Our culture is obsessed with discovering the “real you.” We’ve internalized so many platitudes like “follow your heart,” “find what makes you happy,” or “do what feels right.” You’ve got to be true to yourself, after all.

The idea feels like accepted, unquestioned wisdom, but C.S. Lewis challenged this line of thinking, while recognizing the hint of truth buried within the longing.

It’s not necessarily wrong to want to discover who we were created to be. The problem comes when we think we will discover that by digging more deeply into our own selves or staring more intently into a mirror.

That quest is bound to end in frustration because our well is too shallow to offer us the depth we need. Our vision is too blurry looking through the glass darkly.1

Paradoxically, you will not discover your true self without surrendering your true self. As Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “There are no real personalities apart from God. Until you have given up your self to Him, you will not have a real self.”

As a demonstration of this seemingly backwards truth, Lewis pointed to those who are the most “natural” compared to those who “surrender to Christ.” He notes, “How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been; how gloriously different are the saints.”

Lewis stated directly:

“Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

But how could this be the case? How could all of humanity seeking to become like the same person allow us all to be unique?

If you or I were to say, “You should all become like me.” The world would be boring. So much of what makes individuals special would be stripped from them. Even if we were all aiming for a massive personality like Lewis, we would still be lacking so much.

As humans, we are so small that we are not fully ourselves apart from other people. When others aren’t around, pieces of our personality are missing.

We cannot find our true selves in a solitary journey. In a world of AI and chatbots that affirm your every suggestion, we need others more than ever to sharpen us and bring out aspects of who we are that we never realized were there.

In The Four Loves, Lewis wrote about the loss he felt with the death of Charles Williams. Not only was he missing his friend directly, but he was missing his friend in the other Inklings. “By myself, I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.”

Specifically, he talked about how he would never again see the way Tolkien would react to one of Williams’ jokes. “Far from having more of Ronald [Tolkien], having him ‘to myself’ now that Charles is away,” Lewis wrote, “I have less of Ronald.”

Our friendships echo heaven, “where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest,” Lewis said. “The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we should have.”

This is why we can discover our true selves only by reflecting God. Unlike us as fallible humans, He is infinite. We cannot exhaust His glory. There is always another facet to reflect. In becoming like Christ, you will reflect Him in a way unique to yourself, as will I.

What did the Apostle Paul say? He told the Corinthian church to imitate him, as he imitates Christ.2 Insofar as they saw Paul following Jesus, they could follow Him. But if Paul was no longer imitating Christ, the Corinthians were told to stop following Paul.

When our gaze never goes higher than our own navels or even another human, we can only become a copy of a distorted derivative. True originality comes from walking in the truth.

Elsewhere in Mere Christianity, Lewis wrote:

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

Those seeking to be original or trying to find their true self will never reach their goal if they never look beyond themselves. “Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours,” Lewis wrote. “Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.”

Die to self. Live for Christ. In seeking to imitate Him, you will discover the secret to finding your true self—being more like Jesus.

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6 Steps to Eliminate Confusion for Unchurched in Your Worship Service — Lifeway Research

While we are still months away from the February 2027 theatrical release of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, Director Greta Gerwig has already shown a rough cut test screening of the film in New Jersey, according to Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel.

The reporting contained very little information about the film itself outside of this:

One interesting creative choice: despite the story being set in the 1950s, Gerwig reportedly uses rock music throughout the film. The soundtrack is intentionally anachronistic, echoing the approach Sofia Coppola took in “Marie Antoinette,” where modern music was used to create a contemporary emotional connection with a period setting.

In their reporting, NarniaWeb confirmed at least two test screenings: one in New York and one in New Jersey. They also note that these screenings are not always the best indication of what will be in the final film, according to both Ruimy and Gerwig herself.

Ruimy recently wrote about how several highly acclaimed movies had early screenings that left audiences confused and underwhelmed, but that feedback led to a better final product.

In an interview with Deadline, Gerwig said screenings of her previous film allowed her to hear patterns in the comments from audiences to know if changes were needed.

There’s no word yet on whether any patterns have emerged from Narnia test screenings.

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963

Tumnus’ bookshelf

Books by or about Lewis or Tolkien

The Dark Tower and Other Stories contains several unfinished pieces of stories and previously unpublished material from Lewis discover later.

• The Dark Tower and Other Stories (ebook): $1.99 (75% off)

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles

Below paid subscribers will find articles on:

• Previously unknown Tolkien manuscript discovered (picture included)

• Narnia might not be changing Netflix after all

• Mattel’s plans for a Narnia toys and collectibles

• Surprising actors who have portrayed Lewis

• Rare Tolkien books failed to sell at auction

• And more!

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Occasionally, new criticism of old works emerges. Often, however, modern critics rehash already rebuffed talking points. Few critiques of Middle-earth and Narnia say anything new, which is why much of what was written around their publication responds to many modern criticisms.

Two popular objections in particular are directly stated and dismantled in Lewis’ effusive review of The Lord of the Rings — the characters have no moral ambiguity, and the book is a simple allegory.

No moral ambiguity

In his review, Lewis notes it is a “false criticism” to claim that the Middle-earth characters are “all either black or white.”

He points out that the climax of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume of the story, concerns the struggle between good and evil in the mind of Boromir.

“Motives, even in the right side, are mixed. Those who are now traitors usually began with comparatively innocent intentions. Heroic Rohan and imperial Gondor are partly diseased. Even the wretched Smeagol, till quite late in the story, has good impulses; and (by a tragic paradox) what finally pushes him over the brink is an unpremeditated speech by the most selfless character of all.”

No, it’s not that the characters are exclusively good or evil. Lewis says the objection arises because Tolkien recognizes a fixed standard of good or evil to which every character is held.

In The Two Towers, Éomer remarks about all the strange happenings in their current moment and asks, “How shall a man judge what to do in such times?”

Aragorn responds: “As he has ever judged. Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man’s part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.”

Lewis points out, “This is the basis of the whole Tolkienian world.1 I think some readers, seeing (and disliking) this rigid demarcation of black and white, imagine they have seen a rigid demarcation between black and white people.”

That consistent sense of morality, one that stretches across time and cultures, is what some critics actually object to in Tolkien. They don’t find characters without moral ambiguity; they find a world without it.

A fixed moral world with characters exploring, confronting, dismissing, challenging, and excusing how their actions bump up against that morality not only enhances a compelling story; it reflects our world.

People criticize The Lord of the Rings, not because they don’t like the morality of that world, but because they reject Tolkien’s assertion that our world shares the same moral standards.

Simple allegory

Others may argue that The Lord of the Rings is just a simple allegory. When Tolkien wrote the story, he intended Mordor to represent Russia and the Ring to be the atomic bomb.

Lewis, who had encouraged Tolkien during much of the development process, knows this is false.

“How long do people think a world like his takes to grow? Do they think it can be done as quickly as a modern nation changes its Public Enemy Number One or as modern scientists invent new weapons? When Professor Tolkien began there was probably no nuclear fission and the contemporary incarnation of Mordor was a good deal nearer our shores.”

Lewis says that the way we can know we are reading myth and not allegory is that “there are no points to a specifically theological, or political, or psychological application. A myth points, for each reader, to the realm he lives in the most. It is a master key, use it on what door you like.”

