Imagine a world where the grass is greener, fruit can heal, and animals talk. A world ruled by a selfless lion named Aslan; a world where even the trees come to life and sing and dance. A country ruled by good kings and queens; a country where battles happen, but feasts and celebration happens far more often.
Welcome to Narnia.
The Chronicles of Narnia is the stories of children’s adventures in a land called Narnia. In the first book, two children, Polly and Digory, discovered Narnia as it was being created by a lion named Aslan. They accidentally brought evil into the world, a wicked witch, with them, which is the beginning of problems in Narnia.
The next books tell more stories of adventures in Narnia. Children from our world were called into Narnia when there was trouble there, whether that be from the witch, kings of other lands, or something else. They, with the help of Narnians and Aslan, were able to solve the problems and win the battles they came across.
The most memorable characters, in my opinion, were the siblings Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan, who helped defeat the White Witch. Although the Chronicles of Narnia may be thought of as a children’s book, it was still really interesting and fun for me to read as a 15 year old who is used to reading hard books.
One of my favorite things to read was the dedication in the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
“My dear Lucy,
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,
C. S. Lewis”
“Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again,” he wrote. I love that, because this story was just as gripping of a story for an older teen as it would be for a child.
The Chronicles of Narnia was such an interesting read, not only because it was a good story, but because there were so many biblical allusions.
For example, the lion who created the world represents God. He’s kind like God, powerful like Him, and he even told the kids at one point that the reason he brought them to Narnia to get to know him was so they could know him better in their world (England). I took this to mean that they would know God more deeply in their world.
There are so many parallels to biblical events in the book, starting with the creation of Narnia when Aslan, spoke things into existence.
C.S. Lewis is very well known for his nonfiction works like Mere Christianity (which I really want to read). However, his fiction works reveal things about God just as much as a nonfiction book would, but in a more subtle way.
When you read a story, it tends to stick with you better, and the stories in The Chronicles of Narnia that related to the Bible helped me understand those Bible stories in a new light.
For example, the creation story, the crucifixion story, and the end of time when a new Heaven and new Earth will be created were all mirrored by events in The Chronicles.
I would 100% recommend this series. Narnia, which has many similarities to Heaven, made me look forward to Heaven. Reading about Aslan also helped me more deeply understand God.
Have you read The Chronicles of Narnia? If so, what did you think of it?