Nah. Lewis knew very well the gnostic christian origins of the mythology in Narnia. Just like his friend Tolkien. Neither were dumb.
They werent the stereotypical ‘Christians’ that the modern evangelical christian ‘spin’ likes to claim.
BluePalomino, that’s all beside the point really. The fact that christianity took its core myths from older cults doesn’t change the fact that Lewis was a devout christian and his books were largely inspired by that. It’s not a matter for interpretation because he was so open and clear about it himself.
TBH as a 9 yeer old I missed all the Christian subtext as I devoured the books one by one. That is, until I came to ‘The Last Battle’ 😯
That one did freak me out- probably not one for 11 year olds really- fire brimstone and dressed up monkeys. Strange how no one has tried to adapt it for TV, doubt Disney will make a film of it somehow.
Anyone read ‘Out of the Silent Planet’ or Perelandra? Much stronger Christian themes there
“They werent the stereotypical ‘Christians’ that the modern evangelical christian ‘spin’ likes to claim.”
Perhaps not but that’s not what you were saying earlier is it? “Modern christians have tried to adopt him as one of their own”. You can’t dispute his christianity, it’s absurd to try so there’s no question that they’re “adopting” him.
As far as the christian themes go, you’re disagreeing with Lewis himself so good luck with that 😉
the reality is there are very few stories, it is all variations of a few themes. There are very few stories that are total fabrications, you rely on what you know to create an environment in which to develop the plot.
That Narnia has christian ideas is hardly shocking, i am sure with a bit of work you could probably twist the narrative and declare it contains Gilgamesh. As its a kids book i guess Oedipus might be harder to find but you could probably find a few parallels.
I don’t believe and dislike proselyting. my parents are the same. I read and enjoyed the books as a child, I didn’t find the christian stuff objectionable in any way.
