahead of where you should be. And it always comes back to bite you in the end. End note.
Aslan’s land was beyond the edge/end of the world, somewhere you couldn’t get to by sailing.
Eustace, whose name sounds like useless, hides away to avoid the day’s work to take a nap. He ends up lonely and anxious while those who worked enjoyed one another’s company had a good feast for dinner and merry company.
Eustace had read the wrong books, books about government but not about dragons, so he didn’t know what to expect when he encountered a dragon.
Though nobody liked Eustace, when he went missing, as he was part of the crew, it was their duty to find him. He was also a son of Adam, and that noble heritage had to be respected.
Eustace goes into a dragon’s cave, lusting after a dragon’s treasure, and himself becomes a dragon. As a dragon, he realizes he can get revenge against his comrades who he saw as working against him. But he realizes that he doesn’t want revenge, he wants companionship, to be with the group, and that much of the blame for his problems was his own attitude, not that of his companions. Becoming a dragon helps Eustace become his best self.
Note: As Joseph Pearce points out, Eustace as a boy was more like a dragon, and Eustace as a dragon was more like a boy. He learns his lesson. End note.
As a dragon he meets up with the crew, manages to identify himself as Eustace, and spends his time doing helpful errands for the crew. He didn’t like being a dragon, always wanting to be away from, yet near the crew. He was disgusted with himself but longed for companionship.
Note: This is like the life of a criminal, the life of the one who lies to those he loves and lives a double life. Soon, both lives become intolerable, and human feelings are suppressed with the conscience. End note.
In times of turmoil companions are more endeared to one another.
The lion came and bid the dragon (Eustace) to follow him to a large pool. Eustace had to scratch off his dragon layers, and could only do so much, then the lion had to help him get the rest off and tossed him into the pool. He then becomes himself again. Then the lion dressed him in new clothes.
Note: This is the repentance and baptism of Eustace, being born again. The dressing of the lad also indicates royalty, priesthood, blessings, and endowments. End note.
Eustace wasn’t good at telling stories because he hadn’t read the right books.
Eustace does a brave deed that doesn’t really help the situation, but it was a good start.
They find a pool of water where everything turns to gold. The area was enchanted. It caused them all to become greedy and selfish. They had to leave, or at least try to, and the lion had to intervene to wake them from the spell of it.
Note: Well it has been said that wealth is one of life’s greatest trials, and few can survive it with their soul intact. Resist it they will, but the fact remains that poverty is a Christian virtue. Not stupidity and idleness, but the absence of a love for money, which is often reflected in heaping up too much of it, thinking of it all the time. But some saints do use wealth for God and the benefit of humanity. Indeed, to benefit humanity is to serve God. End note.
The lady at the table’s beauty was such that it made them feel like they had seen beauty for the first time.
The travelers asked how they could know if the beautiful peaceful lady was friend or foe. She said you can’t know, all you can do is believe, or not believe.
Note: The Holy Ghost tells us the truth of all things, but we must believe and act in faith. Truly, we must act in faith before we can obtain knowledge. We can’t be paralyzed; our heart and mind must work together to make choices, and the sum of those choices will determine the destiny of our souls. As Bruce McConkie taught, the test of life is to see whether we will believe the truth or believe a lie. I believe the test of life is designed perfectly such that our choices really do reflect who we are. Be careful then, as to what choices you make, which voices you choose to believe and support. Don’t abdicate your thinking to others, and don’t abdicate your loyalty to where it doesn’t belong, and don’t complacently do nothing. God said plainly that he wants us to take a side, not to be in the midde (though the middle of some issues is a good side to take). Just don’t be complacent. The scripture says be warm or hot, not lukewarm. God can with with energy, even if wrongly directed, but with complacency he has nothing to work with. End note.
The strange ‘monopod’ cursed dwarf creatures complained about being mistreated, but it turns out they were simply foolish, deserved what they got, believed in something that wasn’t true, and it led to their downfall. They all became followers rather than independent thinkers.
Note: Not everyone who complains of being wronged is legitimate, and each must reason things out for themselves. The Book of Mormon gives a canonized example of the Lamanites passing on for generations a bogus grievance. American History, Christian history, and restoration history are also being weaponized. The Devil is not so foolish as to leave these stones unturned! In every great institution the Devil will attempt to thwart corrupt the story thereof, overly emphasizing the bad, undermining the good, and flat out twisting the facts, painting a very different picture than reality. End note.
Stars aren’t just big balls of gas. Gas may be what they are made of, but there’s much more to it.
You can’t sail to worlds end with a disheartened and disgruntle crew – they must know where they are going and why if they are to muster the faith to overcome the spells.
