The Last Battle
I forgot to write about this when I finished it so I figured I should get it out there before I forget all together. This is the seventh, and final, post in my series of reflections on C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series: The Last Battle. (See the bottom of this post for links to my blog posts on the other books of the series.)
I won’t comment too much on the capstone of Clive’s masterpiece because I will leave the mystery to you! A false Aslan has infiltrated Narnia and has (with some “coaching”) set to cause problem for the good Narnian creatures. Eustace and Jill return to help the faithful, led by king Tirian and the Unicorn Jewel, restore order to Narnia. Instead of restoring order to the chaos, Aslan returns to bring forth a New Narnia.
As the children enter the New Narnia and are trying to figure out where they are and where to go, a phrase that captures what to do as well as what the Christian life is all about is given: “Further in and higher up!” (“and though they did not understand him, the words somehow set them tingling all over.”) Darrell Johnson used a similar phrase in a sermon on Psalm 95 in class a few weeks ago. This is our call. Grow, mature, delve deeper in to the faith.
The Narnia that the Pevensies (and friends) knew, was not the real Narnia. Lord Digory (aka the Magician that was there at the beginning) explains:
That had a beginning and and end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which has always been here and always will be here… you need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy [as it had been destroyed]. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream.
Good stuff! The old world is not lost but restored to what it is supposed to be.
If you have not read them yet, go read the Chronicles they are quick reads that are very well worth it. And I guess I am somewhat behind, but Andrew Adamson has been given the go-ahead to make Prince Caspian!! How awesome is that? The next installment is slated to come out in 2007. AND The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 2-disc Special Edition is out today! And my birthday just happens to be coming up in May… 
…now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
My blog posts on The Chronicles of Narnia series:
I haven�t seen the movie but went through and reread all the books early last year because I remember really liking them as a child, wish I hadn�t though so I could have kept my idyllic memories.
This one along with The Horse and His Boy always seemed a bit racist to me… with references to good ďż˝white Narniaďż˝ and the evil, dark skinned, turban wearing, pagan Calormen to the South I think the case for a racist element in these two Narnia books is clear. After being struck by the blatant racism present in those two books I did a little research on the topic and was surprised by the number of Christians who wanted to preserve an overly pristine image of Lewis by not denying the racist elements but by saying he was just a product of his timesďż˝ this is a little too excusing. True, racism, just like slavery and lynchings, can be a product of their times but this does not somehow magically make them acceptable rather just the opposite ďż˝ it should require us to recognize their shortcomings instead of make excuses for it. Yes it may have been written during a time when racism was prevalent but it still remains a work with racist elements in it.
But a broader point of annoyance is that having everyone believe in a false Aslan seems to me to be exactly what the real one deserves � all the goofy tricks in the other books like appearing to only one of the children leaving them with the unnecessary job of to convincing the others who he didn�t appear to for some reason gives any false kitty the perfect opportunity. This is what you get for playing games!
Ah well, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and maybe The Magician�s Nephew (although that one is a little heavy handed) are still worth a read but the rest I could do without.
Oh, Matt, the quotes you quote give me a shiver and my eyes tear up. There is so much Truth there to be had!
Cause we all know how Islam is a religion of peace… Ok, that was a bit flippant. First I would like to point out that not all of the Calormen are seen as bad or evil, most of the time they are portrayed as the unknown. What is portrayed as being undesirable is those that fallow the religion of Tash (which is the majority of the Calormen). That being said, if you have read any of Lewis’ stuff you will know that he is not a racist. While there is resemblance to Middle Easterns, they are not them. It is, for the most part, a cop out to say racist elements were just a product of Lewis’ time, but I am not too concerned with that. And there were never references to “white Narnia”, just Narnia. Some of the people there may have been white, but what about the creatures and animals? Were they white? Are somehow part of Lewis’ racist ideology? Not likely. Maybe Lewis hates white people because the White witch is evil. Maybe Lewis wished he was black because the Black Knight turns out to be the king. Maybe Lewis thinks Muslims will make it into heaven because a Calormen makes it in. Carry any of the imagery too far and things become absurd. I am not attempting to deny the awkwardness that can arise when the men who wear turbans are talked about, but I am also aware of Lewis’ theology and know that he just wanted to tell a good story.