Using myth to tell the story of Middle-earth allows Tolkien to enrich our world. “The value of myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by the ‘veil of familiarity.’”2

Lewis argued that myth enables us to see and appreciate our world even more. “If you are tired of the real landscape, look at it in a mirror,” he writes. “By putting bread, gold, horse, apple, or the very roads into a myth, we do not retreat from reality: we rediscover it. As long as the story lingers in our mind, the real things are more themselves.”

Tolkien was able to do more than give us a restored perspective on everyday objects, but on life itself. “This book applies the treatment not only to bread or apple but to good and evil, to our endless perils, our anguish, and our joys. By dipping them in myth we see them more clearly.”

By reading Lewis’ review of his friend’s work, we can also see the shallowness of many modern criticisms. The critics are trying to be daring and original, but, as Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, that is the quickest way to be trivial.

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

Sources:

• “Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” in On Stories and Other Essays on Literature

• Mere Christianity

• The Lord of the Rings

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Lewis’ recognized the human desire for being original and standing out. He rightly understood that, paradoxically, the way to achieve originality is by becoming more like Christ.

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In Pope Leo XIV's first papal encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“magnificent humanity”), the head of the Catholic Church focused on “preserving the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.”

The encyclical seemingly marked the first time a pope has quoted Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in his official writing.

The twentieth-century Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien, in the words of a protagonist in one of his novels, described our responsibility in this way: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.” The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization. For this reason, it is worthwhile pausing to reflect on some aspects of how we, each in our own way, can cooperate in building the civilization of love. Without presuming to exhaust this theme, I would like to propose five paths toward daily and public responsibility: the need to disarm words, building peace through justice, adopting the perspective of victims, cultivating a healthy realism and reviving dialogue and multilateralism.

For the devout Catholic Tolkien, I’m not sure there could be a greater honor than the pope quoting Gandalf.

Specifically, the Gandalf quote comes from The Return of the King. Denethor and Théoden have died. The two great kingdoms of man, Rohan and Gondor, are in disrepair. All while Sauron is still in power and seeking to destroy them all.

Gandalf addresses the gathered leaders at Minas Tirith to both warn and encourage them.

Concerning this thing, my lords, you now all know enough for the understanding of our plight, and of Sauron’s. If he regains [the Ring], your valour is vain, and his victory will be swift and complete: so complete that none can foresee the end of it while this world lasts. If it is destroyed, then he will fall; and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed forever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed.

Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.

This is a great example of why the Ring wasn’t the atomic bomb. But neither is the Ring AI. The Ring is the Ring, but the Ring reminds us of all that seeks to undermine and destroy humanity.

“Other evils” will undoubtedly come. Our calling is to uproot evil “in the fields that we know.”

Sources:

• Pope Leo Put Gandalf in His First Encyclical: A Tolkien Quote in Magnifica Humanitas — EWTN

• Pope invokes Gandalf as he issues AI warning — The Telegraph

• Gandalf, Picasso and MLK: Cultural references ground Pope Leo’s AI warning — NBC

• Pope Leo Quotes Gandalf From The Lord of the Rings as He Issues Stark AI Warning — IGN

• Pope Leo Schooled the Tech Bros on Tolkien — WIRED

• Tolkien, Beethoven, MLK Jr., and Hannah Arendt: The voices that resonate in Magnifica Humanitas — EWTN

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.

Mere Christianity

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English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (Excluding Drama) (ebook) — $1.99 (85% off)

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Sneak peek at the bonus articles

• New Narnia books coming

• John Lennox on his secret life and C.S. Lewis

• Lewis on gender

• ‘Rings of Power’ season 4 production begins as season 3 premiere nears

• Tolkien, Lewis, and the “stories that saved the West”

• And more!

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Of all the Narnia books, The Magician’s Nephew might be the most deeply personal to C.S. Lewis. At the heart of the story is a little boy facing the death of his mother. This was a grief Lewis knew all too well, having lost his mom, Flora Hamilton Lewis, when he was just 10.

Unfortunately, this grief became real for me during my preparation for this read-along. My mother died last October on my birthday. I certainly did not lose her as early as Lewis lost his mother. Still, regardless of when that loss comes, there is a grief unique to saying goodbye to the person who first welcomed you into this world.

I’m a writer and a reader because my mom read to me. I entered Narnia through her voice at bedtime. If you’ve gained anything from my writing about Narnia and Lewis, you owe her a debt of gratitude.

I hope you’ll be able to thank her one day when you meet her in God’s new creation. Similarly, I hope to meet Lewis’ mom and thank her for inspiring him.

As Lewis wrote the Narnia series, he was working through his grief and writing his spiritual autobiography, Surprised by Joy. Perhaps that’s why it took him so long to finish this book.

The other Narnia books flowed out almost effortlessly. The Magician’s Nephew was pulled out over several years. The pain was still too real, but he eventually turned it into a beautiful story.

The development of The Magician’s Nephew is in some ways the story of the book itself. Digory and Polly struggle through pain and hardship, but in the end, Aslan uses it all for good.

Reading The Magician’s Nephew, we’re reminded that God is lovingly crafting our story from the beginning to the end. Even the difficult moments are no match for His storytelling prowess.

We may not see our heartbreak immediately reversed as Digory saw with his mother’s healing—Lewis didn’t—but we know that our current circumstances are only part of the story God is writing. Our story is not over until He says so.

In the meantime, even when we feel our life resembles the ruined city of Charn, we trust that God is “working all things together for the good of those who love and are called according to His purposes.”

We can trust Him because, like Digory, we can look into His face and see that He cares for us. He is a God acquainted with suffering, acquainted with grief. Evil has entered His good creation, but He has seen to it that the worst has fallen on Himself.

Regardless of what we encounter, we hope because we have seen His face.

Below, you’ll find brief summaries for each article with links to the full piece. I’ve removed the paywall from the introduction, but the read-alongs for each chapter are still for paid subscribers only.

There are also links to the more than 130 resources used to develop the read-along, including 35 from Lewis himself. Some are books available for purchase, but many are free articles and podcasts to more deeply explore Lewis, Narnia, and The Magician’s Nephew.

The Magician’s Nephew introduction — Lewis said the story “tells the creation and how evil entered Narnia.” It also describes much of his own personal journey.

Chapter 1 “The Wrong Door” — This is a story that starts with a male and a female in a garden. No, it’s not that Story, but it does reflect that story and reminds us of our need to overcome temptation and discover the right door that leads to redemption.

Chapter 2 “Digory and His Uncle” — Lewis gives us iconic and interesting villains, but he does that without making them somehow praiseworthy or morally complicated. Readers may appreciate Uncle Andrew as a fictional character, but no one admires the character of his person.

Chapter 3 “The Wood Between the Worlds” — We, as individuals and as humanity, are not the center of the universe. There is something and Someone behind it all that provides the gravity to the world and focus to the story.

Chapter 4 “The Bell and the Hammer” — Despite his earlier bravery in going after Polly, Digory shows he could easily become like his uncle. Our individual, everyday choices matter because of the trajectory they set for our lives.

