This week in class, we read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I hadn’t read since elementary school.  It was interesting to read it again not that I’m older and also more familiar with Lewis’ other works because I picked up on so much religious symbolism that I completely missed as a child.  The most meaningful part of the book to me was when Aslan, who represents Christ, gave himself to the Witch for death so that Edmund would be saved.  The way the Witch and her followers mocked Aslan was so similar to Christ’s crucifixion—they shaved Aslan’s mane, bound him, and put a muzzle over his jaw.  Yet he remained calm, submissive, and even sad for the evil choices they were making.

       When Susan and Lucy found the Stone Table broken and Aslan gone, it resembled the empty tomb of Christ.  I also think the Stone Table was a symbol of the lower law, the Law of Moses, and the “deeper magic” Aslan spoke of was the higher law that Christ brought forth.  Aslan defeated death and brought forth a sort of resurrection in Narnia.  He breathed life back into the creatures that had been turned to stone, and the gates of Cair Paravel, or hell, were trodden down.  The power of the Witch, who symbolizes the devil, was nothing up against Aslan, and the battle was quickly won by Aslan and the good creatures of Narnia.

       What was also interesting was the way that the Witch tempted Edmund with hunger and with the promise of power.  Once he had given in and was under her spell, he could no longer see things clearly and was terrified and uncomfortable at the mention of Aslan.  However, once he realized his great mistake and tried to return to Aslan, he was welcomed with open arms and forgiven of his sins.  Aslan was willing to die for him alone, despite the fact that he had betrayed them all.  I thought this was a beautiful symbol of the Atonement—Christ was perfect, yet He gave himself to death so that we could be saved from our sins, so that He could overthrow death itself.  And He would have done it for just one of us.

       This past week, we read Perelandra, which gives almost an allegory of Adam and Eve, except it occurs on Venus, which is called Perelandra.  The Green Lady, who is similar to Eve, is able to withstand the temptations of the devil and he is ultimately cast out.  She and Tor, the Adam-like figure, learn good and evil not by falling but through Maleldil, or God.  It is interesting to see in this how CS Lewis’ views conflict with the LDS view on the Fall.  Lewis believes that the Fall was not necessary, but that God will still make everything work for the best.  Christ’s descent and crucifixion were only a response to the Fall, to fix a mistake, a second option instead of the cornerstone of eternity.  In Perelandra, Tor speaks of how he was able to learn of good and evil, but not as the Evil One wished them to learn.  He asserts that those on Thulcandra, or Earth, are in a deeper ignorance than they were before the Fall since they are immersed in evil.  “Men by sleeping lose the knowledge of sleep,” he points out.  This is an interesting viewpoint, and it is true that there are many on Earth today that do not understand evil because they are being fooled by the devil into thinking it is good, but I think overall we are able to understand the distinction clearly between good and evil when we are able to choose good over evil.  Of course, it seems that it would be easier if men had never fallen, but I think one must experience evil in order to truly understand and value good.  That is what we learn in the Book of Mormon—there must be opposition in all things.  We not only need the knowledge of good and evil, but we need to sin and have trials in order to progress and become like God.  In was in God’s plan for man to fall, and as far as we fell, we will ascend that much higher through the Atonement.  We will be able to truly taste of good.  While Lewis’ views are similar to LDS views on many aspects, this is one area where he doesn’t quite hit the mark.

       In class, we’ve read a lot of different shorter excerpts by Lewis lately, but one that stuck out to me was Christianity and Literature.  It talked about the difference between Christian writers and other writers, claiming that the main difference is the purpose for which they write.  Christian writers are not writing trying to be original, or to increase their personal stature, but for God.  Lewis says that the Christian “knows that the salvation of a single soul is more important than the production of preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world” (10). 

       I think this concept rings true for everything else we do—art, athletics, academics, or even leisurely activities.  All these activities could be considered “good on their own terms, but if we have the ultimate goal in mind of doing God’s will and serving our fellow man, it heightens the entire experience to a whole new level.  Not only will our life take on new significance, but I believe God will strengthen our abilities when we seek to serve Him.  This goes along with another point Lewis has made—that the most insignificant of activities can become divine if you have God as your motive, while the most noble of activities can become evil if God you are turned away from God.  Basically, through God everything is good, and the absence of God in our lives turns everything sour.

        This past week we finished up Miracles, and the point of a lot of our discussion revolved around Lewis’ idea of nature and reality.  He refutes the idea that heaven is less real than our current state—some people have a false image of heaven as this misty, empty state which Lewis calls “negative spirituality”.  However, he claims that heaven is even more real than our world now; spirituality is more real than nature.  Our experiences now only reflect the ultimate reality, and in comparison we are just a metaphor of the divine.

        It goes back to the symbolism Lewis illustrated in The Great Divorce.  Those who came unto God, “Spirits”, became glowing, solid creatures with a whole new level of physical reality, while those unwilling to submit were stuck as “Ghosts”, miniscule and unsubstantive compared to the Spirits, almost empty. This was a physical symbol of a divine truth—we will become something through Christ, and we are nothing on our own.  We gain glory and light when we submit our will unto God, and we become real beings.  Now, we are like two-dimensional figures—we know some reality but there are entirely more substantive aspects of reality that we can’t begin to perceive or comprehend right now.

        However, that is not saying that we are nothing, or that our reality now is meaningless.  Lewis asserts that nature contains smaller versions of eternal patterns.  Eventually, nature and spirituality will be “fully harmonized”, and “every state of affairs in the new nature will be the perfect expression of a spiritual state.”  Through Christ, we will become fully real, and enjoy the real, substantial joy that God has prepared for us.