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We See in the Bible What We’re Told To See

By Jeremy Myers
62 Comments

We See in the Bible What We’re Told To See

Have you ever seen this video? Watch it and follow the instructions carefully…

If you’ve seen the video before, you know what to look for, but if you have never seen the video, you might have been shocked at what the end of the video revealed…

I think that sometimes, the way we read the Bible is similar.

We have been taught by books, pastors, seminaries, and Christian friends for so long to read the Bible a certain way and look for certain truths in Scripture, that when someone comes along and says, “Yeah, but did you notice the gorilla in the text?” we reject such an interpretation and say, “No! That’s not there! I have read and studied the Bible for years and have sat through countless sermons, and since I have never heard that idea before and no pastor I have listened to has ever brought that up, it must be wrong! I went to seminary and never heard that in any class!”

And yet, maybe we missed what is really going on in the text because we have been counting the number of times people in white t-shirts pass the ball around. Just as we only see in a video what we are told to look for, so also, maybe we only see in the Bible what we are told to look for.

Maybe I’m only talking about myself.

For the past 7 or 8 years, I have been struggling with Scripture. Some days it almost literally feels like I am wrestling with the Bible. There is all my theological education on one side, screaming at me “Count the number of times the people in white t-shirts pass the ball!” and then there is a still, small voice over on the side saying, “Yes, but did you notice … ?”

I’m trying to notice. I really am. But it is so hard to retrain the mind to see and hear something else.

uncle andrewI was reading The Magician’s Nephew to my daughters last night, and there is a part in the story after Digory, Polly, and Uncle Andrew witness the creation of Narnia where C. S. Lewis explain why Digory and Polly could understand what the Narnian animals were saying but Uncle Andrew could not. It all began when Aslan was singing Narnia into existence and Uncle Andrew convinced himself that the lion was not actually singing, but was only growling. From there, Uncle Andrew’s logic carried him the rest of the way, so that by the time he is surrounded by curious Narnian animals, all he sees is dangerous, brutish beasts who want to eat him. Lewis says that by that point, it would have been impossible for Uncle Andrew to have ever hear the animals talking.

As I read this, I felt like I was Uncle Andrew. There are things I feel like I have believed for so long about God and the Bible, that I am not sure I could ever un-believe them, simply because I have believed them for so long. Try as I might, and despite all the people speaking into my life (and even the still small voice of God), I find it extremely difficult to believe something other than what I have believed my entire life.

Like what?

I’d rather not say.

Last time I wrote about some of the things I was having questions about, I lost my job…

That’s why for now, on this blog, I am going to have to steer away from my series on the violence of God and write about something I feel a little more confident about.

Namely, Calvinism.

I ran a survey earlier this week, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Over 98% of you want to know more about Calvinism, and specifically, why I am NOT a Calvinist. So, I am going to start that series on Monday.

Just so you know, however, I will still be trying to see the gorilla in the text. I will try to believe what some have been whispering to me, that “animals talk” and that the Lion is not going to eat me.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible study, Bible Study, CS Lewis, Narnia

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How “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” Should Have Ended

By Jeremy Myers
5 Comments

How “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” Should Have Ended

the lion, the witch, and the wardrobeI am sure you have either read or watched the movie of C. S. Lewis’ classic children’s novel, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. 

It is a great story, and if you haven’t read the book, you really need to. If you feel silly reading it as an adult, read it to your kids (or grand kids). You will like it more than they do. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie (though I’m not sure how that’s possible), I am about to ruin the ending…. so be warned.

Something has often bothered me about the ending of the book: It has the wrong conclusion.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The story is exactly right in its depiction of Aslan as the righteous King, who sacrifices Himself to meet the demands for justice by Queen Jadis. This is what Jesus did on the cross to defeat our archenemy, Satan. In fact, this novel by Lewis does a masterful job of explaining and defending the Christus Victor view of the atonement, which I think is the correct view.

Check out this video from Greg Boyd to see what I mean:

So C. S. Lewis does a masterful job showing how Aslan went to the stone table as a willing substitute for the sins of Edmund, and how Jadis gleefully killed Aslan, thinking that by doing so, she had finally defeated Him and won her right to rule over all Narnia as she pleased. But she didn’t know, as Aslan later explained to Susan and Lucy, about the deeper magic, which allowed Aslan to rise from the dead and remove any claim upon Edmund that Jadis might have had.

