Christians battle over 'Narnia' Conservative and liberal theologians
try to lay claim to author C.S. Lewis's towering legacy as a Christian thinker. | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor The
legacy of one of the 20th century's most influential religious figures is
suddenly up for grabs, thanks to a new family film intended to make millions at
the box office. That's because Walt Disney's "The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," set for
release nationwide Friday, has helped fuel fresh interest in the beliefs of its
late creator, C.S. Lewis. Though perhaps best known for his entertaining
children's books, Lewis has attained a following among millions of Christians
drawn to explore - and debate - what he believed to lie at the heart of
Christianity.
In one
camp are evangelicals, whose churches regularly use Lewis's book "Mere
Christianity" to introduce newcomers to orthodox understandings of Jesus
Christ. The evangelical magazine Christianity Today goes so far as to call this
work "the best religious book of the 20th century." "He still gives one of the best
rational defenses of the Christian faith," says David L. Neuhouser,
director of the Center for the Study of C.S. Lewis and Friends at Taylor
University, an evangelical school in Upland, Ind. "His view of biblical
truth in particular might not be where fundamentalists would like him to be,
but in the important things [such as doctrinal claims], I think he is one with
evangelicals.... Evangelicals do claim him, certainly." Others, however, insist that Lewis cared
chiefly about bringing the worldwide Christian family together. Since he helped
advance a vibrant ecumenical movement in his day, he must not be reduced to a
sectarian champion posthumously, according to the Rev. Dr. Clair McPherson,
associate priest at the Church of the Transfiguration, an Episcopal
congregation in lower Lewis "makes it very clear ... that
his purpose is not to be biased toward any denominational point of view or even
any theological point of view within Christianity," says Reverend
McPherson, who's been leading about 50 adults this fall in a four-week study of
Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." "I would never
say to evangelicals, 'you can't have him.' I would say, 'he belongs to all of
us.' " Laying claim to Lewis's legacy is
serious business in the diverse world of 21st century Christianity. That's
because 42 years after his death, this Through a corpus that includes more than
30 books, Lewis explains and popularizes a faith that now nurses painful
fractures along political as well as theological lines. Whichever of the
competing strains can lay claim to his legacy stands to enjoy the fruits of
association with a widely loved giant of Christian faith. In this milieu, left-leaning Christians
are refusing to let Lewis fossilize as an archetype of modern-day
evangelicalism. Adherents to "a sectarian style in
confrontational evangelical circles could learn a lot from Lewis," says
Stephen G. Post, a bioethicist at Such an eclectic method would please
Lewis, he says, because it reflects the author's commitment to reason and
"humility rather than hubris." As a writer, Lewis defies easy
categorization, as his books span genres ranging from his academic discipline
of medieval literature to Christian apologetics, science fiction, and fantasy.
As a Christian, he called Anglicanism his denominational home, yet he continues
to inspire devotion to other branches of Christianity. David Tiede Hottinger of "I became a Catholic in no small
part due to the writings of C.S. Lewis," Mr. Hottinger says. Hearing Lewis
reflect reverently on the church's sacraments, Hottinger says, made him rethink
and recommit: "I guess it was a reconversion I had by reading Lewis in
those years." Lewis resonates with Roman Catholics and
evangelicals alike, Hottinger says, through his refusal to water down Christian
doctrine and yet write in a "style quite inviting." Lewis insists,
for instance, in "Mere Christianity" that Jesus must have either been
the Son of God he claimed to be, or a madman. Though he keeps readers laughing
page after page, he also leaves no room for fence-sitters. Others, however, emphasize that Lewis
never framed humanity in terms of who was inside or outside the fold. Bioethicist Post contends, for instance,
that Lewis's determination always to "embrace rather than alienate the
other" in such books as "The Abolition of Man" means "he
wouldn't have given the time of day" to such contemporary hot sellers as
the "Left Behind" series, where fictional accounts imagine
nonbelievers suffering on earth during the biblically forecast rapture. Without doubt, Lewis appeals to readers
well beyond evangelical circles. The seven-book Narnia series has sold 95
million copies since its original release a half century ago. Sales of his
nonfiction books have climbed 125 percent since January 2001, according to
Harper San Francisco, which publishes six Lewis titles in its "Signature
Classics" series. Only 25 percent of those sales came via the Christian
Booksellers Association; the other 75 percent sold through such general market
outlets as Costco and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Evangelicals appreciate where Lewis
comes down on matters of orthodoxy, says Marc Tauber, deputy publisher at
Harper San Francisco. But, he suggests, the all-too-human way Lewis gets there
- by welcoming human passions and foibles while trusting in unconditional
divine love - is sure to keep kindling feelings of kinship between Lewis and
those outside evangelicalism. "Lewis somehow supersedes those
differences" demarcating liberal and conservative Christians, Mr. Tauber
says. "I think that's what people love about Lewis: He's not afraid of the
doubts.... But at the end of the day, it comes back to faith." |