Why I Go For Narnia
Move over, Harry Potter and King Kong! Make way for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!
More than 50 years ago, Clive Staples Lewis released this seven-volume classic series. Since then, it already sold more than 85 million copies. Walden Media and Walt Disney pictures released the US$200 million movie last year (It opened last Sunday here in the Philippines). Zondervan Publishing (the distributor of the series) estimates that, because of the movie, its book sales will soar from 6 million copies a year to a whopping 60 million copies a year. It is making waves in the box office, its worldwide total up to an estimated $525 Million last week.
Now, you may be asking, “Why are you so excited about Narnia?” Like The Passion of the Christ, it is an excellent springboard to share the Gospel. Narnia has a strong, Biblical message.
Let me introduce you to the man behind Narnia. C.S. Lewis grew up in a Christian family. However, his mother’s death from cancer three months before his 10th birthday shook his belief in God. His father never recovered from the loss. Eventually, Lewis turned his back from God and became an ardent atheist. In his own words, he was “very angry with God for not existing.” Sixteen years later, Lewis had a lengthy debate with J.R. Tolkien, his friend and colleague from Oxford University. (If you remember, Tolkien was the author of the classic The Lord of the Rings.) Lewis wrote that, because of his talks with Tolkien, he finally “gave in and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed.” He described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England… [He] came into Christianity kicking and screaming.”
Since then, C.S. Lewis became the apostle to the skeptics. He wrote books defending Christianity, the most famous of them is the classic Mere Christianity. In 2000, Christianity Today Magazine lauded it the best book of the twentieth century in proclaiming a logical case for the Christian faith. His faith shone through in everything he wrote. That includes Narnia.
People feared that the movie will be a secular version stripped of its Christian themes. But Douglas Gresham, co-producer and stepson of Lewis himself, vowed never to “change the words of the master.”
Thus, I encourage you to watch the movie with your family and friends. Then grab the chance to share the Gospel to them with Narnia as the launching pad for the discussion.
Praise God for this open door!
More than 50 years ago, Clive Staples Lewis released this seven-volume classic series. Since then, it already sold more than 85 million copies. Walden Media and Walt Disney pictures released the US$200 million movie last year (It opened last Sunday here in the Philippines). Zondervan Publishing (the distributor of the series) estimates that, because of the movie, its book sales will soar from 6 million copies a year to a whopping 60 million copies a year. It is making waves in the box office, its worldwide total up to an estimated $525 Million last week.
Now, you may be asking, “Why are you so excited about Narnia?” Like The Passion of the Christ, it is an excellent springboard to share the Gospel. Narnia has a strong, Biblical message.
Let me introduce you to the man behind Narnia. C.S. Lewis grew up in a Christian family. However, his mother’s death from cancer three months before his 10th birthday shook his belief in God. His father never recovered from the loss. Eventually, Lewis turned his back from God and became an ardent atheist. In his own words, he was “very angry with God for not existing.” Sixteen years later, Lewis had a lengthy debate with J.R. Tolkien, his friend and colleague from Oxford University. (If you remember, Tolkien was the author of the classic The Lord of the Rings.) Lewis wrote that, because of his talks with Tolkien, he finally “gave in and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed.” He described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England… [He] came into Christianity kicking and screaming.”
Since then, C.S. Lewis became the apostle to the skeptics. He wrote books defending Christianity, the most famous of them is the classic Mere Christianity. In 2000, Christianity Today Magazine lauded it the best book of the twentieth century in proclaiming a logical case for the Christian faith. His faith shone through in everything he wrote. That includes Narnia.
People feared that the movie will be a secular version stripped of its Christian themes. But Douglas Gresham, co-producer and stepson of Lewis himself, vowed never to “change the words of the master.”
Thus, I encourage you to watch the movie with your family and friends. Then grab the chance to share the Gospel to them with Narnia as the launching pad for the discussion.
Praise God for this open door!
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