Who can remember the first time you heard of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? I was about 6 years old and received it as a Kid’s Club prize: I still have it today! The imaginary world of Narnia and the character of Aslan, Mr Tumnus, The Witch, The brothers and sisters, Mr and Mrs Beaver was one I could see as clear as that in which I dwelt. This were originally broadcasts made during World War 2.
While the Narnia Chronicles are greatly loved, Lewis was a prolific writer. He was an English Professor at Oxford University and acknowledged as one the great literary giants of the 20th Century. But Lewis did not come to profess the Christian faith until his late 20s. He says that he got in a taxi on one side of London and when he exited on the other side he was a Christian! In his book Mere Christianity, Lewis outlines some of the thinking that led him to respond to Jesus in faith:
“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”
“And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Lewis was a man of immense creativity and equally great logic. He asked the hard questions about faith and life. He met a God who is powerful and glorious. In Jesus, we see God who captures our imagination and our intellect. Aslan demonstrated the power and sacrificial love of Jesus, the one who came not to be served, but to serve and give his life to pay the penalty of our sin.
It might be a time to revisit both Lewis’ childhood classics with your children and some of the more mature works for yourselves. Enjoy!