Wonderful. Beautiful. Right in line with Scripture.

But then the story takes a curious turn….

The Wrong Ending to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

aslan kills jadisFollowing Aslan’s resurrection, C. S. Lewis has Aslan, Susan, and Lucy race off to the castle of the White Witch, where they “thaw” out all the creatures of Narnia who had been turned to stone, and then return with this army of creatures to help Peter, Edmund, and the Narnians defeat the Witch Jadis and her evil army.

Near the conclusion of the battle, Aslan pounces on the White Witch and kills her. Then the four Pevensie children become Kings and Queens of Narnia until they eventually return to London.

The End.

It is a wonderful story. The problem is that the battle part of the story does not fit what actually happens in Scripture.

The RIGHT Ending to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

To be true to the biblical account, C. S. Lewis should have ended the story this way:

After Aslan rises from the dead and explains to Lucy and Susan what happened, He should say something like, “And now Queen Jadis has been defeated. So I am going away for a time, and when I come again, I will take you with me.”

battle in the lion, the witch, and the wardrobeTo this, Lucy says, “Not to disagree, Aslan, but Queen Jadis is still very much alive. In fact, at this very moment, she is slaughtering the Narnians, and our brothers, Peter and Edmund, are in danger of being killed as well. Isn’t there anything you can do?”

“Lucy, Lucy,” Aslan replies. “Jadis is a defeated foe. She hates you because she hated me first. I came to be delivered into the hands of Jadis, but now that she is defeated, I am about to enter into my glory. Your task is to proclaim this message throughout all Narnia, beginning in Cair Paravel.”

“But Aslan!” Susan cried. “Did you not hear what Lucy said? Peter, Edmund, and the rest of the Narnians are fighting for their very lives right this instant! The Queen is going to kill them all and winter will come upon us once again! Aren’t you going to restore and protect your kingdom?”

“Oh, my dear child,” laughs Aslan. “It is not for you to know the times or seasons when the Kingdom will be set up. But you will receive power not many days hence, and by this power, you will proclaim to the ends of all Narnia that I have died, risen from the dead, and defeated Queen Jadis.”

“But that’s the point!” both girls said at once. Lucy continued, “Jadis is still alive and well! She is killing Narnians right over that mountain. Right now. She is not dead. She is not defeated.” But as she spoke, Aslan rose up into the air and floated off into the clouds until He was out of their sight.

The End

Lewis didn’t end his story this way, because it makes a horrible ending. But read Luke 24, John 21, and Acts 1. This is pretty much how the story of Jesus’ first coming concluded.

What Was C. S. Lewis Thinking?

Though we cannot know what C. S. Lewis was thinking, I do have a few theories.

First, it is possible Lewis meant nothing whatsoever by the ending. It is true that Lewis often stated that when he wrote The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he was not intentionally writing an allegory about Jesus. Of course, whether he intended to do so or not, the story is clearly allegorical. Aslan is obviously Jesus. The four children obviously represent humanity. Jadis obviously represents Satan. The death of Aslan at the hand of Jadis represents the death of Jesus on the cross. The resurrection of Aslan represents the resurrection of Jesus. But maybe that is where the parallels stop, and we shouldn’t try to make all the events in Lewis’ story fit events in the Bible.

If so, then Lewis wasn’t trying to get the story to match the Bible, but was simply writing a good story. He liked ending it with a battle in which the bad people die. Who doesn’t like a story like this? So maybe Lewis finished his story the way he did because it makes a better ending than the one we find in the Bible.

But I am not content with that explanation…

So maybe it could be argued that that battle between Aslan and Jadis at the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is intended to depict the battle that rages in the book of Revelation, but then this does not explain why C. S. Lewis wrote The Last Battle (which is a book I am re-reading right now, and will write a post on at a future date).

Ultimately, it seems that no matter how we look at it, the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe does not fit with Scripture.

After Jesus rises from the dead, the Bible records numerous objections and questions and confusion about what exactly Jesus did (or didn’t do). Then Jesus ascends into heaven, and there is more confusion. Afterwards in Acts 2, the apostles receive power and then they go out to continue the battle against their defeated foe. Many of them suffer and die horrible deaths.

2000 years later, we are still waiting for Aslan’s return. Many are still suffering and dying at the hands of a defeated foe who seems quite undefeated.