Chapter 5 “The Deplorable Word” — Digory is learning from his mistakes, but Jadis will refuse. The elevation of self automatically leads to the dismissal of others, but that ultimately leads to the downfall of self.

Chapter 6 “The Beginning of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles” — Digory and Polly’s interaction with Jadis in different circumstances serves as an apt illustration of how temptation comes across in various situations. We must resist even when it seems impossible because victory may be waiting in the next moment.

Chapter 7 “What Happened at the Front Door” — Hope and longing, even in the most difficult circumstances, is something that followed Lewis throughout his life. He saw the longing as pointing beyond itself to a real joy that awaited us.

Chapter 8 “The Fight at the Lamp-Post” — Both Lewis and his friend J.R.R. Tolkien craft creation myths in their worlds that involve singing. They highlight for us the beauty and brokenness involved in creating.

Chapter 9 “The Founding of Narnia” — Not all fears are the same. Some are appropriate senses of awe. Others hinder us from becoming what we should be. Uncle Andrew had the chance to encounter the first, but the second kept him in a place of exploitation instead of experience.

Chapter 10 “The First Joke and Other Matters” — Using Uncle Andrew, C.S. Lewis demonstrates that “the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.” Meanwhile, the Talking Beasts of Narnia learn that “jokes as well as justice come in with speech.” Both are good and necessary.

Chapter 11 “Digory and His Uncle Are Both in Trouble” — Both Uncle Andrew and Digory face the consequences of their actions. For his part, Digory accepts the need for confession. Meanwhile, the Cabby begins to accept his new (but true) identity as king of Narnia.

Chapter 12 “Strawberry’s Adventure” — First, Digory is focused on Aslan’s paws. He wants something from him. But then “in his despair, he looked up at its face.” That changes everything. When we look to God’s face, we can appreciate that the greatest thing we can have is God’s presence.

Chapter 13 “An Unexpected Meeting” — In writing his own garden scene, Lewis draws on a multitude of biblical and literary inspirations because he wants to push us deeper to find wisdom in ancient texts. But within his own story, he gives us a perspective on temptation that can help us navigate those moments in our own lives.

Chapter 14 “The Planting of the Tree” — As Digory finds his contentment in Aslan and trusting in His goodness, he discovers the good Lion gives good gifts. Our trust in God’s goodness is rewarded, but always in His ways in His timing. When we try to circumvent those, we find suffering.

Chapter 15 “The End of This Story and the Beginning of all the Others” — Lewis connects Narnia’s creation and dangers to the modern world while pointing readers back to the source of meaning and renewal. We gain hope despite our circumstances by looking to God’s face.

Further up and further in

Resources used and referenced during the read-along

Books by C.S. Lewis

• The Magician’s Nephew

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

• Prince Caspian

• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

• The Silver Chair

• The Horse and His Boy

• The Last Battle

• Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life

• The Ransom (or Space) Trilogy

• The Screwtape Letters

• The Great Divorce

• Till We Have Faces

• The Pilgrim’s Regress

• Boxen: Childhood Chronicles Before Narnia

• Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

• Mere Christianity

• Miracles

• The Four Loves

• The Problem of Pain

• A Preface to Paradise Lost

• The Weight of Glory (And Other Addresses)

• God in the Dock

• Allegory of Love

• On Stories and Other Essays on Literature

• Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories

• The Abolition of Man

• Christian Reflections

• Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

• A Grief Observed

• Letters to an American Lady

• The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 1: Family Letters, 1905-1931

• The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 2: Books, Broadcasts, and the War, 1931-1949

• The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963

Books about C.S. Lewis

• C.S. Lewis: The Companion and Guide — Walter Hooper

• Past Watchful Dragons: The Origin, Interpretation, and Appreciation of the Chronicles of Narnia — Walter Hooper

• Companion to Narnia: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia — Paul Ford

• Into the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles — David C. Downing

• Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis — Michael Ward

• The Narnia Code: C.S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens — Michael Ward

• The Keys to the Chronicles: Unlocking the Symbols of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia — Marvin Hinten

• The C.S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia — Editors: Jeffrey Schultz, John G. West, Jr.

• Becoming C.S. Lewis: A Biography of Young Jack Lewis — Harry Lee Poe

• The Making of C.S. Lewis: From Atheist to Apologist (1918-1945) — Harry Lee Poe

• The Completion of C.S. Lewis: From War to Joy (1945-1963) — Harry Lee Poe

• C.S. Lewis: A Life — Alister McGrath

• The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis — Alan Jacobs

• C.S. Lewis: A Biography — Roger Lancelyn Green, Walter Hooper

Articles

• Star Wars: Rebels Executive Producer Dave Filoni Inspired by Magician’s Nephew — The Lion’s Call

• A Brief History of the Multiverse – the term, and its proliferation at DC, Marvel, and well … everywhere — Popverse

• “Sub-creation or Smuggled Theology: Tolkien Contra Lewis on Christian Fantasy,” C.S. Lewis Institute — David Downing

• “Tolkien vs. Lewis on Faith and Fantasy,” CSLewis.com — David Downing, Devin Brown

• “Narnia and Middle-earth: When Two Worlds Collide,” Catholic Culture — Joseph Pearce

• “The Music of Creation in Tolkien and Lewis,” The Wheel Journal — Andrej Strocaŭ

• “Planting Toffee Trees,” Midnight Ink — Karissa Riffel

• “Songs of Creation: In the Beginning Tolkien and Lewis Created Narnia and Middle-earth,” Jokien with Tolkien — Josh aka J.R.R. Jokien

• “Into the Wild Woods: On the Significance of Trees and Forests in Fantasy Fiction,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 36: No. 1, Article 4 — Weronika Łaszkiewicz

• “Lewis and Clarke in the Caves: Art and Platonic Worlds in Piranesi,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 40: No. 1, Article 5 — Julie Dugger

• “… And There Shall The Lilith Repose,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 14: No. 4, Article 1 — Heather Blasdell

• “C. S. Lewis and Artificial Intelligence: An AI Ethics Problem,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 19: Issue 1, Article 7 — Justin Edgerly

• “C.S. Lewis’ Passages: Chronological Age and Spiritual Development in Narnia,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 11: No. 3, Article 10 — Doris Myers

• “The Lore of Wood and Stone: Magic in the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 3: Issue 1, Article 5 — Louis Markos

• “The Face of the Materialist Magician: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Art of Crossing Perilous Streets,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 35: No. 1, Article 2 — Robert Boenig

• “Recasting the Discarded Image: C. S. Lewis on the Modern Side,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 7: Issue 1, Article 5 — Sanford Schwartz

• “Narnian Stars,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 37: No. 2, Article 10 — Ruth Berman

• “C.S. Lewis’ Aesthetics,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 3: Issue 1, Article 7 — Adam Barkman

• “Why Father Christmas Appears in Narnia,” Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 3: Issue 1, Article 6 — P.H. Brazier

• “C.S. Lewis, Platonism, and Aslan’s Country: Symbols of Heaven in The Chronicles of Narnia,” Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 7, Article 5 — Dennis Fisher

• “Toward a Narnian Valuation of Nature: Participatory Ontology,” Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 2: Issue 1, Article 3 — Jeff Sellars

