What can I say Thomas?

It is written:

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I have other sheep that are not in this flock, and I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
John 10:16 NCV

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Whoever is not against us is with us.
Mark 9:40 NCV

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Sometimes I wonder if we would condemn Jesus because He did things we do not agree with Obviously we are against things today that he did.

I am an SDA who has just read through this thread for the first time.

First, I would like to clarify something. In an earlier post, someone mentioned that the first book of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia should, at least, be read. I assume that poster had meant "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (or TLTWATW). There is some controversy as to which constitutes the "first book". Lewis WROTE TLTWATW (which is an allegory of the Gospel story) first, then wrote "The Magician's Nephew" (TMN) (an allegory of Creation) as a PREQUEL to TLTWATW. If you only read one book in the series, read TLTWATW, but you really should read TMN first, then read TLTWATW, for, otherwise, there will be elements in TLTWATW that you will not fully understand.

(And isn't that just like reading the Bible? If you read the Gospels without having read Genesis, you will not really understand why it was necessary for Christ to die for your sin.)

Secondly, I am deeply concerned and saddened for those of you who would condemn any of C.S. Lewis' Christian writings (i.e. those works that he wrote after his conversion), without first reading them. If you are basing your opinions on what others have told you, or what you have read about Lewis' works, then you are letting others do your thinking for you. Our Lord gave you wisdom and a mind to use. I strongly urge you to read what you are talking about before commenting about it.

For example, suppose someone had never read any of EGW's writings, but had only heard about her books and her prophecies from other sources (for example, Hokema's "The Four Major Cults"). Without personally reading EGW's works, such a person could very easily come to the conclusion (as, sadly, all too many non-SDA Christians do) that she, herself was a sorceress or a witch or some such. (Please do not misunderstand me; I am only using this hypothetical comparison to make a point. I believe that EGW was a prophetess of God.)

Would you not think that it would be terribly unfair of someone to condemn any of EGW's books without first reading them? If so, then, likewise, it would be unfair to condemn TLTWATW without first reading it.

(As someone else has pointed out, it would only take a couple of hours to read superficially, but you should probably take a little bit more time to read and analyze it more deeply. Like Lewis Caroll's books, The Chronicles of Narnia can be enjoyed and understood by both adults and children.)

Thirdly, it has been suggested that reading the book or watching the movie without understanding the Gospel and and without knowledge of the Bible, will cause a person NOT to see the allegory. I have read "user reviews" of the movie (for example, at www.imdb.com) by atheists who were upset at the patent Christian theme of the movie! So, (apparently) the Gospel story comes out so clear in this movie, that even atheists and agnostics "get it."

Fourthly, I have read both here and elsewhere that the movie is remarkably true to the book.

I had previously been planning NOT to see the movie because I was (predjudicially) "certain" that it would not have any resemblance to the book and would either downplay, or altogether omit, the Christian allegorical themes of the book. However, I am now given to understand that the allegory is in no way diluted from the original book, so now I DO intend to see it for myself.

By the way, it may interest some of you to know that C.S. Lewis' grandson was involved in the production of the movie. This is probably the reason why the Christian allegory was not diminished (if, what I have read, is true).

So, I do not intend to let others do my thinking for me. I will see the movie and come to an opinion after having viewed it.

If you are worried that Lewis was not really a Christian, or that TLTWATW will, somehow, pollute your mind, then I would suggest reading one of his non-fiction works first, such as "Mere Christianity". (I would also suggest "The Screwtape Letters" but that, after all, is a ficitional allegory, or, if you will, a parable, not a work of non-fiction.)

You might also be interested in his other non-fiction works such as "The Problem of Pain", "Surprised by Joy" or "The Four Loves".

After first meeting the Saviour and a few other folks, I, for one, very much look forward to meeting Mr. Lewis in the Kingdom (or be extremely surprised if he is not there; but it is not my place to judge who will or will not be there).

In His Love and Mercy,

"Steddy" (a.k.a. "Edmund" :-)

Good points Steddy all around . However I still think that without some knowledge of the Bible the allegories would not be picked up, in either the books or the movie.

And yes except for some minor changes the movie stuck very close to the book, at times even using the exact same phrases, like "he's not a tame lion". I was reluctant to go see it for the same reason as you and besides I really don't go to movies or generally even enjoy them (It's been 10-15 years since I'd been to one)

In the paper today it was pointed out the viewers of the movie gave it 3.9 stars out of 4, whereas the reviewers (critics) gave it 2.8. I wonder if that might be because most reviewers are not Christian and were therefore prejudiced against it?

Redfog

There are points in the Chronicals of Narnia, more so in the Magician's Nephew, a Horse and His Boy, and The Last Battle, that if you are familiar with Mrs. White, really stick out.

The movie was faithful to the story line, but it missed several of the neuances brought forth in the book, the cartoon and the Focus on the Family dramiazation of it.

In the movie, when Aslan appears it is no big deal. In the book the children and the beavers are afraid to approach him. The children offer the beavers to go first, Mr. Beaver replys "Sons and daughters of Adam and Eve before Anamals" so Peter replys "ladies first" to only hear "your'e the eldest, you should go first" and Mrs. Beaver warns with a nervous voice "He's waiting." Walking with Aslan to the stone table the girls long to put their hands into his mane but would not dream of doing it until he asked them to, and the White Witch is terrorfied of his name. While in the movie the subjects simply bow to what had all the awe of a kitten, the girls simply place their hands in his mane, and instead of terror at his name the White Witch simply responds "If it's a war he wants it's a war he'll get."

The actresses, while mostly doing an excellent job, were a bit weak in the dread then the tearfulness in the walking with then the killing of Aslan.

The weakness in the movie was that it was no more than basically an overview of the story, and could have had more stars if it was more of a telling of the story including more of the neuances. It would not have taken too much longer to add some depth to the story, even if it was simply showing that Aslan was the mighty lion and not snaglepuss.

Dave, "I agree with your posts" Wow,you have been posting some powerful statements on this topic! If Razor and you were to be playing Baseball on opposite teams, and razor tried to "steal 2nd" You would have him thrown out, cause he's way off base (at least in my "fantasy Baseball scenerio")

-I had not read any of CS Lewis. I attended public schools in the 70's and 80's.(way too crazy their now though! ) where these books were not even mentioned. My son is in grade 5 is 11 years old and has read the Narnia series. I went to the movie last night with my wife, son and self (like I could go without myself??? LOL ) With my son beside me, it was interesting to hear his quiet comments durring the film. On the drive home we discussed the film...He taught me and told me about the parallel images of the movie. All 3 of us could moreso understand the images than if we were OBLIVIOUS (if that were possible) to the Creation story and story of redemption. My son stated that if we are to isolate from this film, we may as well not watch the news on TV or read a newspaper... Interesting statement from an 11 year old?!
-I would rate this story as a 10 out of 10. The film portrayal would get an 8.5 out of 10. But then again I am a great critic...

-This debate is just a continuation from the debate that people have either for or against movies such as "The Passion" or any other film with Christian values or parallells...

A couple of posts on here have alluded to Mrs. White reading books about King Arthur and other books of historical fiction. Can anyone point me to where I find more info on this? Thanks.

Redfog

The book "Ellen White in Eurpope" mentions how excited she was to be see the hills for the setting of William Tell, and also at her last home in Elmshaven they have her fireplace with the pictures from the knights of the round table and the tours tell the story. Also, you can read the different studies, some in the White vault (at least at Andrews, and a cassett tape at least at Loma Linda) and some published about Mrs. White and popular fiction.

Thanks Kevin. You don't know of a web site that brings these things up do you?

Redfog