Note: If we are not one, we cannot build the Kingdom of God. End note.
It is a great honor for the men to go on the voyages and journeys. Even a lowly position in those journeys is honorable. Some of the crew were tempted to discontinue the quest in favor of rich foods and had to remember the virtue of their quest.
To go on the greatest quests, it’s more than just wanting to go, you must be the best.
Note: You must prove with your lifetime that you truly desire the quest above all. End note.
When you skip out on a great adventure, you’ll regret it and wish you had gone with your fellows.
Near the end of the world, near Aslan’s land – you don’t need much food or sleep, and it is exceedingly bright. Near the end the water was like drinkable light and was sweet. The sailors got younger the further they went. The desire to speak fled.
Note: Think of D&C 84 on the oath and covenant of the priesthood, the promised renewal of the flesh. End note.
Parents have a lot of anxiety about the welfare of their children, so they are sometimes angrier at their children when foolishness puts the child in danger. They can react more sternly to something their child does than at something a stranger’s child does.
Note: Be understanding of the parent’s anxiety for the child, it is out of love. End note.
Note: Here’s an equation about being peaceable. If you are prepared you will not fear. And if you do not fear you will not get as angry. So, to help the issue of anger, be prepared. Prepared in what? In whatever disturbs you as being left incomplete, and whatever is prudent. Do the daily work of training moral character to your child, teach them all the standards and the whole equation of God’s operations, and their freedom will be much les intimidating. End note.
A large tall wave was at the end of the world, and the tall mountains of Aslan’s country were beyond it. There’s a way to get into Aslan’s country from every world, and he is telling you all the time how to get there.
The king wanted to go to Aslan’s country, but the crew wouldn’t allow it. He was the king and owed the people his service. The people would have tied him up if he tried to go. He had to remember the promises he had made. Also, the promise of a beautiful bride he was promised helped him return to his difficult service.
The children were too old to return to Narnia. Now they were to become better acquainted with their own world. Aslan could be found in their world as well, but was known by a different name there. The reason the children were brought to Narnia was to become better acquainted with him so they could recognize him in their world.
Note: Of course, the name He has in this world is Jesus Christ. And a good story will help you approach him. God is known by many names indeed, and many religions will point you to Him, but he is particularly delighted when you embrace his direct teachings. In other words, his direct teachings have the most power to lift you up to the most happiness. Advocates of religion invite others to higher plains. Those who have the highest forms of religion, as in those forms with the most truth and the least error, have a divine calling to peacefully share those truths to bring liberty to the world, to bring hearts and societies into heaven on earth. Indeed, the destiny of earth is to become an eternal heaven! End note.
When some wanted to turn back, the noblest among them encouraged the others, reminding them they would keep exploring because they were men, not beasts.
Note: Indeed, we must explore, use resources to benefit the human race, subdue the earth and care for it. We must conquer evil and the unknown then rule in righteousness. End note.
Note: Joseph Smith and others taught that the role of the Holy Ghost is to remind us of things we used to know. End note.
A lamb is seen roasting fish over a fire and invites them to eat. It transforms and is seen to be the lion.
Note: This is a reminder of the risen Christ, the lamb of God. inviting his disciples to eat fish with him. End note.
Lewis Narnia 6: The Silver Chair
The theme of the importance of exploring continues in this story. Someone says there’s probably nothing important in some unexplored area. The other exclaims ‘What do you mean unimportant?!’
Note: We have a mission to map out the world to master all its stories. As Hugh Nibley said, we all have a full-time job to learn the history of this world. Nibley recognized duties we have that are often forgotten. Let me know when you’ve got that done and we can talk about more fanciful entertainments! End note.
The heroes went to a school where bullying wasn’t stopped but was rather treated as a social experiment. If you knew the right things to say when in trouble, you would become a favorite instead of being reprimanded.
Note: This is very much like today’s schools, where we swallow the camel and strain at the gnat. We focus on all the wrong things, so the guilty often go unpunished and are often even rewarded when they are charismatic and popular. Those overseeing the children are often easily bought by the children themselves, also wanting the popularity and praise the bullies offer. All of these have no grounding, no direction, and go about whatever everyone does, because everyone is doing it. Soon evil is called good and good called evil. Like what’s happened with embracing and celebrating homosexuality and other evils. The bullies are seen as heroes for social justice and truthseekers are labeled as bigots and bullies. Satan inverts everything a full 180 degrees, and wipes out entire concepts of truth. End note.
The children were at a school called Experiment House, where Bibles were not encouraged, and it was essentially child abuse to treat children as little experiments to try radical theories on. At the Experiment House, the girls bowed like the boys, they did not courtesy.