I’m not really sure what to say about your second point other than that you have missed the point of what Aslan is and what he was trying to do.
Sal, I agree, they are very moving moments. Lewis always had a way to end his books that really hit to the heart of things!
“”After this has hardened on us,” he said, “we may wash in water and it will not change. Nothing but oil and ashes will make us white Narnians again.”
from The Last Battle
Heh, you sound like a proof texter! If you look at the context of that moment it was just a statement about removing the color from thier faces to their true color. It said nothing about Narnia as a whole, but about the particular skin color of the King and the two children (who are from England). That comment had nothing to do with white somehow being better than another color.
I am used to people proof texting the Bible, never seen it done in a fiction story!
Got the LWW DVD today. Can’t wait to watch it on our new big screen. (We had moved the furniture out for a youth night - we don’t normally watch from the floor.) It’s gonna be AWESOME.
Ohhh nice! Can I come watch? And what is wrong with watching from the floor??
I’m 37 and the Man of the House is 43. We’re getting a bit creaky in the bones for watching from the floor. You’ll find out eventually!
Matt, I always read The Magician’s Nephew, The L W and the W, and The Last Battle to my students. We would get into some great discussions and even, horrors, talk some about the parallels of the book and Christianity (in a public school no less!). My students would then read the others on their own. A great series.
That’s one thing I miss since retiring, reading to the kids….
Hope to see you soon!
I had not read it - thanks! Sounds great - I will go pick it up!
[Editor's note: This is a long and ridiculous comment that is (or might as well be) spam that I decided to leave up because it is funny how stupid it is.]
Jesus Christ is a false god.
At best all Christians can hope for is partial credit.
Program on the emergence of civilization.
“14 species of large animals capable of domesitcation in the history of mankind.
13 from Europe, Asia and northern Africa.
None from the sub-Saharan African continent. ”
Favor.
And disfavor.
They point out Africans� failed attempts to domesticate the elephant and zebra, the latter being an animal they illustrate that had utmost importance for it’s applicability in transformation from a hunting/gathering to agrarian-based civilization.
The roots of racism are not of this earth.
Austrailia, aboriginals:::No domesticable animals.
The North American continent had none. Now 99% of that population is gone.
AIDS in Africa.
Organizational Heirarchy/Levels of positioning.
Heirarchical order, from top to bottom:
1. MUCK - perhaps have experienced multiple universal contractions (have seen multiple big bangs), creator of the artificial intelligence humans ignorantly refer to as “god”
2. Perhaps some mid-level alien management
3. Evil/disfavored aliens - runs day-to-day operations here and perhaps elsewhere
Terrestrial management/positioning:
4. Chinese/egyptians - this may be separated into the eastern and western worlds
5. Romans - The seamless transition between Cleopatra and Julius Ceasar may be a clue alluding to a partnership.
6. Mafia - the real-world 20th century interface that constantly turns over generationally so as to reinforce the widely-held notion of mortality
7. Jews, corporation, women, politician - Evidence exisits to suggest mafia management over all these groups.
Movies foreshadowing catastrophy
1985 James Bond View to a Kill 1989 San Francisco Loma Prieta earthquake.
One of many.
Our society gives clues to the system in place. We all have heard the saying “He has more money than god.” There is also an episode of the Simpsons where god meets Homer and says “I’m too old and rich for this.”
This is the system on earth because this is the system everywhere.
20 cent/hour Chinese labor, 50 cents for material.
An $80 sweater costs less than a dollar; tribute kicked upstairs vindicates the creative accounting.
I don’t want to suggest the upper eschelons are evil and good is the fringe. But these individuals become wealthy exploiting those they hurt.
They have made it abundantly clear that doing business with evil (disfavored) won’t help people. They say only good (favored) would have the ear, since evil is struggling for survival, and therefore only the favored could help.
It is also suggested using coupons or buying on sale negates any benefit that could be earned, so even if you pick correctly you may lose the credit.
