Ok, I'll try to answer each of these separately. Hopefully it will all make sense.
For this first point, I can see that part of your problem (bad word to use, but I can't think of another this time of night) in understanding Aslan as Christ is that you seem to have an impression of Christ that isn't that which most Christians have. While some sects of Christianity separate the physical and spiritual (a Greek influence), the Christianity of the early church and that which most Christians adhere to insists on the immutability of spirit and matter. God and Christ are spiritual beings, but Christ became fully human while being fully God. He physically resurrected from the dead: hence he ate and drank with the disciples and Thomas physically touched his side, and his second-coming is viewed as a physical coming. Christ, like humans, is both spiritual and physical.
I agree that Aslan is actually the least Christ-like in LWW, likely because Lewis didn't consciously choose to make Aslan a Christ figure until later. Of course, Narnia is a different world: we can't expect that the same rules apply to Christ in both worlds. Our world needed spiritual salvation, but Narnia, which was not necessarily a fallen world but one into which evil entered at the beginning, needed physical salvation. That Aslan acted differently in Narnia than Christ in our world is dependent on the needs of each world.
As for Bacchus and the river god and the nymphs and the 'pagan dieties', I've already mentioned one theory. However, it is my view also that Bacchus and the gods of Narnia are not actually gods, despite their names. They were created (by Aslan) with certain abilities, just as some humans are born with insane math skills or physical strength. And, like Christians to God, the Narnians use their skills in service to Aslan.
For VODT and your theory he was is a pagan lion-god in our world: I would politely request that you study the ancient myths and try to find a pagan lion-god with the attributes that Aslan shows in CoN. As a classics major and ancient history/myth buff, I have yet to come across one. It is a moot point unless one can find a pagan lion-god who reflects the attributes of Aslan more than Christ.
In SC I was caught more by the image of Eustace piercing Aslan's paw with a thorn, with the blood resurrecting Caspian. To me, that is clearly Christian imagery.
I'm confused by your argument that the existence of the Calormene gods is un-Christian. Many Christians, particularly of the ancient church, believed that the pagan gods existed. However, Christian theology states that they are not gods in the sense that God is God, but that they are fallen angels: created, powerful beings who rebelled against god. I see no reason why the Calormene gods' existence subverts Aslan's power.
You have a good point about MN in that the Wood Between the Worlds had to be created separately. But there is no reason to suggest that Aslan/the Emperor/Christ/God did not create it as a primary creation with each individual world as a secondary creation. And I believe that a Christ figure in Charn isn't mentioned because there really wasn't room for it in the story. That doesn't mean he wasn't there and that the Charnians rejected him. We know little about what happened on Charn save what Jadis relates, and I don't consider her an unbiased witness. Plus, if you'll note, it is implied in MN that Aslan knows exactly what happened on Charn, he's just making Digory confess. How would he know unless he was there/was omnipotent?
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Re: REALLY long comment, part 1
Date: 2009-05-07 05:50 am (UTC)For this first point, I can see that part of your problem (bad word to use, but I can't think of another this time of night) in understanding Aslan as Christ is that you seem to have an impression of Christ that isn't that which most Christians have. While some sects of Christianity separate the physical and spiritual (a Greek influence), the Christianity of the early church and that which most Christians adhere to insists on the immutability of spirit and matter. God and Christ are spiritual beings, but Christ became fully human while being fully God. He physically resurrected from the dead: hence he ate and drank with the disciples and Thomas physically touched his side, and his second-coming is viewed as a physical coming. Christ, like humans, is both spiritual and physical.
I agree that Aslan is actually the least Christ-like in LWW, likely because Lewis didn't consciously choose to make Aslan a Christ figure until later. Of course, Narnia is a different world: we can't expect that the same rules apply to Christ in both worlds. Our world needed spiritual salvation, but Narnia, which was not necessarily a fallen world but one into which evil entered at the beginning, needed physical salvation. That Aslan acted differently in Narnia than Christ in our world is dependent on the needs of each world.
As for Bacchus and the river god and the nymphs and the 'pagan dieties', I've already mentioned one theory. However, it is my view also that Bacchus and the gods of Narnia are not actually gods, despite their names. They were created (by Aslan) with certain abilities, just as some humans are born with insane math skills or physical strength. And, like Christians to God, the Narnians use their skills in service to Aslan.
For VODT and your theory he was is a pagan lion-god in our world: I would politely request that you study the ancient myths and try to find a pagan lion-god with the attributes that Aslan shows in CoN. As a classics major and ancient history/myth buff, I have yet to come across one. It is a moot point unless one can find a pagan lion-god who reflects the attributes of Aslan more than Christ.
In SC I was caught more by the image of Eustace piercing Aslan's paw with a thorn, with the blood resurrecting Caspian. To me, that is clearly Christian imagery.
I'm confused by your argument that the existence of the Calormene gods is un-Christian. Many Christians, particularly of the ancient church, believed that the pagan gods existed. However, Christian theology states that they are not gods in the sense that God is God, but that they are fallen angels: created, powerful beings who rebelled against god. I see no reason why the Calormene gods' existence subverts Aslan's power.
You have a good point about MN in that the Wood Between the Worlds had to be created separately. But there is no reason to suggest that Aslan/the Emperor/Christ/God did not create it as a primary creation with each individual world as a secondary creation. And I believe that a Christ figure in Charn isn't mentioned because there really wasn't room for it in the story. That doesn't mean he wasn't there and that the Charnians rejected him. We know little about what happened on Charn save what Jadis relates, and I don't consider her an unbiased witness. Plus, if you'll note, it is implied in MN that Aslan knows exactly what happened on Charn, he's just making Digory confess. How would he know unless he was there/was omnipotent?