The school sought to erase gender differences. They also didn’t refer to each other by first name.
Conjuring magic circles and spells to summon God is not the way the good God works. You don’t demand His provision, you ask. Then He decides whether it is an appropriate occasion to warrant your request.
Note: This is the difference between the miraculous and the dark magic. When dealing with the miraculous, we ask God and we do His will, we do what He would do, we become someone He can trust with power. We don’t demand our will in our time. End note.
Note: This gives us insight into the fall of Lucifer – surely God wants to give good gifts to His children and bring them into the ever expanding family business. But when they want to do things their way rather than God’s way, to override the system and shortcut the need for personal righteousness, when they want to eliminate justice to setup something completely different which does not resemble the virtuous government of God, this will bring one down like lightning. Jesus Christ upholds justice by mercy; Christ doesn’t eliminate justice. Justice is eternal and is upheld by God the Father; that’s what makes Him God. As the good book says, “He that ruleth over men must be just.” (2 Sam. 23:3) End note.
The lion invites the heroine to drink from a river. She doesn’t know the lion and is afraid, and asks if there is a different river. There is not. There is no other way. She asks if the lion would leave while she drank – also not possible. She asks if he had ever devoured people. He says yes, even entire cities. She must choose to starve or accept the danger and drink.
Note: In the gospel of Jesus Christ, it isn’t a buffet of pick and choose commandments. We must surrender our entire will. We don’t know where it’s going to lead. But if our souls are ever to truly quench their thirst, the sometimes difficult ways of Christ are the only path. Fortunately, when you get to know Christ, the burdens become light, even if they appear hard, and he strengthens us to carry them. Some say that Christ never said it would be easy, He only said it would be worth it, but this is patently false, as Christ did in fact say that His way is easy and light! God’s grace helps His people endure hardships like water off the duck’s back, like how Alexandre Sholsenitze says the Baptists were able to face the horrors of the Gulag and Soviet interrogation torturings much better than everyone else. When filled with the spirit of God, one can simply endure more and do more, comprehend more and feel more charitable, than when left to his own. End note.
One of the heroes wonders if she had come by mistake. She called to the lion but wasn’t sure about where he took her. The lion/Lord said you wouldn’t call to me unless I was calling to you (first).
The children were given very specific instructions and had to memorize them. The instructions were to be always repeated daily.
Note: It is like the ten commandments and other key instructions. It is like our daily scriptures and prayers which must not be neglected. End note.
They were given the instructions in a place where they could hear them clearly, but along the journey the messages wouldn’t always be so clear, so they had to memorize and repeat them.
Note: It is like instruction at childhood, in which clear messages must be remembered throughout the test of life as we learn the weight of those words given to us so softly. No, we cannot spend all of life on the mountaintop, or in the Edenic home, we must go and face the world, its clouds of darkness, its unsuspecting evils, and we are far better off in these fights if we are equipped with the full armor of God, the sword of truth, and so on. The easy lessons and the obvious facts get put to the test, and you will have to see if you can really stand by those primary lessons. End note.
People often lose their temper when they are scared.
Note: Don’t live by fear, live by faith, and you’ll be able to keep your temper. End note.
A mysterious, attractive person tells them to go to the land of the gentle giants, but this was not part of their instructions from the Lord. The giants turned out to be not gentle and tried to eat them. The children were enticed to go there from promises of beds and food. When they got to the delicate comforts, the comforts made them feel even more gloomy and discomforted, and they forgot to repeat their instructions.
The sign on the rock that said “under me” was dismissed by the unbeliever as not a sign, as the sign used to say something else. But the believers learned and knew that Lord would have known what it would look like when they would encounter it, so yes, it was meant as a sign for them.
Note: I’ve made this point about prophecy and calendars. There may be many uses for many calendar systems, but God knew we would be using the one we are when he gave us the prophecies, so I believe the use of our calendars for various measurements is good and right. God works with what we’ve got, not academic hair splitting definitions and technicalities of everything. End note.
It’s ok to eat the non-talking animals, just not the talking ones.
Note: This is a lesson on the order of intelligences. That God has allowed for the use of animal flesh to sustain our needs (and wants), but woe to those who waste. Human rights always trump animal rights. End note.
The more enchanted (deceived) you are, the more you’re sure that you aren’t enchanted.
The witch brainwashed the heroes to believe there is no sun. Her reasons seemed very rational. The witch was able to bring it all into question with her manipulation of enchantments and questioning.
