Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of CS Lewis-Michael Ward | CS Lewis Lecture 2015
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- čas přidán 1. 03. 2015
- Part two of the 2015 C.S. Lewis Lecture by Dr. Michael Ward at Westminster College in Fulton, MO on "Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of CS Lewis." Delivered on Feb. 26, 2015 within the Coulter Science Center on Westminster's campus.
This lecture centers around Dr. Ward’s groundbreaking study on Lewis’s symbolic use of the medieval understanding of the universe in writing his Tales of Narnia. The study has provoked a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles but of Lewis’s whole literary and theological outlook.
The Chronicles of Narnia is Lewis’s seven-book series detailing the adventures of children in a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts and talking animals. Dr. Ward is a best-selling author and a popular Public Broadcasting Station commentator, as well as a world expert on British author and theologian C.S. Lewis.
The Harrod-C.S. Lewis Legacy Lecture and Professorship of Religious Studies were endowed in the fall of 2012 by James W. “Jim” Harrod, Westminster Class of 1957, and his wife Sharon from Horseshoe Bay, TX. The Harrod-C.S. Lewis Professor of Religious Studies researches, writes and teaches on the history, current condition and future of religion. The Lectures are intended to honor the legacy of the late British theologian by engaging the campus community and the surrounding community in topics and issues that were important to him and that stimulated his writing.
Learn more
Dr. Ward's morning lecture on "The Theological Imagination of C.S. Lewis": • The Theological Imagin...
Westminster College: www.wcmo.edu
It starts at 6:10
Splendid indeed. What a wealth is offered by Michael Ward.
Splendid, simply splendid including Dr. Ward's concluding remarks! With deep gratefulness, thank you!
Question: Is there a companion book, other than Michal Ward’s, that would make a good companion book that would help to see this code more easily while reading the Narnia books? (Adult and children’s books.)
And- Thank you, Mr. Ward - for all your hard work and for being Lewis’s spokesperson!
Enjoyed but there is an issue that the speaker refers to diagrams but these are not visible in the video.
If Lewis had recreated all the major events of Jesus' life with Aslan, then Aslan would have been an allegory, and Lewis said he wasn't an allegory for Christ but a "supposal." He imagined what it might be like if our Jesus chose to become incarnate in a fantasy world as he had previously been in ours. The sacrifice of Aslan does evoke the sacrifice of Christ, but it isn't an allegory representing the real crucifixion and resurrection but a separate physical act similar to it that was performed in Narnia well after the actual crucifixion and resurrection, which still happened in the world of the books. Edmund wouldn't gain real, spiritual salvation through the act of Aslan in Narnia, but through the once-for-all sacrifice and resurrection of Christ on Earth. Aslan's act would point Edmund back to the original sacrifice, but not replace it as if the original didn't exist and was not necessary anymore.
To any people out there who are undoubtedly smarter then me when Ward is talking about a good story having atmosphere so that you are there in the world of the book and bad stories are all plot and no atmosphere, I was wondering if a book could have too much atmosphere. Case in point the Clan of the Cave Bear books, I was listening to the audiobook and while the plot is good I just found the atmosphere to be too much. The author spent so much time on world building to the point where several times I fell asleep listening to the book and when I woke I didn't miss a thing when it comes to the plot. She left no room for my imagination to take over and actively fill in gaps. Sadly in the last book I gave up I just couldn't take one more description of the grasses and the trees and the shadows of the mountains and the.... so on and so on.
I'd like to hear your take on this.
Tolkien was and is often accused of doing this regarding Middle-Earth. I feel that Lewis left it more to the reader’s imagination and struck the right balance between world building and the key component of mystery.
Albeit; Lewis did have the whole of Christianity as his chosen template. I feel authors have a tendency to “overbuild” when starting from scratch.
Lastly, I consider that character and motive are the best aspects of good storytelling. The setting should only
be the stage the players act upon.
fascinating
I would argue that Narnia is not a fantasy land in relation to the England where the children normally live.. It is another world within reality.
Thank you!
this man is a good communicator.
Brilliant
oh this should be good
Begins 6:14
Thank you!
