Posted by: @aslanthelion

If he’s lying down on his belly, it wouldn’t exactly be a straight view of his back like it would be if he was sitting.

Presumably, C. S. Lewis felt it would be too crass to have Aslan say they would only see his rear end.  

Posted by: @col-klink

Posted by: @aslanthelion

If he’s lying down on his belly, it wouldn’t exactly be a straight view of his back like it would be if he was sitting.

Presumably, C. S. Lewis felt it would be too crass to have Aslan say they would only see his rear end.  

Yeah, makes sense. That reminds me of a comment someone made earlier that I responded to, I won’t say what but both had to be taken down because they came across sounding kind of disrespectful—-which wasn’t my intention and I’m sure wasn’t the other person’s either, but I get why the mods removed them.

Posted by: @aslanthelion

“‘They shall see only my back,’ said Aslan.

I don't know if this was the intention, but it reminded me of God allowing Moses to see his back or the edge of his robe on Mt. Sinai. It may have been an act of mercy since sin can't be in the presence of God. As frightened as the bullies were at seeing his back, what would have happened if they had seen his face? Would it have been akin to Nadab and Abihu's fates?

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
²⁶ And after my skin is ^a]">[a]destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my ^b]">[b]heart yearns within me!

In our sinful state we are unable to approach God. And God can't allow sin to go unpunished because that would contradict His nature.

(*facepalms when I realize that everyone had already come to this conclusion, lol*)

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

I think bullying is a thing that a lot of kids deal with. I haven't experienced any, so I'm grateful for that. Though having been in children's ministry, they had shared prayer requests about bullies in schools.

I don't know if that would be generational. My grandparents, parents, and myself all dealt with some degree of it, but I have the idea that bullying in the past was merely physical, but not relating to social ostracism so much. Nowadays we have the internet which opens up more opportunities for individuals to bully others with fewer consequences. I truly wonder what Lewis would have thought of social media, and it's psychological effects. 

Hello fellow Narnia fans!

As a Brit. Aslan's position is like the lions round Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London - these look majestic even from behind!!  We know that Aslan always obeys his own rules and that he is lord of Narnia but "has another name" in our world.  Therefore he is looking towards his own world and must stay out of ours.  Turning your back on someone is also a form of shunning them from your presence or showing that they are utterly unimportant.  The "back" quoted is Aslan's back half (if you like) not necessarily just his physical back.  I love this passage as we know that all bullies are cowards and just the sight of a lion's back half would be enough to terrify the awful kids at the school.  I always have a big laugh at Lewis' follow-up comments about the Head whose friends saw she was no good in the job, then got her into inspecting other schools (anyone in England who knows about Ofsted will know what he was talking about), and when she was no good at that they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after!!  

Best wishes to all

Helen