Note: All they had to go against her words was their knowledge and experience. When we know something to be true and cannot explain why, we should not allow others to talk us out of it. Brad Wilcox pointed out how you can’t turn on and off the feelings of the spirit at will, as some claim they just conjured up the feelings of the spirit they know they had experienced when hearing testimony of the restored gospel. Yet, they cannot conjure those feelings at will. There’s something far greater taking place. End note.
The witch got them to not believe in the real world, and only to believe in her dark and dreary cave world. One of the heroes said even if you are right and this dreary world is all there is, I would rather go on believing in the better world. Therefore, the hero would attempt to escape the dark world or die trying, since death wouldn’t be so bad from such a world anyway.
One of the heroes stomps out a fire at his own harm, and thus throws off the enchantment of the witch. He disrupts the scents and calm voice and harp of the witch with yells.
On the great adventures you had to let go of fears or you found death and insanity.
When you’ve been going through very hard times for a very long time, other trials seem easy. Thus it was for one of the heroes who had been stuck under enchantments for 10 years – when he was freed, he faced great peril like it was a game.
All the thoughts the witch planted in the people’s heads were depressing. They forgot how to tell jokes and to dance.
There were levels of caverns very deep into the earth with beautiful cities.
The witches always have the same goal, but in every age, they use a different means to achieve it.
Note: In our time the powers are well at work, with the culture of faithlessness prevailing. The music industry, the education system, the secular godlessness prevailing with theories like Darwinism undermining our divine identity and turning creation on its head, denying all things supernatural. Eugenics, destruction of the family through feminism and many such theories are like enchantments of witches sapping the life out of society, subjecting us to slavery without realizing it. End note.
When the heroes pursued the bullies at Experiment House school, the bullies ran away screaming, ‘Fascists! It isn’t fair!’
The headmaster of Experiment House was released from that position as she wasn’t good at it. She was then made an overseer of other headmasters, but wasn’t good at that either. Finally she was installed in Parliament, and there she remains happily to this day.
Lewis Narnia 7: The Final Battle
The ape named Shift was so ancient that no one knew when he came to Narnia.
Note: Shift is like Cain, the cursed man. Later in the story, the Ape even claims to be a man. This could also be a play on evolution, teaching that evolution isn’t how creation works – creatures are directly created, not evolved. The name ‘shift’ also indicates a lack of morality. End note.
Shift’s intelligence was overrated – he convinced others that they were dumb, and he was smart.
Note: It’s like the tool evolutionists employ all the time, claiming that we ‘just don’t understand science,’ and that we have to trust them. Translation – they are smart, and we are dumb. This is a tool of dictatorial ideas and people the world around. The truth is that we are just as capable of hearing analysis and making decisions as they are. Not everyone is equally intelligent, but there are plenty of the masses with abundant intelligence, and even average intelligence is sufficient to make most decisions, assuming the person puts some amount of thought into the matter. In a free society we don’t just rely on experts, we hear both sides and make decisions. RFK Jr. has brought this up in his fight against Big Pharma. Unfortunately, the false side tends to censure the true side because it can’t stand up to the truth in honest debate. All manner of trickery is employed as demonstrated in various stories in the scriptures. The reality is that nature does testify of Christ, and God created us as His children directly, not from lower lifeforms. End note.
Shift dresses a donkey with the fur of a lion and uses this as a decoy to pretend that he is getting instructions from Lord Aslan.
Note: This is like the anti-Christ, or the false prophet giving life to the image of the beast. End note.
When the ape was persuading the donkey to go along with his forgery, a lightning bolt and earthquake warned the donkey it was wrong, and the donkey detected it, but again, the evil ape convinced the donkey with cunning deceptions that that the sign meant the opposite of what it clearly meant.
Note: How often we are persuaded that the opposite of that which is written is the case! I’ve had scripture professors who argued points exactly opposite of what appears in scripture. For example, they read in the Book of Mormon about Nephites calling Lamanites degenerate, and what do the professors say? That the Nephites were probably just full of themselves, and that the Lamanites probably weren’t so bad. Yikes! On what authority do they preach such interpretations? End note.
Note: Another big example is the 1909 First Presidency statement rebuking evolution. The evolutionists have to do something with this, so they claim that the statement wasn’t really addressing evolution, but something else. End note.
Some rumored that Aslan had returned, that they had seen him. But one who knew the stars said it could not be true, for the stars had not shown it, and though people lie, stars do not. Indeed, the false Aslan, the donkey in the fur, is what they had seen. There were many clues that it was not the true Aslan, such as his instructing them to cut down a forest, to enslave the animals, and that they couldn’t speak directly to the Aslan.