I won't wait .com
No visuals/diagrams. 👎
👎🏼
As if what we have already been over is not enough, we find
what a gross pagan Lewis really was when we notice that he portrayed Dionysus
(Bacchus), Silenus and the Maenads as good characters in his stories!
First, let's find out exactly what this pagan deity and his
followers are.
In the Encyclopedia Britainnica (1963 and 1974 editions)
Dionysus is described "in Greek cult and mythology, a nature god of
fruitfulness and vegetation, but tending to specialize as a god of wine...The
alternative names Bacchus (Bacchos...); Sabazuis and Bassareus are
Thracian." He was also called
Bromios.
He is believed to have been introduced to Greece from Thrace
and Phyrgia. While in Greece the orgiastic worship of him was toned down,
"In his native country his worshippers sought to become possessed by or
assimilated to him by wild dancing and the tearing in pieces and eating of
animals..." The victims of this carnage may have originally been human.
The female attendants of Dionysus were known as the Maenads.
Many women were attracted to him and took to the hills wearing faun skins and
crowns of ivy. The ivy wreath itself
being one of his personal attributes. (Remember the ivy wreaths around the tops
of the mazers of wine in Prince Caspian.) Their ritual cry was
"Euoi!" They danced by torchlight to the flute and kettledrum and
used wine freely. While under the god's power (really devils) they supposedly
possessed occult powers, could charm snakes, suckle animals, and were given
super strength to tear their living victims in pieces before devouring them
raw. In Greece a dancing circle surrounded his altar. Through this complete,
unconditional surrender to the devils in this orgy, they believed they could
cross over into the eternal, spiritual realm.
The phallus was a prominent symbol in Dionysus' rituals and
was carried in processions in his honor. One of the oldest known prayer-hymns
is one used by the followers of Dionysus and is addressed to the genitals.[1]
His followers included fertility spirits, such as satyrs.
He was said to have the "gift" of prophecy and was
given a position at that wretched shrine of Delphi only slightly lower than
that of Apollo. He often took animal forms and, interestingly enough, was
associated with the lion, among others.
Silenus in mythology was the son of Hermes or Pan
(Satan). He was said to be a nymph and
was the companion and nurse of Dionysus.
Which gives room for speculation regarding sodomy since Hermes was
associated with such.
Silenus was often depicted in the Bacchus' train in art and
was generally shown as "a little pot-bellied old man with snub nose and
bald head, riding on an ass and supported by satyrs..." (Quite
appropriately, there is a statue of him carrying an infant Dionysus in the
Vatican.) In the plural they were said to be the same as satyrs, but older,
wiser and drunker. They were
characterized as prophets and expert musicians.
Now, having laid all this disgusting filth out, let's take a
look at how C.S. Lewis portrays them in his Chronicles of Narnia for kids to
read!
In Prince Caspian, Chapter XI, "The Lion Roars,"
Lewis opens to us his true heart: (The
quotes are somewhat long in order to show the context as Lewis has it.)
p. 152 - "The crowd and the dance round Aslan (for it
had become a dance once more) grew so thick and rapid that Lucy was
confused. She never saw where certain
other people came from who were soon capering among the trees. One was a youth, dressed only in a fawn-skin,
with vine-leaves wreathed in his curly hair. His face would have been almost
too pretty for a boy's, if it had not looked so extremely wild. You felt, as Edmund said when he saw him a
few days later, 'There's a chap who might do anything --- absolutely anything.' He seemed to have a great many names ---
Bromios, Bassareus, and the Ram, were three of them. There were a lot of girls
with him, as wild as he. There was even, unexpectedly, someone on a
donkey. And everybody was laughing: and
everybody was shouting out, "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi." [Emphasis added.]
Note the wild dance, the extremely wild faced youth that is
Bromios (otherwise known and Dionysus or Bacchus), the wild girls (Maenads),
the man on the donkey (Silenus) who is also said to cry
"Refreshments!" (which in the context of Dionysus would be wine), and
the cries of "Euoi!". What
Lewis is describing here is nothing other than a Bacchanalian orgy!
Notice also that Lucy is confused. Lewis gives himself away on this one.
1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in
all churches of the saints.
Again --
p. 154 - "One saw sticky and stained fingers
everywhere, and, though mouths were full the laughter never ceased nor the
yodeling cries of Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi-oi, till all of a sudden everyone
felt at the same moment that the game (whatever it was), and the feast, ought
to be over, and everyone flopped down breathless on the ground and turned his
face to Aslan to hear what he would sat next.
