The Theology of Prince Caspian

I went to see the newest installment of the Chronicles of Narnia in the theater on Friday, Prince Caspian. I had heard good reviews of the movie and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend the movie, especially for those of you who enjoyed the book, but also for those who have not read the book (or forgotten what happened in the book!). The director changed more material in this movie than the previous installment, but I think that they are good changes and help the movie overall.

It dawned on me several years ago that each of the books in the series has a religious tinged theme. I've been meaning to write a series of posts on the theology of the series, but we lost our copy of the books and the kids are not old enough yet to enjoy them anyway, so the series will have to wait several years. But since I just saw the movie, I thought I would pass along what I think is the religious theme of Prince Caspian and how it translated from the book to the movie (although I will admit that I have not read the book in several years and my memory of it is a bit sketchy).

I think that the theme is faith. This theme appears in several places. The first is the attitude about the talking animals: the humans think that they are mythology and do not actually exist. How can it be that animals speak? Those who do have faith in such things are regarded as superstitious old maids (an actual character in the book that does not appear in the movie). No one could seriously believe in such things and still be taken seriously. The parallels with today are clear. An ironic extension of this theme is that even among the talking animals themselves there is doubt. I think in the book there is doubt about the existence of certain other talking animals, but at the very least there is doubt about the existence of Aslan.

Which leads to the other place where faith appears. On the journey with the dwarf, Aslan appears to Lucy and not to the others (this section was cut short in the book). Why does Lucy alone see him? It has to do with faith and desiring to see him. Faith seeks understanding, not the other way around. Even among the four royalty, there is doubt about the presence of Aslan. Lucy is once again doubted by her family (although Edmund supports her this time).

One of the changes in the movie is a deepening of Peter's character. The movie opens with Peter in a fight because he refuses to apologize: he cannot get used to be just a child after being a king for so many years. In Narnia, he is considerably more headstrong and feisty than he is in the book. In a sense, he epitomizes the question of faith in the movie. Will he have faith? Will he follow Aslan's guidance when it appears foolish or when Aslan does not appear to him directly. Will he wait for Aslan at the battle?

For us as readers (and viewers), we see clearly through the omniscient narrator's eyes what is happening. We know that there are talking animals. We know that Lucy has seen Aslan. We know that the various characters should have faith. But can we have faith in our own situation when we are no longer behind the omniscient narrator? We are naturally not called to a blind and unreasoning faith which believs anything. But we are called to a Christocentric faith in the God who works miracles and hates sin, a faith that looks foolish. How will the readers of our story respond to our actions?

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