brey, actually I am quite sure you'd response this way, and I
agree that we can agree to disagree.
just need to point out to other readers that Lewis is not without
controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia
under the topic of Pagan Influences has the following
write-ups:
There are many Christians who
feel that The Chronicles of Narnia promotes soft sell paganism and
occultism, because of the recurring pagan themes and the heretical
depictions of Christ as an anthropomorphic lion. Satyrs, fauns,
centaurs, dwarves, werewolves, giants, and even the pagan god
Bacchus and the Maenads are depicted in a positive light, when they
are distinctly pagan motifs. Even an animistic "River god" is
portrayed in a positive light. (Chattaway 2005), (Berit 2005)
According to Josh Hurst from Christianity Today, "not only was
Lewis hesitant to call his books Christian allegory, but the
stories borrow just as much from pagan mythology as they do the
Bible."(Hurst 2005)
Drew Trotter, PhD, president of the Center for Christian Study,
noted that the producers of the film version of The Chronicles of
Narnia felt that The Chronicles of Narnia closely follows the
archetypal pattern of the monomyth as detailed in Joseph Campbell's
The Hero With a Thousand Faces. [1] Joseph Campbell himself felt
that the New Testament adhered to the archetypal monomyth and was
but "one version of mythic stories that can be found in many
cultures."[2] Both The Chronicles of Narnia and the New Testament
are rife with Jungian archetypal imagery.
A religious studies professor, Donald R. MacDonald, PhD, who
teaches at the Claremont School of Theology, has written numerous
books stating that portions of the New Testament are actually
derived from Classical pagan Greek literature like the Iliad and
the Odyssey of Homer.(MacDonald 2000), (MacDonald 2003) Assuming
that Lewis did indeed base aspects of The Chronicles of Narnia on
the New Testament, Lewis might have, in fact, been infusing pagan
symbolism, allegory, and supposition into The Chronicles of
Narnia.
CS Lewis himself stated in an essay called Is Theism
Important?:
"When grave persons express their fear that England is relapsing
into Paganism, I am tempted to reply, 'Would that she were.' For I
do not think it at all likely that we shall ever see Parliament
opened by the slaughtering of a garlanded white bull in the House
of Lords or Cabinet Ministers leaving sandwiches in Hyde Park as an
offering for the Dryads. If such a state of affairs came about,
then the Christian apologist would have something to work on. For a
Pagan, as history shows, is a man eminently convertible to
Christianity. He is essentially the pre-Christian, or
sub-Christian, religious man. The post-Christian man of our day
differs from him as much as a divorcee differs from a
virgin."(Lewis 1994)
...again, I want to reiterate that I am not justifing HP nor am I
lambasting Lewis.
I want to emphasize the need to be CONSISTENT in our stand. While a
lot of our opinions we formed are from our personal worldview, we
need to have a clear mind as why we support one thing and not
another. The standards have to be measured similarly.
To me Lewis and Rowlings are authors. I do not and will not read
into allegory (intended or not). If we say that we are against
Rowling for her pagan influences, we should also have the same
yardstick for Lewis. How can we condemn one and accept the
other?
