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Chronicling Caspian

Interview by Mark Moring

Copyright Christianity Today International

Prince Caspian, the second film in the Chronicles of Narnia (Walden Media/Disney) series, comes to theaters on May 16, following the huge success of 2005's The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Devin Brown, an English prof at Asbury College, has written Inside Prince Caspian(BakerBooks) to give people a deeper glimpse into this second Chronicle.

What are you trying to accomplish with your book?To shed some light on Lewis's writings, and to help people develop a greater appreciation for these books.The cover copy says you explore "hidden meanings" in Caspian. An example?When Lucy meets Aslan, she says, "You're bigger." Aslan replies, "Every year you grow, you will find me bigger." Everybody loves that line. Lewis doesn't just say, "Every year you'll find me bigger," but, "Every year you grow, you'll find me bigger," which contains the implication that if we stop growing, stop maturing spiritually, we won't see Christ as any bigger. But in the years that we grow, we will see Christ as bigger.What's the essential message in Caspian?I think Caspian communicates two main things. One, a life lived for self is a small, ignoble life; but life lived for others, the virtuous life, is a great adventure. It's an adventure that involves hardship, but it's the only path that leads to community and real satisfaction and joy.Two, there's a message of joy. There's the appearance of Bacchus and Dionysos, mythological creatures of merriment and jovialness—the first sign that under the new king, mirth and celebration are coming back. This is a truth I think Lewis learned from Chesterton, that happiness and celebration aren't just for birthdays and holidays. Life is meant for celebration and joy every day.Tell us something about Lewis that most people don't know.It's well known that Tolkien played a key role in bringing Lewis to the Lord, so without Tolkien, Lewis wouldn't have been a Christian or written The Chronicles of Narnia.But had it not been for Lewis, Tolkien wouldn't have written The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote in a letter, "The unspeakable debt I owe him cannot be fathomed. For long, he was my only audience." Several times Tolkien really threw in the towel, and each time Lewis said, "Tollers, where's that next chapter? You can't give up now." Lewis was the only one who kept him going. What a wonderful story—a literary story, a story of friendship, a story of Christian love.Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine.
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