"At that
moment the sun was just rising and Lucy remembered something and whispered to
Susan,
" 'I say, Su,
I know who they are."
" 'Who?'
"
" 'The boy
with the wild face is Bacchus and the old one on the donkey is Silenus. Don't you remember Mr. Tumnus telling us
about them long ago?' "
" 'Yes, of
course. But I say Lu ----' "
" 'What?'
"
" 'I
wouldn't have felt very safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met
them without Aslan.'"
" 'I should
think not,' Said Lucy." [Emphasis
added.]
Again, all the sign posts are in place and Lewis even puts
the event at sunrise!
Continuing --
p. 192 - "Bacchus and the Maenads --- his fierce,
madcap girls --- and Silenus, were still with them. Lucy, fully rested, jumped
up. Everyone was awake, everyone was laughing, flutes were playing, cymbals
clashing. Animals, not Talking Animals, were crowding in upon them from every
direction.
" 'What is
it, Aslan?' said Lucy, her eyes dancing and her feet wanting to dance.
" 'Come,
children," said he. 'Ride on my
back again to-day.' "
" 'Oh
lovely!' cried Lucy, and both girls climbed on to the warm golden back as they
had done no-one knew how many years before. Then the whole party moved off ---
Aslan leading. Bacchus and his Maenads leaping, rushing and turning
somersaults, the beasts frisking round them, and Silenus and his donkey
bringing up the rear." [Emphasis added.]
Now, note here that Lewis actually names the Maenads and
describes them as "fierce". To
complete the description of this devil worship for your children to mimic in
their play, he adds the flutes and cymbals, and animals are brought in, though
their fate at the hands of the Maenads is carefully excluded.
He also describes them going down a hill into
town where they found a girls' school.
The girls were dressed in ugly tight collars, thick stockings and tight
hairdos. The teacher and class all fled
in terror except one girl. Aslan called her "sweetheart" and asked
her to join his wild crowd, which she did.
She was instantly dancing with the Maenads who helped her take off some
of her "unnecessary" and uncomfortable clothes!
So, Lewis is telling your children that in order to be part
of this wild bunch (which he portrays as fun), they must join in the dancing
and take off some of their clothes!
This sounds remarkably similar to one of the accounts in the
Bible -- the occasion on which Aaron made the golden calf and Israel worshipped
it with a wild feast and dancing party. When Moses got back down the mountain,
he confronted Aaron and received a stupid excuse. Then we read, Exodus 32:25
And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked
unto their shame among their enemies:) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the
camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the
sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go
in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his
brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the
children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the
people that day about three thousand men. From this account we can see that the
LORD does not look lightly on this sort of thing. Allowing C.S. Lewis to teach your children
such heathenism is perilous to say the least!
The most revolting thing, which has been evident right
along, is stated plainly in the quote on p. 192. Aslan is leading! Now, if Aslan is supposedly the Lord Jesus
Christ, as many assure us and as Lewis himself allowed, then what we find here
is the grossest blasphemy! This is then
supposedly Jesus Christ leading a Satanic orgy of Bacchus! This is sick beyond
description!
We have already determined that the real identity of Aslan
in The Chronicles of Narnia is actually the sun god, but Lewis allowed and
promoted the notion that this was an allegory of Biblical truth and that Aslan
was indeed a picture of Christ Jesus - God in the flesh. Therefore, it is all the same as if he had
written such filth about the Lord of glory in the first place! Deuteronomy
32:41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I
will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
Amen!! Selah!!
One interesting point here is that in The Last Battle on
page 170 Lewis has Digory saying, "It's all in Plato, all in Plato."
Now, Lewis calls Plato "an overwhelming theological genius"
(Reflections on the Psalms, p. 80), which any discerning Christian familiar
with Plato's works would take strong exception to. Plato was a pagan, Greek
philosopher and his followers called Dionysus "Our Master". So, we
see that C.S. Lewis gave credit to a Dionysus-worshipper as having written long
before Christ was even born all the things that he, Lewis, put in his book!