• “The Talking Beasts as Adam and Eve: Lewis and the Complexity of ‘Dominion,’” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 38, No. 1: Article 7 — Jean Graham

• “‘The whole art and joy of words:’ Aslan’s Speech in the Chronicles of Narnia,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 24: No. 1, Article 3 — Joy Alexander

• “Conflict, Forgiveness, and the Healing of Harms in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 10: Issue 1, Article 9 — Jeffrey A. Misener

• “Putting Eternity in Reader’s Hearts: C.S. Lewis and the Art of Sehnsucht,” Papers Presented at Previous Colloquia: 4 — Torri B. Frye

• “C. S. Lewis: Christian Educator for a Post-Christian Era,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 7: Issue 1, Article 8 — Mark A. Pike

• “‘They Have Quarreled with the Trees:’ Perverted Perceptions of ‘Progress’ in the Fiction Series of C.S. Lewis,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 32: No. 2, Article 6 — Deborah Klein

• “A Beast’s Best Friend: Interspecies Friendship in the Thought of C. S. Lewis,” Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 10, Article 59 — Edwin Woodruff Tait

• “Narrating Pain: C.S. Lewis and the Problem of Evil,” Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 4, Article 27 — Samuel Joeckel

• “Flight Instructor for the Soul: C.S. Lewis’s Vision of Human Freedom through an Imaginative Obedience,” Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 6, Article 13 — Corey J. Kinna

• “An Introduction to Narnia - Part II: The Geography of the Chronicles,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 2: No. 3, Article 5 — J.R. Christopher

• “Paradise Retold: Lewis’s Reimagining of Milton, Eden, and Eve,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 37: No. 1, Article 3 — Benita Huffman Muth

• “Mount Purgatory Arises near Narnia,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 23: No. 2, Article 7 — Joe Christopher

• “A Darker Ignorance: C. S. Lewis and the Nature of the Fall,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 24: No. 1, Article 5 — Mary Bowman

• “In Defense of the Fairy Tale: C.S. Lewis’s Argument for the Value and Importance of the Fairy Tale,” Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 4, Article 31 — Constance Rice

• “Always Winter and Never Christmas: Symbols of Time in Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 18: No. 1, Article 2 — Nancy-Lou Patterson

• “‘Happily Ever After’ for the Twenty-First Century? Sex, Love, and Human Identity in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 10: Issue 1, Article 8 — Monika B. Hilder

• “The Psychology of Hell: Privation, Exclusion, and Banishment as Symbols of Hell in the Life of C.S. Lewis,” Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal: Vol. 12: Issue 1, Article 6 — Reggie Weems

• “Grief Observed: Pain and Suffering in the Writings of C.S. Lewis and Frederick Buechner,” Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016: Vol. 7, Article 2 — Victoria S. Allen

Podcasts

• Wade Center Podcast “Into Narnia, Vol. 6, The Magician’s Nephew” — Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College

• The C.S. Lewis Podcast with Alister McGrath “#23 The Magician’s Nephew” — Premiere Insights

• Pints With Jack

• The Lamp-post Listener

• Theology of Narnia

• Back to Narnia

Works by others

• Paradise Lost — John Milton

• Education of Uncle Paul — Algernon Blackwood

• The Wood Beyond the World — William Morris

• She: A History of Adventure — Rider Haggard

• Ayesha: The Return of She — Rider Haggard

• King Solomon’s Mine — H. Rider Haggard

• The Sword in the Stone — T.H. White

• Mistress Masham’s Repose — T.H. White

• The Story of the Treasure Seekers — Edith Nesbit

• Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Treasure Island — Robert Louis Stevenson

• Jane Eyre — Charlotte Brontë

• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien — Editor: Humphrey Carpenter

• The Lord of the Rings — J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Silmarillion — J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Hobbit — J.R.R. Tolkien

• Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth — J.R.R. Tolkien

• The Wood Beyond the World — William Morris

• The Idea of the Holy — Rudolf Otto

• A Modern Utopia — H.G. Wells

• Men Like Gods — H.G. Wells

• Sideways in Time — Murray Leinster

• Star Maker — Olaf Stapledon

• Dark Matter — Blake Crouch

• Piranesi — Susanna Clarke

• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — Susanna Clarke

• Summa Theologica — Thomas Aquinas

• Everlasting Man — G.K. Chesterton

• Lilith — George MacDonald

• Decent Into Hell — Charles Williams

• On the Incarnation — Athanasius of Alexandria, Sister Penelope Lawson (Translator), C.S. Lewis (introduction)

• The Divine Comedy — Dante

• Roman de la Rose — Guillaume de Lorris

• The Monkey’s Paw and Other Tales of Mystery and the Macabre — W.W. Jacobs

Previous articles in the C.S. Lewis read-along:

• Why Read “The Chronicles of Narnia”?

• In What Order Should You Read “The Chronicles of Narnia”?

• The One Time You Can Ignore C.S. Lewis

• Entries for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Horse and His Boy.

Coming Soon

In the next year, we will finish the Narnia series with The Last Battle, but we will also do a Narnia movie and Greta Gerwig watch-along to prepare for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew in theaters.

When the movie was releasing on Thanksgiving, I had planned on the movie watch-along being this fall. But now that the release date has changed, we may change our dates as well. Let me know what you think.

Which would you like to do next: the Narnia and Gerwig movies or The Last Battle?

C.S. Lewis made his opinion of church hymns well known. He didn’t like them before he became a Christian, and his opinion didn’t magically change after conversion. But unlike many modern churchgoers, he came to view his preferences as unimportant. He may have hated hymns, but he loved the one singing hymns beside him in the church pew.

In 1944, Lewis was asked to host a public Q&A. One attendee asked if church attendance was necessary for life as a Christian. He said very early in his faith that he felt he could just stay in his own room and read theology. He had no desire to attend church.

Part of the reason was the hymns:

I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music.

“Answers to Questions on Christianity,” God in the Dock

Even when he started attending church services, Lewis made it his habit to leave the service during the hymns.

Writing to his brother, he shared an awkward situation when their pastor began the service by saying it was preferred if everyone would wait until the service was over before leaving—clearly referencing Lewis’ habit of not doing so. “We went out during the hymn according to our usual practice,” he wrote.

Once, Lewis was asked to become a part of a panel that helped evaluate and choose new hymns. He took the opportunity to write an essay, which included his blunt opinions on the topic.

What I, like many other laymen, chiefly desire in church are fewer, better, and shorter hymns; especially fewer.

“On Church Music,” Christian Reflections

Music maturity

As Lewis matured in his faith, however, he realized his musical preferences weren’t primary. He grew in his appreciation and respect for his church, the leaders and the other lay people, and even (begrundingly) their hymns.

A reader wrote and asked his opinion of hymns (apparently, she hadn’t read his essays). He said that “if they have been helpful and edified anyone, then the fact that they set my teeth on edge is infinitely unimportant.”

Lewis saw his disdain for hymns as an opportunity to sacrifice his personal desires, grow in humility, and even submit to the leadership at his local church.1

In discussing a disagreement with his pastor’s choices, he asked Mary Van Deusen, “Is there not something especially good (and even, in the end, joyful) about mere obedience (in lawful things) to him who bears our Master’s authority, however unworthy he be—perhaps all the more, if he is unworthy?”

