I finished reading LOTR a few months back and am now starting on C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. I really enjoyed reading LOTR - was swept up in Tolkien's marvelous story telling. Narnia is taking a bit longer because of the intrusive narrator gets on my nerves, and the willful kids irritate me too, sad to say.
One of the differences between LOTR and Narnia is that Tolkien refused to allow any allusions to be made with the Bible (see his foreword), unlike C.S Lewis' work where you cannot miss the allusion of Aslan dying and then rising again even if you wanted to. I think the difference between LOTR and Narnia is similar to the difference between Catholics and Protestants. Catholics tell stories - they go through the stations of the cross, enjoy the sensation of the host on their tongue, and weep because Jesus died on a cross. Protestants are concerned with the meaning behind the stories - the atonement, the justification, the freedom from sin, the assurance of salvation - and tell the gospel in four bullet points.
Which is better? LOTR does not mention God a single time, yet speaks of the epic battle between good and evil, the leadership of men like Aragon who led by example and inspired their followers with courage to fight a battle they cannot even imagine, and the final triumph of good, hope against hope. C.S. Lewis pulls off a perfect allusion to the gospel in all its essential points in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.
Perhaps they are like two harmony lines to a single song?
Friday, August 20, 2004
LOTR vs Narnia; Catholics vs Protestants
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1 comment:
Good thought. Perhaps it might be more accurate, however, to make the distinction a modern one. Modern man is infatuated with proposition, with "clear" truth, with systematic theology, wheras the older christian traditions embrace story, mystery, symbolism... Protestantism has (unknowingly) been very modern (happily this seems to be changing with the emergent movement), while the Catholic church hasn't modernized so much. Both have their strengths.
As much as I love C.S. Lewis you make a really good critique. Check out his Space Trilogy for a much more mature, secular story, which still packs lots of punch in terms of spiritual insight and depth.
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