Sin and Redemption

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis expressed that the worst sin was pride. In pride we reject God’s superior power and knowledge to claim that we know better. In pride we go against loving God and his people so that we can love ourselves. Operating out of this conviction, I believe Lewis made an example out of Edmund. Edmund’s pride makes him a traitor and a glutton. He acts out of his own selfish interest to get what he wants from the White Witch, but in doing so he enslaves his life to her, just as any sinner's life is enslaved to Satan after death without the ransom of God. The White Witch may not be a spitting image of Satan, but she may be the servant of Satan: overlord of Narnia. The Witch manipulates the lives of all the Narnians who sin irrevocably, which is an allusion to Satan's claim of the souls of such sinners.

I have recently heard the theory that each of the seven novels in The Chronicles of Narnia series addresses one of the seven deadly sins. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the sin of the day is gluttony. I am skeptical of this theory, it is does have some valid points. After all, it is gluttony that ensnares Edmund to descend into the Witch's grasp. And what for -- her enchanted Turkish Delight? I’ve never had the stuff, but I’m sure it’s not worth selling my soul and siblings. Maybe this is an allusion to Judas selling out Jesus for only 30 pieces of silver. Another perspective on the meaning of his gluttony is that it may be an allusion to the fruit Adam and Eve at from the tree of knowledge. The real sin occurs when Edmund allows himself to be consumed by his selfish desire to have more of the Turkish Delight, way after he leaves the Witch.

Despite selling out his siblings and Aslan, Aslan finds that he is not past redemption. Although not everything in Narnia directly parallels the story of Jesus, like Jean-Marc discusses, but the similarities are way too obvious to ignore. Aslan sacrifices his life tied to the ancient law (stone table) in order to save Edmund from God’s wrath (or the White Witch’s clutches), just as Christ came to save mankind. Aslan who created the earth, who knew no sin (sound familiar) gave his life so Edmund could be allowed to live. Similarly, mankind can be allowed into heaven, now that Christ's death has paid the debt of Adam's original sin when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Lewis's aimed to retell the story with variation to communicate a different perspective on faith, so that maybe our generation can connect better with the story of Jesus. Sometimes it is a hit and sometimes it is a miss for me, but this novel has certainly been a ministry to many kids in the past century.