All the stories of Aslan said he was not a tame lion, and this was used as an excuse to trick people into thinking the fake Aslan was real, doing things they knew deep down he would not do, asking things of them they knew he would not ask.
The ape gave instructions in the name of Aslan.
Note: This is a good example of what it is to take the name of the Lord in vain – to act in an office of authority and use that office to justify things which should not be. Particularly in the context of Christian leadership. End note.
The ape allowed them to see the supposed Aslan only at night where they can see only shadows of it and not detect the fake.
The ape declares himself to be a man, an old man.
Note: This is, or at least should be, yet another ploy against Darwinian evolution, the ridiculousness of the ape to man claims. The ape was not a man, nor was he an ape-man, he was just an ape. End note.
The anti-Christ ape quickly enslaves everyone. He tells them that the Lord was too nice with them in the past, that he isn’t going to speak with them directly now, if he ever did in the past. He said it isn’t slavery, you would be paid very well, but everyone would be paid directly into Aslan’s treasury which would be split up for everyone’s good.
Note: A clear rebuke of communism’s false promises and deceptions. In reality, the spirit of freedom is the spirit of Christ, as several scriptures declare (2 Cor. 3:17, James 1:25, Rom. 8:21, Alma 61:15, 3 Ne. 21:4). End note.
The people of Calormis worshipped Tash who required human sacrifice, whereas the Narnians worshipped Aslan, and they couldn’t see how this mouthpiece of Aslan would have them go against everything Aslan stood for. Thus, many detected that this couldn’t be the real Aslan, like the sun appearing black.
Note: We must wake up and see which social and scientific theories have implications which are clearly anti-Christ. We can’t claim that ‘God used evolution’ or that God wants us to be socialists. These teachings are in direct opposition to God’s word. If you’re going to stand for God, you must do that based on what God said. You don’t just throw God into whatever popular thing is going on and think you’re justified. As Christ said, not all those who say ‘Lord Lord’ will enter into my kingdom. In other words, if you didn’t espouse true principles, and just acted like bad principles were good because you dressed them up in Christian terminology, it’s not going to be well with you. End note.
The anti-Christ says Tash (the Devil) and Aslan (the Christ) are the same thing, just different words people use to describe them.
Note: There’s an increasingly popular idea of blending the ‘legends’ of Christ and Lucifer, that they are one, opposed to an evil Jehovah. This is certainly turning things on their head and is a certain lie. Many witnesses from the Bible and comparative religion show that there are indeed separate forces in operation, and we have names for characters who have taken prominent stands in this battle, they are not to be confused. This confusion is just another way of destroying. End note.
The false prophet says we are wiser now than to think that we were right and that the others who worshipped the Tash of human sacrifice were wrong. They blend everything together.
Note: This is like today’s politically correct culture, calling for us to “shift judgement to curiosity,” a popular woke slogan I’ve seen appear in many places. When we say all ideas are equal and leave everything to man’s opinion, we forsake truth and embrace the lie. Reason alone cannot bring us to God, cannot bring us to truth. When we try to just rely on reason we get things like the French Reign of Terror or Soviet Gulags. End note.
Note: When God speaks of joining all things in one, he isn’t talking about just mixing everything. We aren’t called to remove all judgment. We don’t have unity for the sake of unity. The only unity we can have is based on truth. Unity in truth is of God. Unity in error is of the Devil. It has been said that there is one way to do things right, and many ways to do things wrong. End note.
Note: Yes we can say that contention is a problem, but we can’t say that the solution to that problem is allowing the bullies (including the intellectual bullies) to have things their way. Often, love requires fighting. To love is to act, not to be passive. End note.
Some people recognize that the Aslan who gave his own life for us could not be the same being as the Tash who sacrifices his own people.
The king saw an invader on his land cutting his trees and beating his talking horses (people). The king strikes the man dead. He regrets this as the man was unarmed and without trial. He turns himself in as a captive.
Note: It was within the right of the king to do this, but perhaps he could have proceeded in a better way with more honor and less passion. But when you see atrocities taking place, the natural reaction is often the right one. Sometimes the solution in a time of chaos, rioting, or widespread rebellion, is to do like captain Moroni, and ride forth with a banner of liberty, and slay those who will not submit to it. On a similar note, the Crusades get too much flack. Those who know more about the Crusades will see that despite some people doing things that were out of control, there was justification in reclaiming stolen lands and kicking out tyrants, often forcefully and lethally. As Thomas Jefferson said, rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Benjamin Franklin wanted this to be the Great Seal of the United States. Jefferson used it as his personal seal / identifying mark. End note.