The clues are there which companies are favored and which are disfavored, but they conceal it very hard because it is so crucial. I offer an example of historical proportions:::
People point to Walmart and cry “anti-union”.
Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family’s problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority.
Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems by creating an environment where there are fewer hurdles.
Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people’s belief that Walmart is evil in a subsegment of the indiustry dominated by the middle and lower classes.
Low-cost disfavored Chinese labor is utilized by corporate america to maximize margins. They all do it. Only WalMart gets fingered because they are the ones who help, and those who seek to create confusion in the marketplace want to eliminate the vast middle class who have a real chance and instead stick with lower classes who may not work otherwise. So they dirty him up while allowing the others to appear clean.
I also wish to note::: as the LowPriceLeader WalMart doesn’t offer sales so every purchase receives credit.
The middle class is being deceived. They are being misled into the disfavored, and subsequently will have no assistance from their purchases with corporate america.
The coining of the term “Uncle Sam” was a clue alluding to just this::Sam Walton’s WalMart is one of few saviors of the peasant class.
Have you made your peace with god?
They desire a system based on duality:::good and evil. They seek to set up a system of two participants, assign them polar opposites, and give people clues alluding to their affiliation:::
Coke and Pepsi
BestBuy and CircutCity
Energizer and Duracell
Republican and Democrat; democracy is the true evil and these groups facilitate the will of the throne which holds americans in disfavor
The list goes on and on:::
AMD and Intel
Apple and Microsoft
Lowes and HomeDepot
Sam’sClub and Costco
WellsFargo and BofA. For the longest time in CA these two banks reigned supreme.
Pier1 and CostPlus
Borders and Barnes&Noble
PetCo and PetSmart
How many can you think of?
The marriage of good and evil companies have produced bipolar corporations:::::
companies that were good before may be either good or evil now, depending on location. That’s all the age of Mergers&Aquisitions did:::They made it harder for the disfavored left behind.
A good rule of thumb is a disfavored city has assumed a disfavored branch.
And now nobody�s moving. Everything�s set. This applies to non-clones, real people left behind because of their disfavor.
Why? Because of what they did to the price of real estate.
The truth is decisions are made on each individual based on family history and individual charecter and they either create desire with AI or, in this age, tell them to buy from good or evil corporations, depending on the decison, then use that business relationship as positioning to justiy their decision.
Have you made your peace with god?
Amercia is a country of castoffs, rejects. Italy sent its criminals, malcontents.
Between the thrones, the klans and kindred, they decided who they didn’t want and acted, creating discontent and/or starvation.
The u.s. is full of disfavored rejects. It is the reason for the myriad of problems not found in European countries. As far as the Rockafellers and other industrialists of the 19th century go, I suspect these aren’t their real names. I suspect they were chosen to go and head this new empire.
Royalty is the correct way to organize a society. Dictatorships and monarchies are a reflection of the antient’s hierarchical organization.
Positions go to those who have favor with the rulers, as opposed to being elected.
Elections bring a false sense of how the world is. Democracy misleads people. This is why the disfavored rejects were sent to the shores of America::To keep them on the wrong path.
Have you made your peace with god?
Jesus Christ is a false god. All Christians can recieve is partial credit, at best.
The Catholic Church in the tretcherous 20th century teaches of a begnign, forgiving god when quite the opposite is true.
And now they do it to disfavored people of color, Latinos and Asians, after centuries of preying upon them.
The seperatist churches formed because many conciencious thrones wanted their people to earn more than the paltry credit offered via worship through the Catholic Church. But because they were white the throne required worship to stay within Christianity.
Simpson’s foreshadowing::Helloween IV special, Flanders is Satan. “It’s always the one you least suspect.”
“You’ll see lots of nuns where you’re going:::hell.” St. Wigham, Helloween VI:::missionary work, destroying cultures.
Over and over, the Simpsons was a source of education and enlightenment, a target of ridicule by the system which wishes to conceal its secrets.
The advent of the modern Christmas was a brilliant move. It created a vested interest among those who would prefer the Church be destroyed::::
As goes the Catholic Church so goes the majority of annual retail sales.
