(no subject)

[theweaselking]

The New Yorker covers C.S. Lewis - specifically, pointing out that Narnia isn't a Christian allegory at all. It's Mithraic - you know, the guy the Christians copied the Resurrection from.

It's an interesting article, all around, about how Lewis is lionised (pun intended) by Americans and generally viewed with embarassment by the Brits.

Comments

[aberrantangels]

The money quote, for my money anyway:

Keep your belief going, no matter what it takes—the thought not occurring that a belief that needs this much work to believe in isn’t really a belief but a very strong desire to believe.

Closely followed by the counterpoint in re A Grief Observed, about how "his faith becomes less joblike and more Job-like: questioning, unsure—a dangerous quest rather than a querulous dogma."

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

leadensky addressed some of this article over the weekend. Regardless of what or how much Christianity took from Mithraism—and I agree it borrowed quite a bit—I take issue with the author's notion that Jesus is and always has been portrayed as only a lamb, meek, etc. That's not so.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

"Not being meek" doesn't quite cover the leaps you have to make to have Aslan as Christ, though.

Christ is a peasant. He's a carpenter and an itinerant teacher, not a king, not a general. He is, in fact, almost the complete opposite of Aslan.

In a move guaranteed to allow the generation of high-quality electric power from the spinning corpse of J.R.R Tolkien, I offer this analogy: Christ is Frodo to Aslan's Aragorn.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Wait wait wait, let me attach the dynamo!

I'm sure Lewis did borrow from other sources; in fact, the return of Aslan in Prince Caspian puts me very much in mind of the apotheosis of Dionysos, as dramatized in Euripides' The Bacchae (but minus the cannibalism and insanity). The dying and reborn god is a very common myth, as I'm sure you know.

Christ is a gentle figure, but also one who turns social and political order on its head. I doubt the man who drives the moneychangers out of the temple does so mildly, for example.

I'll grant you that what's represented is Lewis's particular view, but it's not unique to him, nor was it the first.

[slyowl.livejournal.com]

Not that I read much of the article, but you also have to consider that although Jesus refused to be crowned king by the crowd at once stage, he was looking forward to a future kingdom with him as the King of Kings. Because he was the servant of all while alive and gave his life away for the sake of everyone, God crowned him obove all authority. Read about Jesus in Revelation and you'll see much more of an Aslan figure than you might have expected.

For example, Rev 5:12 "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!"

Rev 19:11 onwards describes Jesus as a warrior on a white horse leading the armies of heaven. "His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns."

Sorry for the long comment, just my 2c.