This sacrifice and submission lead to a deeper recognition of others. “If people like you and me find much that we don’t naturally like in the public and corporate side of Christianity, all the better for us,” he wrote to Van Deusen, “it will teach us humility and charity towards simple, low-brow people who may be better Christians than ourselves.”

During the Q&A in which he shared his early opinion of hymns, he went on to explain that he came to understand how little that opinion mattered.

I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.

For many today, however, when they come across inconveniences or aspects of the worship service at their church that don’t match their preferences, they give up and find a different church. Lewis would argue they are undermining their spiritual growth.

In fact, he had Screwtape make just such an argument. According to the senior tempter’s advice for Wormwood, hell wants you to be a “connoisseur of churches” or, as we might say in our day, a church shopper.

You mentioned casually in your last letter that the patient has continued to attend one church, and one only, since he was converted, and that he is not wholly pleased with it. May I ask what you are about? Why have I no report on the causes of his fidelity to the parish church? Do you realize that, unless it is due to indifference, it is a very bad thing? Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that “suits” him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.

The Screwtape Letters

If you’re in a healthy church faithfully preaching and teaching God’s Word, plant yourself there. Dig deep roots even when you find aspects you don’t enjoy.

When you find yourself occasionally (or regularly) critiquing your church service, the sermons, and the music, take those criticisms as opportunities for growth.

Like Lewis, you may never change your opinion on that aspect, but God will use your sacrifice to mature you. Even if you (or the person beside you) can’t carry a tune, Christ can carry you (or cover your ears).

More from The Wardrobe Door

Coming soon

We’ll look more at what Lewis said about The Lord of the Rings and how he already rebutted the most common modern objection to Tolkien’s writing.

We’ll also examine how it is each Christian can become more unique the more they become like Jesus.

Archive

Recent

Elsewhere

Canadians See Split Between Religious Beliefs and Truth, State of Theology Finds — Lifeway Research

With Netflix moving Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew from the week of Thanksgiving to February, IMAX had an empty weekend.

This is a rare occurrence because studios often negotiate those slots months or even years in advance. They covet exclusive IMAX windows to generate extra box office through the higher ticket price.

Last week, IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond told the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference that the theater chain was “on the verge” of replacing Narnia on the Thanksgiving weekend.

Gelfond shared some information about Narnia at the conference, including asserting that IMAX played a role in securing the movie’s wide theatrical release.

“The final thing I would say is Narnia itself. So as you know, February is traditionally a very weak month; it’s moved to Super Bowl week, which is traditionally a very weak date … we have been working hard with Greta, as you recall from the press release, you know, I think we played a role in Netflix agreeing to open it up very wide. We still have an exclusive for the first couple of days going forward. They are going to lean in with a lot of marketing to it. So if I’m right, and we have a really good replacement, the movement today looks like not the best thing, but I think people will be comfortable that it’s not only good for us, but good for the whole business, because we help turn that into a “Day and Date” release wide.”

Some had hoped Disney would move Avengers to Narnia’s previous slot. Currently, Marvel Studios can’t open Avengers: Doomsday in IMAX because Dune 3 secured the mid-December release date. But Disney remained on their release date without IMAX. Instead, Narnia may have moved, but Netflix kept the spot.

Variety reported, “The Adventures of Cliff Booth, the unofficial title for the sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will debut in IMAX this Thanksgiving.”

Netflix secured the rights to the movie and will give it a similar debut to what it had previously planned for Narnia. Cliff Booth will get an exclusive two-week run on IMAX screens starting Nov. 25. It will land on the streamer on Dec. 23.

While we still don’t know how faithful an adaptation or even how good a movie Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will be, it is certainly proving to be a historic and consequential movie.

I had already shared this news in our new paid subscriber chat. I will share the latest news there first, as well as some great Lewis quotes and any Lewis or Tolkien book deals. This week, we’ll also discuss what we most appreciated from our read-along of The Magician’s Nephew. Become a paid subscriber.

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

The first demand any work of any art makes upon you is surrender. Look Listen. Receive. Get yourself out of the way. (There is no good asking first whether the work before you deserves such a surrender, for until you have surrendered, you cannot possibly find out.)

An Experiment in Criticism

The Problem of Printers

Bad C.S. Lewis book covers

Through the sands of time … man is abolished or something.

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles

• Lots of talk on Netflix’s Narnia adaptation

• How Dante inspired Lewis and other writers

• U.K. mints a Tolkien coin with a hidden feature

• Upcoming video game offers the chance to fully explore the Middle-earth map

• A surprising comic book movie influenced Hunt for Gollum movie

• And more!

Read more

The closing chapter of The Magician’s Nephew highlights lessons on sovereignty, obedience, warning, and hope. Lewis connects Narnia’s creation and dangers to the modern world while pointing readers back to the source of meaning and renewal. We gain hope despite our circumstances by looking to God’s face.

Chapter 15 “The End of This Story and the Beginning of all the Others”

Aslan says, “You need no rings when I am with you,” and the children realize they have left Narnia and are now in the Wood Between the Worlds (with a still sleeping Uncle Andrew).

Several times in the Narniad, Aslan notes the distinction between traveling between worlds with Him or through some other means. The characters also often acknowledge the differences.

That doesn’t mean Aslan is unaware when someone from Earth comes to Narnia without his immediate presence. As he tells Jill in The Silver Chair, “You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you.”

Lewis gives us a working example of God’s sovereign, perfect will compared to His permissive will. Lewis frequently acknowledged humanity’s free will, but also God’s active control over the situations and circumstances in this world.

Also in The Silver Chair, Puddleglum declares, “There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant king caused the letters to be cut, and he already knew all things that would come of them; including this.”

Traveling between worlds with Aslan is like our walking with Christ and following Him obediently in God’s perfect will. We will encounter difficulties, but life is smoother because we are following His path.

Sometimes, however, we go off on our own like those who stumble into Narnia by other means. Because of God’s sovereignty, we may take a longer, harder road, but we will end up where we need to be. He is so powerful that He can use our mistakes and failures and still work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.1

Read more

The Lord of the Rings often tops literary lists, both best-selling and most beloved. One award J.R.R. Tolkien never achieved, however, was the Nobel Prize in Literature. But that wasn’t due to the lack of a passionate nomination.

Both the identity of Tolkien’s nominator and the fact of his 1961 nomination were unknown to the public—and likely to Tolkien himself—until 2012, when the Nobel Committee released the files.

Tolkien’s friend and fellow Inkling, C.S. Lewis, had been the first person to nominate him for The Lord of the Rings.

The Nobel Committee invited C.S. Lewis, as chair of the literature department at Cambridge, to offer a nomination for the award.

On Jan. 7, 1961, Lewis wrote to Alastair Fowler, a literary scholar and former student, and asked, “in confidence,” who he thought should be nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature. Lewis offered some options: “Frost? Eliot? Tolkien? E.M. Forster?”

It didn’t take long for Lewis to make up his mind. Nine days later, he wrote to the committee to say he had the honor of nominating Tolkien for his “celebrated romantic trilogy.”