Little sips are better for quenching thirst than one large gulp.
People wondered what they must have done wrong to offend Aslan so much to be treated so harshly by him. But some people knew that they were doing the right thing, and insisted on keeping on doing right regardless of what others thought. Sometimes society punishes people for doing what’s right.
Note: This is like Martin Luther who says, “Here I stand, and I can do no other.” He knew that he was in the right, even if the powers that be were against him. He would stand by his decision even unto excommunication and death. Ultimately we want to become people who can stand on principle. This is hard if we are not trained in morals. It comes easier to some than others. But we can get to a place where we are okay not being in the mainstream when we become firmly grounded in eternal principles. We must be able to say with conviction before God that no state, no church nor anything else can get us to do certain things. End note.
Some recognized that Aslan operated by the same method throughout time. Aslan had a policy of calling the heroes in to help at dire times, and that he himself would also come to help (though not always be seen by all). Using these principles, they were able to recognize that the strange methods of the supposed mouthpiece of Aslan, the ape imposter, could not be the true Aslan.
Note: Surely the scriptures demonstrate God’s pattern of sending prophets (Amos 3:7). And these prophets don’t give totally new ways, but build on what the prophets have always been saying. Typically prophets are sent not so much to teach new things but to say ‘get back to the old ways you are straying from.’ In large part, that was even the mission of Christ. Truly God has sent truth from heaven from the beginning, and we often fall from it and need to be brought back. It’s also true that in some periods of history we do get a little more information, but it builds upon rather than destroys his messages from the past. End note.
There are 7 children heroes who cross over to help in Narnia. Note: The 7 are like the 7 archangels spoken of in scripture. To be an archangel is to arch or cross over, to make connections from one place to the other. This was particularly the case with Adam, who is the archangel Michael, being born directly of God, and brining life from God to earth. End note.
There were 8 but one, Susan, became more self-absorbed and rejected Narnia later.
Note: Perhaps this is another type of a fallen angel. But as Joseph Pearce points out, she isn’t ‘doomed to hell for liking boys’ as some have scoffed, rather she has simply chosen to reject the blessings of Narnia due to her self-absorption. And if her self-absorption continued, it could lead to a negative world for her indeed. It’s like the popular remark that eating or drinking something against a religious code isn’t going to send you to hell, but a rebellious attitude of thinking you know better than God surely could if you aren’t careful. End note.
When there’s an order to retreat, follow the order, it is not the time for bravery, many have misplaced bravery and fallen thus.
The girl does something unapproved by the king, and he says if you were a boy you’d be whipped for this.
Note: This shows there have been different expectations and consequences for boys and girls. Surely this must be the case, as their natures are so very different. It also shows that corporal punishment isn’t always wrong. Some things are so serious that a very serious message needs to be sent about it. Officers of the peace carry a big stick, though they hope they never have to use it. Here I particularly refer to dealing with misbehaving adults. Children are in a training phase that I think would very rarely require corporal punishment, though that option is at a parents’ disposal if needed, but within strict limits of not causing lasting harm or causing a blemish or withholding of affection beyond the moment of discipline. End note.
When the false prophet is exposed, many believe that there is no God at all, being tired of being misled and choosing to not trust anyone.
Note: I’ve heard this called the ‘cry wolf syndrome.’ The remedy for it is to preach true religion, and let the Holy Ghost fill our emptiness with undeniable light! End note.
The children were brought to Narnia at its times of greatest need, but between those times were great delights where the most notable things of the age were festivals, feasts, and competitions.
Note: We should not be too pessimistic if we have been called to land in one of those hard times. We should learn of and remember the good times past, hope for a bright future, and respect the opportunity to help at a time of need. End note.
Note: Another important point is that we should also take chances available to recreate even if we are in destitute conditions. I’ve heard stories of church leaders giving instruction to those effected by major disaster to take a break in the evenings and have some fun, setting the work aside for a while. The pioneers in their destitute travels often danced. In one account, Joseph Smith tells a man who works hard to build God’s kingdom that he needs to rest a while or that he would die early. The man responds that he cannot, and indeed, dies early. Joseph spoke at his funeral. It seems some of us get strangely addicted to working too much. Perhaps this is particularly common in our current fast-paced and highly technical society. We must step back sometimes and remember God’s commandment to rejoice. End note.
Note: One big way to rejoice is to have children – this commandment is simultaneously the best way to build God’s kingdom, and the best way to have a life full of fun. So if you can, don’t put marriage and children far down on your checklist, rather, marry and have them soon so you can enjoy life together, building each other as you go. End note.
Every world eventually ends except for Aslan’s country.