This is a real admission of guilt, and fits perfectly with Lewis' belief that
Christ fulfilled paganism (Reflections on the Psalms, p. 129). Lewis has showed us plainly who his master
really is, and it is not the Lord Jesus Christ!
The next quote, which also appears in Prince Caspian
(Chapter XV, "Aslan Makes A Door In the Air") brings in the subject
of witchcraft.
p. 205 of Prince Caspian - "Then three or four of the
Red Dwarfs came forward with their tinder boxes and set light to the pile,
which first crackled, and then blazed, and finally roared as a woodland bonfire
on midsummer night ought to do. And everyone sat down in a wide circle around
it.
"Then
Bacchus and Silenus and the Maenads began a dance, far wilder than the dance of
the trees, not merely a dance for fun and beauty (though it was that too) but a
magic dance of plenty, and where their hands touched, and where their feet
fell, the feast came into existence -- sides of roasted meat that filled the
grove with delicious smell, and wheaten cakes and oaten cakes, honey and many-coloured
sugars and cream as think as porridge, and as smooth as still water, peaches,
nectarines, pomegranates, pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries -- pyramids
and cataracts of fruit. Then, in great wooden cups and bowls and mazers,
wreathed with ivy, came the wines; dark, thick ones like syrups of mulberry
juice, and clear red ones like red jellies liquefied, and yellow wines and
green wines and yellowy-green and greenish-yellow." [Emphasis added.]
First off, we have Red Dwarfs lighting the fire, and the
fire is for "midsummer night." The fact that they are Red Dwarfs,
meaning they have red hair, may not seem significant at a glance, but it
emphasizes that nothing is lost on Lewis for symbolism.
Red hair, according to Cirlot's book, symbolizes the lower
regions -- hell. (This is a good reason to stop the myth of the "red
head's fiery temper," by the way.) Midsummer night is the night for the
sun-god's death and temporary descent into hell, so Lewis has the Red Dwarfs
light the fire.
Next, we note that it says a woodland bonfire on midsummer
night. This is not just any fire and not just A midsummer night. This is the
real thing. A high day of sun worhip. This comes from the burning of the bones
from the sacrifices in the bonfire (bone-fire) on the summer solstice. It is a
sabbat of witchcraft as the marriage of the death goddess or moon goddess to
the sun god. The days become shorter from this point as the sun god dies and is
sent for his yearly visit to hell. On December 25th he will be reborn. (We can
see that Lewis' theology fits well with the paganized Roman Catholic Church.)
Everyone sits in a circle around it. Again this is a
powerful witchcraft symbol.
Another pagan/witchy thing is the wild, magic dance of
plenty. Those of "The Craft"are famous for their magic dances.
Pomegranates are a symbol of fertility, and according to the
Greeks sprang from the blood of Dionysus. (Cirlot, pg. 261) (Note: Remember
Satan counterfeits what God does. Hence there were pomegranates used on the
robes of High Priest in Exodus, and the devil corrupts their meaning to dirty
the beautiful things of God.)
The fruit is stacked in a pyramid - a powerful
witchcraft/Luciferian/Masonic symbol.
The whole thing, with Bacchus involved, sounds like a
mixture of a typical English pagan/Wiccan midsummer night celebration and a
Bacchus orgy.
It should be clear by now that C. S. Lewis was a master of
combining many and varied heathen myths to develop his plots. Worst of all,
this is for children! What horrible, ungodly things Lewis has introduced to
them! It's too bad nobody ever explained to him the consequences of such
behavior. Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Perhaps he would not
have cared. Perhaps he had a known "calling" for his father the devil
which he was willingly fulfilling. We will only know when he stands before the
Almighty to be judged someday.
At this point it seems somewhat unnecessary to continue on
with an in-depth study. The point has been made full well. Therefore, it would
seem more useful to simply provide a list of information and observations which
those who wish to can look into for themselves more fully.
klohitman Perhaps this is what kept him from, at last, converting. This would have been scandalous. It has always puzzled people, particularly those closest to him, why he remained outside the Catholic Church.
Could it be that the Catholic Church is moribund and corrupt?
About 180% more pretentious than it needed tobe but still I got the jist of what he was trying to say.
Again, no thanks to his utterly pointless pretentiousness.
Brilliant