Tolkien was one of 93 authors to be nominated for the 1961 prize, including Aldous Huxley, John Steinbeck, Graham Greene, Jean-Paul Sartre, Robert Frost, and eventual winner Yugoslavian writer Ivo Andrić.

Anders Österling, the lead literary critic for the Nobel Committee, said The Lord of the Rings “has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality.”

Fantasy literature of the kind Lewis and Tolkien wrote and enjoyed was not widely popular until they made it so, but it was particularly dismissed by literary critics. That explains why Lewis and Tolkien wrote so many essays defending fairy stories as literature.

Tolkien was nominated for the Nobel Prize two more times.1 The year following his nomination of Tolkien, Lewis nominated American poet Robert Frost.2

While Lewis was unsuccessful in his attempts to see Tolkien recognized by the Nobel Committee, he succeeded in the much greater task of helping Tolkien win recognition from the public.

In his review of The Lord of the Rings, Lewis wrote, “Nothing quite like it was ever done before.” It was so different and unpredictable, he compared it to “lightning from a clear sky.”

While the Nobel Prize would certainly have been deserved, no greater praise could be bestowed on a writer and his work than what Lewis said of Tolkien.

The book is too original and too opulent for any final judgment on a first reading. But we know at once that it has done things to us. We are not quite the same men. … I have little doubt that the book will soon take its place among the indispensables.

If you enjoyed learning more about Tolkien and Lewis, consider becoming a paid subscriber. We just talked about Lewis, Tolkien and the Nobel Prize in the paid section of Monday’s news post.

More from The Wardrobe Door

Coming soon

We’ll discuss Lewis’ strong opinion on hymns, but how it didn’t prevent him from attending and valuing his local church.

We’ll also look more at what Lewis said about The Lord of the Rings and how he already rebutted the most common modern objection to Tolkien’s writing.

Archive

Recent

Elsewhere

Spiritual Matters Missing From Many Churchgoers’ Conversations — Lifeway Research

Two Middle-earth movies—the Andy Serkis-directed The Hunt for Gollum and the Stephen Colbert-penned Shadow of the Past—are already in some stage of production. But more Tolkien may be coming to theaters.

In an interview with Deadline, Peter Jackson teased that discussions are happening with the Tolkien estate to adapt even more of Middle-earth stories.

Christopher Tolkien had previously objected to additional projects, but he died in 2020 at 95. Other members of the family are seemingly more open, according to Jackson.

“I mean, there’s a lot more Tolkien writing, which would make great movies that were subsequently released by Christopher. He would just absolutely not let any mere idea of a film happen, so those rights have never been available. But Christopher passed away, and the younger Tolkien, this next generation, now running the estate, are much more open to ‘talking.’ So, a combination of Warner Bros. and us have been talking to some of the younger Tolkien members, who are part of the [Tolkien Estate], of actually licensing rights to some of the other books. It would be nice to get away from the appendices and get something a bit more meaty.”

Currently, the only Tolkien material that can be adapted is from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books. The rights to The Silmarillion have not been released. Amazon’s Rings of Power skirted this by focusing on material included in The Lord of the Rings appendices.

Christopher Tolkien edited and published many of his father’s incomplete works, including The Silmarillion. He disliked Peter Jackson’s adaptation (and probably any potential cinematic version), telling Le Monde in 2012:

“They gutted the book, turning it into an action film for 15- to 25-year-olds … The gap that has opened up between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, is beyond me. Such a degree of commercialization reduces the aesthetic and philosophical scope of this creation to nothing. I have only one solution left: to turn my head away.”

I would have to agree with him on The Hobbit movies.

While more Middle-earth may be coming to theaters, we’ll have to see if we need to turn our heads away.

Sources:

• Deadline

• Playlist

• Fellowship of Fans

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it quite intolerable: think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.

“4 Answers to Questions on Christianity,” God in the Dock

Tumnus’ bookshelf

Books by or about Lewis or Tolkien

A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works (ebook): $6.99 (61% off)

Other books on sale:

• The World’s Last Night and Other Essays (ebook): $4.99 (55% off)

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles

It was an Inklings-heavy news week. Here are some of the stories we’ll discuss below:

• Lewis nominated Tolkien for the Nobel Prize

• A breakdown of all the known and rumored Narnia cast

• More on Meryl Streep rumored as Aslan

• Lewis as a political philosopher

• More on the two upcoming Middle-earth movies

• Rings of the Power season three debuts this fall

• A major Middle-earth game is cancelled but more are in the works

• And more!

Read more

As Digory finds his contentment in Aslan and trusting in His goodness, he then discovers that the good Lion gives good gifts beyond what we could hope. But Uncle Andrew has cut himself off from those blessings because of his unbelief. Our trust in God’s goodness is rewarded, but always in His ways in His timing. When we try to circumvent those, we find suffering.

Chapter 14 “The Planting of the Tree”

After Digory returned with the apple, Aslan responds twice with “Well done,” mirroring the two-fold saying of Christ in the parable of the talents.1

Digory recognized the historical significance of his obedience, but, much like the servants in Jesus’ parable, he understood the focus was on the One who called him to the obedience. As he kept his eyes on Aslan, he was able to keep the proper perspective.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmund can ignore the White Witch’s assaults on his character because he kept his gaze on Aslan. Here, Digory can avoid conceit in the same way.

Lewis often reminds us that we should have a similar focus, not on our feelings or external circumstances, but on Christ. In a June 1951 letter, he writes:

“Don’t bother much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them: when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only what happens to you. What matters is your intentions and your behavior.”

Aslan acknowledged Digory’s temptation with the apple and called him to throw it “toward the river bank where the ground is soft.”2

The scene moves to the coronation of King Frank and Queen Helen. The narrator, as well as Polly and Fledge, notice the change in the faces of both. Fledge notes that his “old master” has become a “real Master.”

In “Equality,” Lewis describes why he believes democracy is the best form of government and discusses human “masters.” It’s not that people are “so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government.” Rather, “mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.”

Only through Aslan and being changed by him has the Cabby been able to become King Frank, a man worthy to be called “master.”

I believe Lewis intentionally moves directly from King Frank to Uncle Andrew to highlight that the latter is a man who claimed he was fit to be a master but was the least worthy of the role. For all his bluster about being above everyone else, he ends up in the lowliest of states. He has become a comedic character.

Read more

Non-Christians don’t need us to tell them Jesus rose from the dead. They need us to demonstrate why it matters.

The truthfulness of the resurrection is not as controversial as you may think. According to Lifeway Research’s 2025 State of Theology study, around 2 in 3 Americans (65%) say they believe the biblical accounts of …

Read more

This past week, CBR ran a story with the headline: “Greta Gerwig’s Latest Narnia Casting Officially Kills a Fan-Favorite Aslan Rumor.”

The article argues that the casting of Ciarán Hinds means the Irish actor will voice Aslan, not Meryl Streep.

CBR points to his deep voice matching Lewis’ description of Aslan’s “deep and rich” tones. Hinds has also done voice acting before, bringing to life the troll king in Frozen and Steppenwolf in Justice League.

His late addition to the cast may also point to him providing Aslan’s voice. The other actors would have been on set together. Emma Mackey already said that she acted with Streep. But as a CGI character, Hinds could’ve done his work without appearing on set and without his role being leaked to the press.