Note: I would say some worlds go on to become part of Aslan’s eternal country. But this is a way of saying everything corruptible is consumed, which is true. End note.
A noble death is a treasure no one is too impoverished to afford.
When they were about to expose the hoax of the fake Lord Aslan, the perpetrators made up a lie saying someone is doing a hoax, when of course it was themselves. Some people recognized that the imposters had been bluffing the whole time.
The king waited for an opportune time to launch his assault. Though it was earlier than he anticipated, when he saw the foes sacrificing people, he could wait no longer and launched the assault.
Note: That became the opportune moment. Sometimes we think life is about what we will do later, but really it’s about what we do now. We wait for an official calling or position, when really what we do today is what matters. End note.
Note: One fun (and rather famous) story called Enders Game by Latter-day Saint author Orson Scott Cardis about a boy who thinks he is training for something future, but is reality even in his schooling, or ‘game,’ performing the very act he was waiting to do later, though he didn’t know it. When I read this it hit me like a bag of bricks that life isn’t about what you do later, it’s about what you’re doing right now! The story goes on to put a twist on this to say Ender was manipulated/deceived since he didn’t know his actions weren’t a game, but for me, the most poignant lesson from the story is that what we do now really does matter, and it’s not just all about training for future things. Some call it joy in the journey I suppose. Perhaps we can call it success in the journey, not just success upon reaching some pinnacle. Shrink the scale, and see the daily pinnacles, how precious they are, how much we have to fight for them, how much it matters to do so. End note.
Note: On a similar note, Brigham Young taught that this life we are in now is the most important life. This is likely a reminder to us not to just wait for heaven, but to get building God’s kingdom now. Brigham Young was never one to wait for the ideal society, he was one to build it. He often spoke of leaving Babylon and making our own holy society, to the extent of not even participating in the mainstream economy. End note.
Note: One of my favorite quotes is from Galileo Galilei, who had to take a stand for truth even when he knew it would be unpopular. He said, “Upon hearing such carping insolence, my zeal could not be contained… I decided to appear openly in the theater of the world as a witness of the sober truth.” (Galileo Galilei, Dialogue) End note.
Battle isn’t that bad because when you’re pushed to your physical limit you don’t have time to feel fear or sorrow.
Evil men determined to destroy you can be more terrifying than a great evil serpent.
Note: Some have criticized Lewis for making the foes in the story are a dark-skinned people. However, the author never suggests that darker skinned are inherently bad. It just so happens that the people who oppose the Narnians in this story have darker skin. In others of the author’s stories, the foes are fair skinned. The wise know that all the human family are, as the author emphasizes, sons of Adam, and therefore are all of noble heritage regardless of what their ancestors may or may not have done. This point is explicitly made in one of the other stories when Caspian is sorrowing for what some of his ancestors did, and he must be reminded that he is a son of Adam and should therefore not be dismayed. True, we all are sons of Adam, and we all are sons of God (God being the father of Adam as expressly stated in Luke 3:38), and thus we all have cause to rejoice. End note.
The door of doom and certain death wasn’t so bad because it was a gateway to Aslan’s country where they would dine with Him.
There was no starch or flannel, their clothes were comfortable in Narnia.
Yes, the demon Tash was real. This came as a shock to those who were using his name to usurp power, who had summoned him without knowing he would really come. He was terrible indeed. But he was sent away with the word of the kings (note: or word of the archangels. End note.).
The heaven they reached was where all things were permitted. One could go about enjoying everything. One couldn’t fear there even if they tried.
Note: In heaven there is no temptation to sin. This life is the test, then the pressure goes away once we have shown ourselves. This life is the time to improve ourselves. We are all sinners, and are here under pressure for the express purpose of growth. Everyone can grow. The test of life is a masterpiece by God, and is perfectly effective. The great miracle of God is that He does orchestrate the circumstances of our lives and yet gives us agency to act in the midst of it. End note.
Note: We ought take courage, even if our lives haven’t turned out as others or ourselves might have suspected. God doesn’t give us the spirit of fear. God give us hope. Hope that we can make a little progress in something good. That we can gain a little knowledge. That we can help someone and be happy in this life, and in the world to come. End note.
Note: Some have spoken of progress beyond the tomb, and we do hope to continue to progress, but now is the hour to make our most ferocious fight. Now is the most heated battle. We are comforted by God, but God also prods us toward greatness, since only in greatness can we find true joy, as He has. End note.
