Christianity in Narnia

"But there I have a different name. You must learn to know me by that name. This is the very reason why you were brought... that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."
--The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

It is, or ought to be, clear to all of the older and some of the younger readers of the Chronicles that in addition to being lovely stories, the seven books are in fact, a Christian allegory. One, moreover, disasociated from any specific Christian denomination. (By the way, anyone who objects to this standpoint, or thinks that I am reading to much into the books, can pick up a copy of C.S. Lewis's Letters to Children where Lewis states explicitly that the books are Christian allegory, and that he is surprised more people don't realize it.) At any rate, it is perfectly easy to find these paralells-- Aslan dying for the sake of someone who had fallen away, and then rising (even the women being the first ones to know about it), Man first bringing sin into the world (and a different sort of incident involving the Tree of Knowledge), Shasta's 'Exodus' from Calormen, and so on. The point is, C.S. Lewis, since he was writing an allegory and a story, and touching on so many points, could not go into great detail about any one particular point. Here, I will pick some aspect from any of the books (character, event, even just a quotaion) and ask you to help explain its meaning as it relates to the Christian Faith. Email your thoughts to me-- essay, a line or two, stream of consciousness, it doesn't matter-- and I'll post them here so other Narnians can have some healthy food for thought.

The new topic:
The Queen Susan Question. It was brought to my attention in the Forum by the good Bogglesad that there is a question at the end of the Chronicles: What happened to Susan? We know that she ceased to believe in Narnia, that she was not at the platform with the others, and presumably, therefore, she did not 'die' with them. So what do you think? Has Susan really been cast off? If 'once a king or queen, always a king or queen' is really true, how then can she no longer be a part of Narnia? All thoughts, rambles, questions, rants, and diatribes welcome.

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