I think the headline massively overstates the situation. Hinds’ casting does not “officially” kill the Streep rumor as much as it raises the possibility that it could be false.

Christian culture site, The Lion, reported on the change in theatrical strategy for Narnia, but focused on the question of Aslan’s voice actor.

I’m still holding out hope, so I’ll reach for every possible thread out there. But I don’t think we can make any pronouncements yet. No outlets with direct sources on the production have mentioned Hinds as Aslan yet. And the rumors of Streep as Aslan spread for a reason.

One conspiracy theory that has been floated is that the “Streep as Aslan” rumor was released intentionally as a false rumor. Gerwig and Netflix knew the backlash to it would be overwhelming and would allow other changes to be mostly overlooked.

When it was eventually revealed that the rumor was not true, people would be less upset about other narrative and character changes, like placing the story in the 1950s instead of the 1900s and having a black actor and actress play King Frank and Queen Helen.

Those are certainly less disruptive to the story, both within The Magician’s Nephew and the series as a whole, than Aslan as a lioness. So, I can see that type of PR play working to counteract criticism, some of which may be disingenuous. But it’s also risky, as it could alienate fans and potential moviegoers before you have time to reveal the rumor as false.

But, if it was an intentionally false rumor, I guess it worked on me because I’d pretty much take any of the other changes if it meant we weren’t getting a Streep-voiced Aslan.

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing.

The Weight of Glory (And Other Addresses)

The Problem of Printers

Bad C.S. Lewis book covers

This isn’t a “bad” cover, but it is a representation of the wild interpretations artists have for the creatures and visuals in the Ransom trilogy. Do you have a favorite trilogy cover art?

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles

• More reporting and rumors on Netflix moving Narnia to theaters

• Lewis encouraging us to embrace the “edge”

• Andy Serkis on his upcoming Lord of the Rings movie

• Stephen Colbert on his upcoming Lord of the Rings movie

• Inspiration behind Tolkien’s landscapes

• And more!

Read more

In writing his own garden scene, C.S. Lewis draws on a multitude of biblical and literary inspirations because he wants to push us deeper to find wisdom in ancient texts. But within his own story, he gives us a perspective on temptation that can help us navigate those moments in our own lives.

Chapter 13 “An Unexpected Meeting”

I love the Christmas morning like joy that overtakes Polly when she sees the toffee has turned into a tree. In his sovereignty—worked out through circumstances and their actions—Aslan has taken care of them.

But the simple pleasures they enjoy in the early part of this chapter serve as a good balance to the temptation that is about to emerge. It is not wrong to enjoy the blessings in this life. It is wrong to place them as the ultimate goal of this life.

Screwtape rightly warns Wormwood of the danger to the demonic side when dealing with pleasure.

“Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.”

The children enjoy the delicious toffee fruit and appreciate the “wonderful ride” on Fledge’s back until they spot “the Place.”

Before we discuss the garden scene for our edification, I first want to explore it from Lewis’ inspiration. In creating this garden, he draws from numerous pieces of mythology and literature.

Anyone vaguely familiar with the Bible will note the allusions to the Garden of Eden, the tempting of Eve, and the Fall of man. Beyond that, Lewis draws heavily from Dante’s Divine Comedy, which places the biblical garden at the top of Mount Purgatory.

He also has in mind Greek and Norse mythology. In the Greeks’ garden of the Hesperides, a hero is sent to retrieve an apple from the garden that has the power to make someone immortal, but a female villain steals another apple.1

In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the tree of life. At the top of the tree, an eagle, famous for its knowledge, roosts. Digory observes a bird at the top of the tree in the garden, which he links to someone always watching and knowing what you might be doing.

Much of Lewis’ imagery and depiction of the garden comes from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. In it, Eden is a walled garden at the top of a green hill. The garden has one gate facing east for entry. Instead, the tempter climbs over the wall and eats the fruit before trying to tempt others.

You will find more of this imagery across Lewis’ writings. Perelandra delivers an inverse of the Fall, but on Venus. Within Narnia, The Horse and His Boy has children reach the walled garden after their wilderness wanderings.

This garden specifically is recalled in The Last Battle, where those who are true Narnians are taken to Aslan’s Country, which has an idealized version of the garden at its center. Except in this perfect garden, the fruit is gold instead of silver.

The Magician’s Nephew garden may also be the garden referenced in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, where Aslan takes Eustace in his dragon form to be reborn. Eustace wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not, but he says Aslan took him to “the top of a mountain I’d never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden—trees and fruit and everything.”

Why does Lewis borrow so liberally from the works that inspired him in so many of his works? For starters, he saw it as a way to encourage people to read old books. He hoped readers would continue to chase the story back further and investigate the inspiration.

In the essay, “On the Reading of Old Books,” he wrote, “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.”

He valued older books because they offered us a different perspective. Modern books, he said, either give us truths we already half knew or spread dangerous popular errors. “The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.”

But even beyond that philosophical reason, Lewis had a theological justification for frequently echoing writing that he loved. In the essay “Christianity and Literature,” he points out that while modern critical theory emphasizes originality and self-expression, the New Testament calls us to imitate. Paul will say to “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Jesus calls us to imitate Him, while saying that He does nothing but what He sees the Father do.

In the essay, Lewis argues that if a Christian’s “talents are such that he can produce good work by writing in an established form and dealing with experiences common to all his race, he will do so just as gladly. I even think he will do so more gladly.”

But now that we’ve peeked behind and beyond this chapter, let’s discuss what Lewis wrote in the chapter.

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In The Magician’s Nephew, a seemingly random set of circumstances pulls an unsuspecting London cabby into a newly created world.

Despite going from the cobblestone city streets to a new, lush world with animals literally bursting from the gr…

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As I shared in the breaking news post on Friday evening, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will get a wide, 45-day theatrical release beginning on February 12, 2027, before heading to Netflix on April 2, 2027.

Previously, the film was said to be debuting only on IMAX the week of Thanksgiving 2026 and then moving to streaming around Christmas.

Deadline reported that this move came about because an injury to a movie star pushed back production, which means the film wouldn’t make its Thanksgiving IMAX time slot. “It was always Plan B,” according to Anthony D’Alessandro, Deadline’s box office editor.

A production delay could cause a premiere shift, but would seemingly not require a strategy change. Netflix could’ve moved to February and kept the same plan for a limited IMAX run and quick move to streaming.

Thoughts and Spoilers also notes that an interesting facet of the new release date is that it coincides with the other major Christian holiday—from Christmas to Easter.

The film’s new release plan basically coincides with Western Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday on February 10—the day of Narnia’s IMAX previews—and ends with Easter Sunday on March 28, five days before the film starts streaming.

Thoughts and Spoilers also notes that Narnia will coincide with the theatrical releases of The Chosen: Crucifixion (March 12) and The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One (March 26). Both films also reportedly feature a flashback to the creation story, the core narrative of The Magician’s Nephew.

The Netflix release not only gave us release dates, but it also listed 10 actors and actresses appearing in the movie. Netflix’s wording and industry reporting have essentially confirmed some of their roles. Other roles are still rumored.

