Sunday, April 15, 2012

I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can

"‘One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things–trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s the funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for the Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.’" (C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair)

I was thinking about Puddleglum’s renouncement of the Lady of the Green Kirtle several days ago. That has always been one of my favorite scenes in Narnia...when the good side wakes up and stands against the evil. But recently, I realized that we are in the same place as Puddleglum, Jill, Eustace, and Rilian–we’re living in a culture that says that the "trees and grass and sun and moon and stars" are just a product of evolution and not God’s creative handiwork. Then, culture follows up the rest of the Lady’s denial of "the bigger and better cat." The world says that Christians aren’t strong enough to take care of themselves, so we created a bigger and better man–the God-Man, Jesus Christ. We’re just babies playing at a game...the "fools to the world" (1 Corinthians 1). Doesn’t Puddleglum have the most amazing answer to all that?! I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.

Here, Lewis uses Blaise Pascal’s famous apologetic argument in a child’s story. Pascal’s Wager goes something like this:

1) There is no God
  • I will gain nothing by believing Him.
  • I will lose nothing by not believing in Him.
2) There is a God
  • I will believe Him and gain everything.
  • I will disbelieve Him and lose everything.
Assuming there was a 50-50 chance that there is a God, you lose nothing either way by believing Him. By not believing Him, you risk losing everything. That’s what Puddleglum is saying when he says that. Puddleglum is willing to be the world’s fool and take the wager on Aslan’s side.

Puddleglum, Jill, Eustace, and Rilian all began their conversation with the Lady knowing exactly what they believed. However, she sweetly convinced them that they were wrong (brings back memories of Genesis 3). There came a point when all their minds became so muddled that they could not remember the truth, and they began to believe her lies. Puddleglum in particular struggled with this. Inside, he knew that Narnia was real, but her words all but convinced him that Narnia was just an imagination. "Suppose we have only dreamed..." What do they risk by believing in Narnia? "That’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say." They face her wrath and have to slay the serpent, but then they gain everything! Why are Christians so ready to believe that the trees and grass and sun aren’t God’s special creation? Why do they want to take away Jesus’ deity and turn Him into a great human teacher? They’re listening to the wrong arguments. We’re afraid to stand for the truth. But are we so afraid of good news that we let even wet-blanket Puddleglum believe while we sit in the Underland listening to the Lady? That’s when you must make the wager–do you believe the dream or not? I, for one, am on Jesus’ side even if the world doesn’t believe there’s a Jesus. I’m going to live like I am a citizen of Heaven even if everyone else says there is no Heaven.

6 comments:

  1. Very good points. That scene is great; I like how they're fighting to stay awake with the magic dust in the air and the fire and then Puddleglum stamps it out with his feet :) Exactly what we have to do.

    I don't like to use Pascal's wager, though; part of it is that if we believe in God, and He turns out to be fake, we lose nothing. But in light of 1 Corinthians 15, especially verse 19, there is something to lose in this world if we believe in Jesus and it turns out to be a lie.

    I first saw what Paul was saying there when I listened to something by John Piper on the promises of suffering (specifically http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--JiiuJNvt4)....

    Any other thoughts on Pascal's Wager?

    It seems like Lewis, though, in his usage of it, has excluded the part about not having anything to lose; clearly it's not easy to be a genuine, Puddleglumish, fire-stamping, fighting-the-fight-of-the-faith Narnian.... So I do like the way Lewis used the wager. :)

    And I agree that even if the world doesn't believe in Jesus, Christians certainly do!

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  2. "I, for one, am on Jesus’ side even if the world doesn’t believe there’s a Jesus." Amen!

    ...I can't join the conversation, as I have never read any Narnia books. :)

    Wonderfuul saying there at the end though, Abigail!

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    1. Thanks, Bethany! I hadn't read your comment till after I responded to Alex's.

      You should definitely read the Narnia books--they're great!!!

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    2. I second that--the Narnia books are great, Bethany!

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  3. Thanks for the long comment, Alex...I'll see how I can answer=) My computer isn't letting me play videos right now, so I'll have to watch the Piper link tomorrow.

    What you said about 1 Corinthians 15 is a very good point; I hadn't thought of the Wager in light of that verse before.

    This article is rather long (I haven't read the whole thing very carefully yet), but it has some good points for Pascal's Wager: http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/pascals-wager.html (the author, Peter Kreeft, is a Christian philosopher who has published a number of good books). Personally, I think that Pascal's Wager is more of a reason why we should believe in Jesus, not necessarily a proof for His existence. Living for a false hope is indeed, as 1 Cor. 15:19 says, pitiable, but we do not risk losing anything by doing so (as opposed to not believing that Jesus is true and losing eternal life). But at the same time, we have everything to gain if the wager is true (and we know it is). I'm not sure that I think that Pascal's Wager proves Christ's existence (the article gives reasons supporting this position), but I think it can help show that logically, believing in Jesus Christ is the wisest thing we can do on this earth.

    Thanks for showing me that verse; it made me rethink about Pascal's Wager. I appreciate you taking the time to write all that out...it made me think more about what I wrote. I'm going to try to pull up that video again tomorrow and see what Piper says about it=)

    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."~Jim Elliot

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  4. I have mixed feelings about Pascal's Wager. In some ways, it certainly makes sense. The only problem is that I feel like we should have better reasons to believe than simply having no reason not to, in essence! Still, if you don't consider it THE reason to believe, but merely A reason, there's no problem.

    Amen, sister! :)

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