I think Narnia just shows that whatever faith you are in to, never let it go. It is the only way that makes you stronger, by having faith.

Sorry for sounding one-minded, but I was reading part of the Quran today and Allah was definitely not like Aslan.

I'm not sure any god is like Aslan. He is a physical personality that represents Christian idealism, but he is certainly not quite like Christ (who did not guide his followers towards war against his enemies and in fact was betrayed specifically for this reason,) nor is he like the god of the Old Testament (who liberally annihilated whole civilizations and killed children via an angel of death, and who incidentally is more similar to the Allah of the Quran.)

Berserker, the Egyptian government and its people had held the Jewish people in slavery for years. At one point the Pharaoh had ordered the murder of every Jewish baby boy. (see Exodus chapter one) The God of the Bible calls the Jewish people his children. If you were a parent, and you were the government, and someone murdered your sons, would it be right and good to let that person go free when he promised to oppress the rest of your kids even more?
Say you gave him nine miracles to show you were in charge and you told him to repent and release the rest of your living children, but he didn't?
Would anybody want you as their ruler if you didn't stop evil?

As far as why Christ didn't have his followers go to war. That is because he said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." (John 18:36 kjv)

Islam is different because it tells its believers to fight all into submission to Islam. Christianity and the Bible are about proving why we should believe in it.

Berserker, you are right when you say Aslan isn't like any god, because he's a lion, he's from Lewis' imagination, and no one worships him. It comes down to who Lewis intended Aslan to represent and whether he does or not, not whether we want him to. Aslan's "not a tame lion" so we shouldn't say he's something he's not.

Well, I think Aslan is a LOT like Christ IF you remember that Christ is also God, that there is no difference. And while Jesus may not have led any wars during his 33 years of physical earthly ministry, there is spiritual warfare going on all the time between the forces of heaven and hell, and the prize is our souls. Christ defeated Satan in a similar way that Aslan defeated the White Witch, by briefly making her think he was dead while he freed whomever was enslaved in her castle, then appearing on the scene to deal the final blow (in our world, this has not happened yet, IMHO)

Of course, hell is outmatched to the point that they can't possibly win unless we surrender, which is what people often do.

Christ defeated Satan in a similar way that Aslan defeated the White Witch, by briefly making her think he was dead while he freed whomever was enslaved in her castle, then appearing on the scene to deal the final blow (in our world, this has not happened yet, IMHO)

Both Christ and Aslan really died. The payment for sin would not be fulfilled unless someone paid the penalty, which was death. The important thing to remember is that they did not stay dead.

What I meant by that Aslan is not like a god was that he is God in Narnia but he is not God in our world and I myself think of Aslan as a representation of Jesus Christ because worshipping Aslan as God would be wrong in our world.

Of course you can love Narnia without being a Christian. Many do. The reason is because Lewis wrote to books FIRSTLY for entertainment. Not to make morals palatable. You may even find meaning and similarities with your religion but because Lewis was a Christian it is hard for Narnia to reach it's full potential for you if you are not Christian. That's just my opinion. May I ask what faith you are of?

I am a Christian, and don't see Aslan as representing any other religion. Sorry that I am being confusing, I mean that I shouldn't pray to Aslan, even though he is intended to represent Jesus. Sometimes, I see a painting of The Lion of Judah and think "Aslan" or see a painting of the Lamb and think "Aslan" again. C.S. Lewis once wrote a letter to someone who was having a problem with liking Aslan more than God. I will have to go find the letter...

But God did have his followers go to war against pagan nations. The difference is that it was a call to fight for God's Truth, a call to holyiness. It wasn't used to oppress or demonise people. In modern times though, we should only go to war to fight injustice and to defend (not take land, fight for oil etc.)

I just love Narnia for entertainment....its very interesting to me. Its not religious for me, its just very different. I love the books, but I dont compare it with my Islamic faith in any way!

I am a non-believer, but I enjoy the books as well. After all, fantasy literature is based on pleasurable fantasies, such as what if magic was real? What if we could instantly travel to another world through a portal that defies the laws of physics? And so on and so forth.

To turn the tables a bit here, are Christians bothered at all by the inclusion of characters such as Bacchus and Silenus, the River God, wood spirits, tree spirits, etc? I would think not.

To answer Tesseract as a Christian, my response is: no I am not in the least bothered by the use of mythology- I find it very enriching. In Narnia, the use of mythological gods and such is in no way pagan or offensive to my faith.
The mythology in general allows me to see my own faith with a fresh perspective, because it is my belief that most mythologies are in some way biblically rooted, because I find so many similarities. It's fascinating, and C.S. Lewis's use of mythology is part of what makes me love his work.

To turn the tables a bit here, are Christians bothered at all by the inclusion of characters such as Bacchus and Silenus, the River God, wood spirits, tree spirits, etc? I would think not.

It doesn't bother me, but I know a lot of Christians who sadly are bothered by it, and avoid the books for those very reasons.

It would be interesting to read an analysis on the use of Pagan mythology in Narnia, whether it's wrong or right for a Christian to write or read, and why or why not. I think that would be a fascinating study...

~Riella

To turn the tables a bit here, are Christians bothered at all by the inclusion of characters such as Bacchus and Silenus, the River God, wood spirits, tree spirits, etc? I would think not.

No, it doesn't bother me all. Personally, I've always loved reading fairytales and myths and legends.

Actually, what Lewis did was make a subtle gesture that Bacchus and Silenus were semi-deities (similar to Tolkien's Valar) that spanned across the worlds. In other worlds, they were angelic beings granted power or status in the worlds for specific purposes. Supposedly in some worlds they would take different forms. In Narnia they took the same forms of Greece.
He was basically taking Pagan Myths and Christianizing them. Lots of people do that (Hans Christian Anderson, anyone?) and it makes reading fun. It's kind of like an easter egg for nerds. I mean historians.

To turn the tables a bit here, are Christians bothered at all by the inclusion of characters such as Bacchus and Silenus, the River God, wood spirits, tree spirits, etc? I would think not.

Unfortunately, I know some Christians who think Narnia is evil, because it is fantasy. They used to love the books, and then "they were shown the light, how evil it is". It's actually really sad . . . .