• David McKenna (Digory Kirke, confirmed)

• Beatrice Campbell (Polly Plummer, confirmed)

• Emma Mackey (Queen Jadis of Charn/White Witch, confirmed)

• Carey Mulligan (Digory’s mother, Mabel Kirke, all-but-confirmed)

• Ciarán Hinds (Unknown)

• Daniel Craig (Uncle Andrew, all-but-confirmed)

• Meryl Streep (Voice of Aslan, strongly rumored)

• Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Cabby/King Frank, rumored)

• Denise Gough (Aunt Letty, rumored)

• Susan Wokoma (Queen Helen, rumored)

Other rumored cast members include Tom Bonington (a character named Mr. Potts), Samantha Spiro (a beaver), Gerard Monaco (unknown), and James Murray (unknown).

Netflix’s announcement was the first time the Belfast-born Hinds had been publicly linked to the project. With his Narnia appearance, he will have been involved in four major fantasy franchises—Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Middle-earth, and now Narnia.

It’s possible Hinds could be an older Digory Kirke who appears as a framing device for this film, before returning in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.1

The only semi-major speaking role from the book that has not been linked to anyone yet is Strawberry, the cabby’s horse, who [spoiler alert for a book published 70 years ago] becomes Fledge, a talking pegasus in Narnia.

Could Hinds be Fledge? Could Streep be Fledge and the deep-voiced Hinds Aslan? Maybe Streep is Aunt Letty, Gough is Fledge, and Hinds is Aslan.2

Fledge is a male horse in the book, but I imagine Narnia fans, myself included, would take a gender-swapped Fledge over Aslan.

With Netflix finally acknowledging the film officially, hopefully, we will start to find out more soon. They’ve already started the marketing push, which we’ll talk about in the paid-subscriber section.

Sources:

• Netflix

• Deadline

• NarniaWeb

• Thoughts and Spoilers

• Variety

• Rolling Stone

• The Hollywood Reporter

Not Safe But Good

C.S. Lewis quote of the week

If few can give good advice, fewer still can hear with patience advice either good or bad.

October, 3, 1953 letter to Mrs. Van Deusen, The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950-1963

Tumnus’ bookshelf

Books by or about Lewis or Tolkien

C.S. Lewis On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions — $1.99 (79% off)

Other books on sale:

• Tales Before Narnia: The Roots of Modern Fantasy and Science Fiction — $8.99 (18% off)

Behind the Wardrobe

Sneak peek at the bonus articles

• Netflix is aiming for a specific rating for the movie

• A producer discusses whether AI was used on Narnia

• Narnia marketing material has already been sent to a few lucky recipients

• Viggo Mortensen reacts to new Aragorn actor

• Ana Taylor-Joy rumored role in Hunt for Gollum

• Scenes from a road trip through Middle-earth in New Zealand

• Tolkien claims mantle with most streamed audiobook of all time

• And more!

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First, Digory is focused on Aslan’s paws. He wants something from him. But then “in his despair, he looked up at its face.” That changes everything. When we look to God’s face, we can appreciate that the greatest thing we can have is God’s presence.

Chapter 12 “Strawberry’s Adventure”

The echoes and reversals of Genesis only ramp up in these last chapters. Because we may be familiar with the term in previous Narnia books, we can gloss over the fact that Aslan calls Digory “Son of Adam.” But that is very intentional here.

Digory’s first instinct when asked by Aslan to undo the wrong he has done to Narnia, much like Adam, is to object and relocate the blame to someone else. But trust and obedience is the only way to move forward.

As he agrees to help undo the damage caused by his unleashing Jadis in Narnia, Digory wants to try to make a deal with Aslan to help in exchange for healing his mother, “but he realized in time that the Lion was not at all the sort of person one could try to make bargains with.”

In Surprised by Joy, Lewis records his own prayers for the miraculous healing of his mother when he was a young boy. It amounted to attempting to make a deal with God. If I offer this type of prayer, you are obliged to answer it and then “go away.”

Digory, like the young Lewis, is working to learn how to rightly order his loves. His love for his mother should be serious and even sacrificial, but it cannot be supreme.

In The Four Loves, Lewis describes God as the “Great Rival.” He writes, “The rivalry between all natural loves and the love of God is something a Christian dare not forget.”

Discussing Jesus’ words in Luke 14:26 that to be His disciple, we must “hate” our father, mother, wife, and children, Lewis writes that “we must turn down or disqualify our nearest and dearest when they come between us and our obedience to God.”

In The Great Divorce, a mother is unable to enter heaven and see her son because she is too attached to him. She lashes out at her brother, who is trying to convince her to lay down her suffocating “love” for her son:

I don’t care about all your rules and regulations. I don’t believe in a God who keeps mother and son apart. I believe in a God of Love. No one has a right to come between me and my son. Not even God. Tell Him that to His face. I want my boy, and I mean to have him. He is mine, do you understand? Mine, mine, mine, for ever and ever.

The Teacher tells the narrator:

There’s something in natural affection which will lead it on to eternal love more easily than natural appetite could be led on. But there’s also something in it which makes it easier to stop at the natural level and mistake it for the heavenly. Brass is mistaken for gold more easily than clay is.

Discussing this on Pints With Jack, one of the cohosts said the solution to loving good things too much is not to love them less but to love the best things more. That’s where Aslan is trying to take Digory. But notice how the lion meets him where he is.

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On their official website, Netflix broke multiple gigantic news items about Greta Gerwig’s new Narnia movie.

The biggest pieces of news are:

• Confirmation of the title Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew

• New cinematic release date: moved from this Thanksgiving to February 12, 2027

• Theater expansion: moving from only IMAX to a wide theatrical release with IMAX prev…

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Last year, Ben Sasse was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given a few months to live, but thanks to “Providence, prayer, and a miracle drug,” he’s still alive.

While that drug has extended his life, it has not (at least yet) changed his long-term fortunes. Barring an actual miracle, he will die soon.

You may remember Sasse as a …

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Both Uncle Andrew and Digory face the consequences of their actions. For his part, Digory accepts the need for confession. Meanwhile, the Cabby begins to accept his new (but true) identity as king of Narnia.

Chapter 11 “Digory and His Uncle Are Both in Trouble”

Interestingly, chapter 6 is titled “The Beginning of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles,” and now in chapter 11, it’s “Digory and His Uncle Are Both in Trouble.” What Lewis means by “in trouble” is facing the consequences of their actions.

In chapter 6, Uncle Andrew is confronted with someone, Jadis, who epitomizes and embodies all his bluster. Now, he faces the very degradation he imposed on animals and the dehumanization he inflicted on Polly and others through his experimentation. This is what my grandmother would call his “chickens coming home to roost.”

But even in this moment, there is grace and humor, which provides Uncle Andrew another opportunity to change his ways.

The newly awakened animals are ignorant of humans and clothing, so they aren’t sure what Uncle Andrew might be. Interestingly, just as Uncle Andrew can’t understand them, the animals can’t understand him. Their unintentional ignorance and his purposeful stupidity have created a communication gap—Narnia’s Tower of Babel moment.

Unlike the way he treated others, the animals attempt to treat him well. Unfortunately, Uncle Andrew has masked his humanity, so the animals debate his essence. It’s a reminder that the more we engage in the dehumanization of others, the more we dehumanize ourselves.

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