As the wait over the eagerly anticipated release of The Chronicles of Narnia is almost over, the debate as to whether the film has a clear Biblical and Christian theme, or whether the morals in the book are just there coincidently has seemingly been concluded. An unpublished letter written by the author of the books himself has provided decisive evidence of the Christian message deeply imbedded in the Narnia books.
A letter sent by CS Lewis to a child fan in 1961 reveals that Lewis was referring to Jesus Christ as he portrayed the mystical land and its saviour – the lion Aslan.The letter tells the child: “The whole Narnian story is about Christ.”
The clear letter has been made public by Walter Hooper, who is a literary advisor to the Lewis estate.
Over the past few months the hype surrounding the movie release has been building, and this in turn has caused great debate as to whether Lewis’ portrayal of Aslan the Lion is a depiction of Christ.
Christians, since the books initial release have seen clearly the greatly highlighted Gospel themes in the stories, but secularists have chosen to simply state that the themes are general and not specifically aimed at depicting the Christian story.
On Dec. 8th, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe will be released across cinemas throughout the UK, and stars Tilda Swinton and Jim Broadbent. The movie uses some of the most hi-tech digital effects and wizardry ever seen on the big screen, and cost a total of £75 million to make.
