Last Time I Checked, Jesus Wasn’t a Lion
From The Colbert Report:
“This movie’s been labeled a Christian allegory, just because its hero, “Aslan the lion,” sacrifies his life on a hilltop to save the world, and through the power of love rises from the grave to defeat evil. Sorry, doesn’t work as an allegory. Last time I checked, Jesus wasn’t a lion. This is worse than taking the Christ out of Christmas; this is taking the Christ out of Jesus…[The Passion of Christ], now that was a great Christian allegory. I’m pretty sure Jim Caviezel symbolized Jesus.” (from Jane Dark)
hee!
This is the sort of reaction that makes sitting through church readings from the Song of Solomon such incredible fun.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a children’s book, written for children to enjoy but also written to show that there is a loving, caring God out there who wants to give his life for his people. Although this book isn’t strictly Christians, it does display the story of Christ. Yes, Jesus may not be a physical lion. However, we use this term to show the ruling sovereignty that Jesus has over us (like a lion has over all animals in the safari). C.S. Lewis wanted children (and adults as well) to realize after reading this book that there is a higher power that cares so much for every single person. Lewis wanted people to get to this point and begin to search for God. Hope this helped explain some things!
One more thing. Here is a quote from Voyage of the Dawn Treader:
“Are—are you [in our world], too, Sir?” said Edmund.
‘I am,’ said Aslan. ‘But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.’
This is C.S. Lewis’ goal, that all children who read these books would come back to their own worlds and search for God.