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Sunday, June 26, 2011

HTRLLAP: Chapter 7- ...Or the Bible

*Caution, here be spoilers*
One simply cannot separate The Chronicles of Narnia from The Bible. Almost every installment in the series shows religious ties, but the novel with the most is the final chapter, The Last Battle, which includes numerous allusions to the book of Revelation and Christian prophecies about the end of the world.

Anyone who's read The Chronicles of Narnia recognizes Aslan's correlation to Jesus. In The Last Battle, an ape named Shift finds a lion skin that was left by a hunter and puts it on, pretending to be Aslan. Sound familiar? Shift directs the people of Narnia to do deeds in his name for his own enjoyment. All in all, Shift is the Anti-Christ, wooing people over with lies.

There is also an evil character named Tash. One reference to a specific Bible verse appears when Aslan returns and forgives a follower of Tash who was not satisfied with his leader and lead a wholesome life. A little bit of "whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me" type thing.

In the end, Aslan calls all the denizens of Narnia, dead and alive together. He then separates them out, sending one group into the shadows never to be seen again. It is believed that they were sent to the Land of Tash, a symbol for Hell. The rest basically die, and Narnia is destroyed. However, the reader then rejoices when a New Narnia is created, and those who were deemed worthy get to spend all of eternity in joy, happiness, and light in the Land of Aslan. Just like Heaven, right?

Almost Bible History 101 for children. Kudos, C.S. Lewis, kudos.

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