So that is exactly the problem. The Bible everywhere says Satan is defeated. But experience says otherwise. The world seems to be getting worse. Evil seems to be increasing. What is the answer? What is the solution? Why did Jesus leave us right when we needed Him most?

The Ending Reconsidered

Part of the answer, I think, is found in another movie, but this time, in “Star Wars:  A New Hope.” The part where Obi-Wan Kenobi dies and as a result, both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader think that the Empire has won. Little do they know that Obi-Wan Kenobi has now become more powerful than ever.

This isn’t exactly what happened with Jesus, but He did say in John 16:7. He said that it was to our advantage for Him to go away, because only then could He send the Holy Spirit. Jesus could only be in one place at one time, but the Spirit of God is in all places, with all people, at the same time. Frankly, I am not sure why we couldn’t have both, but that is another question for another time.

In the end, we have to trust Jesus that He knows what He is doing, and that Satan really is defeated, and that our job, our responsibility, our task on this earth is to continue the battle that Jesus has already won: the struggle against principalities and powers, against rulers of darkness in this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12).

In a very literal sense, we could argue from Scripture that Jesus has returned, in and through each one of us in the church. As the Body of Christ, we are the incarnation of Jesus in this age. So WE are the ones to unthaw those who have been held captive by sin. WE are the ones to go forth against evil. WE are the ones to batter down the gates of hell. Maybe, just maybe, this is what C. S. Lewis meant when he wrote about the return of Aslan in the battle against Queen Jadis. If so, this is why Susan and Lucy rode with Him. For now, when Jesus rides out battle, He does not ride alone, but rides with all who bear the name of Christ.

Hmmm. I think I am going to read the ending of  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe this way from now on. I guess C. S. Lewis wasn’t wrong after all… Maybe the problem is not that Lewis’ story disagreed with Scripture, but that we have misunderstood Scripture. Maybe the ending to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe actually does fit with Scripture, and we have been misreading Scripture all along. Maybe that battle in the book is the battle we are currently waging right now, and Aslan is not just Jesus, but is all who belong to the Body of Christ on earth.

It is our job, it is our task, to go forward and wage war against those spiritual forces that have enslaved others. We cannot sit back and say, “Oh, it’s such an evil world. I am just going to sit here on my padded bench at the bus station waiting for the heavenly bus from heaven to come pick me up and take me away to eternal bliss.”

NO! Jesus is risen from the dead, and in the church, He is riding forward in power, glory, and righteousness to set the captives free, to proclaim sight to the blind, and liberty to those who are oppressed (Luke 4:14-16).

Let me put it this way: Jesus is the Redeemer of the world, but He works in and through His people to bring the reality of that redemption to the world. If we just sit back and wait for the end to come, then what does that mean for the world? It means they lose hope, they suffer, they die.

So in the end, I guess Lewis was right after all. But Aslan is no longer just Aslan. In the end, Aslan rides out with Lucy and Susan on his back, and an army of freed captives in his train (Ephesians 4:8).

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Reading, church, CS Lewis, Discipleship, end times, Jesus, Narnia, Theology of Jesus, Theology of the Church, Theology of the End Times

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How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

How to Write Theology Like C. S. Lewis

Prince CaspianI recently watched “Prince Caspian“, and (as with all things by C. S. Lewis), it caused me to reflect on the writings and theology of C. S. Lewis.

Have you ever wondered why he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia? I am convinced it is partly because he knew that stories often teach theology better than simply teaching theology.

Look at these quotes from Lewis:

You must translate every bit of your Theology into the vernacular. This is very troublesome and it means you can say very little in half an hour, but it is essential. It is also the greatest service to your own thought. I have come to the conviction that if you cannot translate your thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts were confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood one’s own meaning. A passage from some theological work for translation into the vernacular ought to be a compulsory paper in every Ordination examination.” (God in the Dock, 98).

I have found that nothing is more dangerous to one’s own faith than the work of an apologist. No doctrine of that Faith seems to me so spectral, so unreal as one that I have just successfully defended in a public debate.” (God in the Dock, 103).

He is not necessarily talking in these quotes about teaching theology through story, but by looking at his practice, I think that he would argue that the most basic “vernacular” of any culture is story. I would love to see some creative, theologically-minded storyteller write a multi-volume novel which teaches basic theology.

Maybe The Chronicles of Narnia are exactly that…

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: CS Lewis, Narnia, Theology - General, writing

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