The stable had become a portal to a spirit world. Some there were in prison, others were in paradise. Those in prison couldn’t see the paradise, they couldn’t believe it. The prison of the dwarves was only in their mind. They were so deceived they wouldn’t let anyone help them. They attributed the noise of the lion to some machine someone must have been using to deceive them. The rich foods the lion gave them they attributed as being normal foods that would be found in a stable, and their beliefs were such that they couldn’t see the banquet before them. The stable to them was a cramped prison. To the righteous, it was an open paradise. The dwarves had chosen to not take a side, and fought everyone but themselves, and refused to believe in anything, so there they ended up, consumed with only themselves, only able to see themselves, unable to receive blessings from others, etc.
Note: This description of the spirit world is shockingly similar to the view of the restoration. End note.
The previous children heroes got to the heaven land from dying in their world in a train crash. It was a crashing jolt, then everything was fine.
Stars in Narnia came down at the end of the world and you could see they were actually people.
Note: There’s more truth to this concept of living spheres than many have considered. End note.
At the end of the world the stars, the animals, everything was called in, and they had to look Lord Aslan in his face. (A final judgement.) Some looked upon him in horror and went to his left in darkness. Others went to his right in light and joy, being righteous. Talking beasts who went to his left to the dark lost their ability to talk – apparently their choices resulted in a demotion of their intelligence.
A final series of beasts removed trees, etc. from Narnia, sort of resetting it to the blank state it was at creation (as referred to in the Magician’s Nephew book at the beginning of the series). The beasts died and their bones lay all about, as the author says, appearing to have been there for thousands of years.
Note: Here is, I think, another clue into the fact that many geological and paleontological structures we think to be very ancient in this world are in fact not so ancient, and that the Earth is younger than supposed. Though I think the world’s creation would be even more elemental than beginning with a rock sphere, and I don’t think resets of the world are the reality, beyond that contained in our histories. End note.
Death was more exciting than scary because it wasn’t so painful, your pains went away, and you appeared in a happy place.
In heaven there’s fruit that seems too good for you to take, but indeed it’s for you. The taste of it is beyond description and makes all other foods seem dull. There’s a gate so wonderful if it’s for you to go through, and yes, it is.
Dwarves insisted that they weren’t in heaven but that they were in a dark place. Indeed, because this was their decision, they were. And they did not go further up, or further in as the others did.
Aslan said blessed are the kings of Narnia who stood firm in the darkest hour.
Father Time was asleep deep in the earth and would wake when all was ending. It blew a loud horn.
Note: Like Michael the archangel, that Ancient of Days! End note.
Peter has the key to the door to heaven and locks it when the Lord tells him to.
The righteous are called to come further up and further in to the ever better ever expanding layers of heaven.
A poet said a noble friend is the best gift, and a noble enemy is the next best.
Someone in heaven was a follower of Tash, at least so he thought. He was a follower of a high ideal, learned that he was misled, and and who God really is. The Lord tells him that no service which is vile can be done to the true Lord, and no service which is not vile can be done to anyone but the evil. If anyone does a cruel deed in the Lord’s name, it’s not really the Lord he is serving, but the devil. We all find what they truly seek. The man’s diligent seeking he thought was for Tash, but was really for the Lord.
Note: The Lord looks on the heart. And he works with us on whatever understanding we have. Do good, and get a good reward, even if you did that good in the name of something foolish you didn’t understand. And not all who say ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter into God’s kingdom! End note.
Narnia was created and Narnia had an end. But the heaven land had the places of Narnia, but a more excellent version. The heaven Narnia land was even more like the real thing. Narnia was the shadow, and heaven was the real thing. It’s like Plato’s shadows, where people thought they were seeing the real thing but they were just seeing shadows. The real thing was so much better!
The reason they liked the old Narnia was because it reminded them of this heaven place, this place they had been looking for but didn’t know what was; this place which was the real thing.
In the high heaven through the Great Gates you find all the people you missed. Old Kings were there and gave you a feeling as though you were with the glorious Adam and Eve.
Old jokes that hadn’t been heard for hundreds of years were told again, and were all the funnier.
The heaven was a garden. An ever-expanding garden. There were worlds within worlds like an onion – you go into the higher land and it’s another whole world of a more exquisite level than the last one, made after the same pattern. As you go in, each circle/world is larger than the last.
There was a cloud in the sky and when you focused on it you could tell it wasn’t a cloud, it was a land, it was England. The beloved places of old were still there in heaven. It was called the real England, the inner England, where no good thing is destroyed.
All countries were connected and accessible by walking along the mountain ridge.
Death brought you from the dream into the real life. Into the celebration. All of their lives in the real world and in Narnia were just the cover page. Their story was just beginning. It’s a story that goes on forever. A story in which every chapter is better than the one before it!
