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At the seminary we are examining New Covenant Theology in our annual Faculty Lecture Series. You can click here
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C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia are one of the most read and notable works of fiction to appear in the last 100 years. Written for children, the series is an analogy of the Christian life and reflects Lewis' understanding of Christian theology. The first book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, is set for a December 2005 movie release by Disney. If it does well the rest of the series will hopefully be produced, as the Harry Potter series and the now classic Lord of the Rings triology have been. Since I named this site after the third volume in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it seemed that I should at least say something about the Chronicles on this site. This endeavor will be growing over the next couple of months, mainly after I review the movie (I am really interested to see how the Christian message will be handled). Lewis was one of the most brillant and original thinkers of his day, a gifted writer, and one of the most important Christian apologists of the 20th Century. He wrote on theology, ethics, English literature, as well as works of poetry and fiction. Besides the Chronicles he also wrote the science fiction triology Peralandra and the classic Screwtape Letters. Converted later in life, Lewis was a trained as a classical and English literature scholar, not a theologian, and his theology was driven more by logical analysis than a careful examination of the text of Scripture. You can see my review of the book The C. S. Lewis Reader's Encyclopedia from my Book Review Blog for more information on Lewis. I'll be writing a synopsis of the individual Chronicles in the next few months. But in the meantime here is the list: The Lion, The Witch, and The WardrobeIn Narnian chronology The Magician's Nephew would come first and The Horse and His Boy would come after The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. There is actually a debate among Lewis aficionados about whether the series should be read in the published order or the "chronological" order. The new boxed set actually puts them in the "chronological" order. Lewis, himself was ambivilent on the subject. My personal preference is that the first time through it should be read in the published order. The Horse and His Boy is unique in the series as it is the only one set entirely in the world of Narnia with no real reference to "our world." It will also be interesting to see how one particular aspect of the series will be handled. The "evil" nation in the Narnian world, Calormen, is unmistakenly Arabic and Islamic (from the curved swords to the Middle Eastern clothing descriptions). Their country and capital city, Tashban (modeled after Baghdad), is separated from Narnia, its capital of Cair Paravel (Jerusalem) and their good neighbors Archenland, by a great desert. With only a couple of exceptions the Calormen people are characterized as evil, corrupt, oppressive, followers of a false god (Tash), and are often portrayed as buffoons. This is particularly true in The Horse and His Boy (where they are the key villans in the story). However, in The Last Battle, Lewis' universalism comes through and the "sincere" followers of Tash who seek to do good will also be saved. More to come, so stay tuned! 
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