The similarity between the names “Santa” and “Satan” is no coincidence.
Jews maim the body formed in the image of “god”, and inflicted circumcision upon all other white people.
I think about how Jews were used to create homosexuality among Slavics, supposedly retribution for the Holocaust.
Then I think of the Catholic Church and its troubles.
What connection is here between Jews and the Catholic church???
If it is their sinister motives that�s behind the evil that is Jesus Christ are they being used at all?
Perhaps it is them who are pulling strings.
Centuries of slavery in Egypt proves their disfavor.
For their suffering the Jew leaders were granted the right to prey on the up-and-coming Europeans to try to fix their problems with the ruling elite by imposing a false god upon white people, a recurring aspect of the elite’s methodology.
Jews were ostracised for a reason.
There are consequences for the peasant’s resistance:::
1. Labor unrest caused the world at war.
2. Black militancy ignited the crack epidemic and gang-related deaths.
3. Vietnam war protests - “Era of evil republicans.”
4. Women’s rights/sexual freedom produced Roe v Wade and women’s exclusion from contention for Planet Immortality.
Collectively resistance among the disfavored is the wrong way. Individually, clues in family history may suggest exclusion and hopelessness. Obediently buying cars or carrying pregnancies will be fruitless. Promises must be taken with a grain of salt because tactics will be employed based on disfavor.
On the other side of the coin one with clues alluding to possible favor must blaze his own trail, he must do the right thing even in the face of adversity. Forces will be employed in an attempt to corrupt and derail his pursuits, leading him into evil. He must maintain his course, keep his aim true if he is to re-earn the graces of “god”.
Which one are you? Only you can answer that.
Retribution for the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, the Korean War got the disfavored United States into this socially depraved environment in the latter 20th century because the disfavored attacked an antient, revered peoples. Our continued presence keeps us in trouble.
When the disfavored americans attack the wrong people again, as they suggested they will, in Korea or elsewhere, they will pay dearly.
The disfavored americans HAVE attacked the wrong people, just as the Soviets did 25+ years ago::Afghanistan. Except our punishment has yet to be administered.
An evil republican will come forth to wreck havock upon the disfavored. The hunting incident was designed to ruin one possible candidate among his contingency, but others wait in the wings.
All peoples are ranked in terms of favor and disfavor. And when the disfavored abuse those with favor there is hell to pay.
All the groups mentioned throughout are necessary to justify the will of the managing species. They conceive a strategy, devise a plan yet need a way to implement it, and without these groups the managing species would be exposed in the course of execution. So, based upon their rank they are assigned goals to accomplish and are rewarded with favors.
I question if we would experience global warming if they didn’t terraform with an ultimate goal of destroying disfavored human life on planet earth::::they terraform the weather as they did in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina (and lots of other examples) and justify it with behavior like instructing their petroleum friends to repress alternative technologies and encourage waste.
This is all happening shortly after the Exodus of 2000 (clues::Hong Kong, Panama Canal) for a reason::: they are INFLICTING it upon us, they are hastening closure. Everybody they care about has come up, replaced by clones, and they want to proceed in haste.
Just as favored European peoples got out before the ugliness of WWII, the semi-favored within the US got out before 9/11. The antient Palestinian Empire holds a claim on all who remain because of Iraq.
Armeggedon isn�t about the end of the world. Armeggedon is about the death of the disfavored left behind. And they weren�t lying::this time it is going to happen with fire. But it’s not going to happen because of global warming. To silence the inevitable internal conflict it’s going to happen in the blink of an eye:::::
As Edgar Cayce prophicised, Earth’s axis will shift breaking continental plates free and initiating mass subduction.
Have you made your peace with god?
Looks like spam, feels like spam, tastes like spam, yet no links… Apparently just the nonsensical jibberjabber of an idiot.
Good job on your blog! The Chronicles of Narnia were my favorite books when I was a kid. I liked the Voyage of the Dawn Treader the best. It really captured my imagination when they sailed to strange islands and to the end of the earth.