Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia Many Christian readers, upon discovering additional layers of meaning in the Narnian stories, immediately jump to the conclusion that the Chronicles are allegories.  These same readers would be surprised to learn that C. S. Lewis denied multiple times that the stories are allegories. The Narnian Stories Are Not Allegories But it is not, as some people think, an  allegory  (“Letter to Sophia Storr,” in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis ,  vol 3, 1113). You are mistaken when you think that everything in the books ‘represents’ something in this world. Things do that in  The Pilgrim’s Progress  but I’m not writing in that way ( Walter Hooper ,  Literary Criticism , 426). Lewis defined allegory as “a composition (whether pictorial or literary) in which immaterial realities are represented by feigned physical objects, e.g. a pictured Cupid allegorically represents erotic love (which in reality is an experience, not an object occupy...

Cover of Mere Christianity “ Super 8 ” thrives on something that’s been missing from many of our summer blockbusters as of late.  When you realize that this same element is too often missing from our faith....wonder! An acknowledged throwback to the early science-fiction films of Steven Spielberg (who serves as a producer),  “Super 8”  follows a group of teens in 1979 Ohio who sneak out late at night to make a no-budget horror flick.  Without warning, a top-secret military train comes rushing out of the dark and derails. The astonished kids watch as something – I dare not say what – emerges from the scattered wreckage. “Super 8” has big explosions and intricate special effects. But what it’s best at is something less tangible: creating a genuine sense of wonder. “Super 8” captures that rush of amazement that washes over us when we encounter something powerful and mysterious. We feel a burst of awe, even if we don’t fully understand what we’re witnessing...

Fear, Temptation , and the Narrow Passage in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by  Marc T. Newman, Ph.D. Breathtakingly beautiful,  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  is another in a series of thought-provoking adaptations of C.S. Lewis’  The Chronicles of Narnia . For book purists, there will always be the shock of seeing changes to a beloved storyline (for me, the second viewing is always better than the first because I can now watch the film on its own merits). But none of the films have shied away from confronting important moral and spiritual issues present in the books. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  is no exception – fear is the target of temptation, and easy solutions are both alluring and damning, but there is always a way out, if we will only seek it. How many modern books or films deal with these kinds of dilemmas that both children and adults daily face? That is the wonder of Lewis – his stories hold rich meaning at whatever level you encounter them...