Cs lewis Christian or Occult?

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Angelique

Senior Member
#1
Aug 19, 2016
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#1
I thought CS lewis was a Christian writer. Never have I read his books but yesterday I watched Narnia, because I knew CS Lewis wrote it. And I was asking myself how can this be Christian? Like theres a lot of magic in it and occult stuff...

Would like to hear the view from mature christians on this. I am confused
 
G

graceNpeace

Senior Member
#2
Aug 12, 2016
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#2
Perhaps you don't understand the symbolism...
 
F

FamousBlueRaincoat

Member
#3
Apr 17, 2018
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#3
Culturally Christian. Fiction like Narnia isn't meant to be taken seriously in the way his Christian apologetics are. There are different genres of literature.
 
trofimus

trofimus

Senior Member
#4
Aug 17, 2015
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He was a real Christian. Read for example his "The mere Christianity".

He was a fantasy genre author, he even wrote a sci-fi.

That does not make him to be involved in occultism.
 
Lucy-Pevensie

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
#5
Dec 20, 2017
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#5
I highly recommend his science fiction trilogy. Fiction more for adults than children but touching on some Christian themes.
 
Lucy-Pevensie

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
#6
Dec 20, 2017
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One of my favourite authors of all time btw. To answer the OP, definitely Christian. And he gets very detailed and focused on relationship with God and the Christian walk in much of his work. You'd be hard-pressed to find a writer more capable of examining an issue from every angle.
 
trofimus

trofimus

Senior Member
#7
Aug 17, 2015
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#7
Lucy-Pevensie said:
I highly recommend his science fiction trilogy. Fiction more for adults than children but touching on some Christian themes.
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I have it.

Also The Great Divorce has many interesting themes.
 
posthuman

posthuman

Senior Member
#8
Jul 31, 2013
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#8
The Bible also happens to mention wizards and witches, you know...
 
FlSnookman7

FlSnookman7

Senior Member
#9
Jun 27, 2015
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#9
Angelique said:
I thought CS lewis was a Christian writer. Never have I read his books but yesterday I watched Narnia, because I knew CS Lewis wrote it. And I was asking myself how can this be Christian? Like theres a lot of magic in it and occult stuff...

Would like to hear the view from mature christians on this. I am confused
Click to expand...

Perhaps re-read the books and look for ways the author uses the Bible as a basis for the story (the king sacrificing himself, etc).
 
posthuman

posthuman

Senior Member
#10
Jul 31, 2013
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Think of the Narnia stories as metaphors, or almost like parable but not quite to that level. Remember they're written primarily for children, too.

And you'll see it much more clearly in the novels than by watching the movies. The movies are greatly condensed and edited and focused on spectacle for the big screen; you almost always lose a whole lot of information adapting books to film.
 
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Angelique

Senior Member
#11
Aug 19, 2016
109
11
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#11
So then Harry Potter isnt occult either. Narnia is of the same genre. And the Mist of stephen King isnt occult either because its of the genre. (The mist knows your fears in both movies)

And Disney isnt occult also... and they do promote magic, witchcraft etc.

Please help me out?
 
lightbearer

lightbearer

Senior Member
#12
Jun 17, 2017
2,375
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HBG. Pa. USA
#12
Angelique said:
So then Harry Potter isnt occult either. Narnia is of the same genre. And the Mist of stephen King isnt occult either because its of the genre. (The mist knows your fears in both movies)

And Disney isnt occult also... and they do promote magic, witchcraft etc.

Please help me out?
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In other words a little leaven leavens the whole. We would that it be unleavened. Hot not cold. Being that it is warm we should spit it out of our mouths.
 
trofimus

trofimus

Senior Member
#13
Aug 17, 2015
10,684
794
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#13
Angelique said:
So then Harry Potter isnt occult either. Narnia is of the same genre. And the Mist of stephen King isnt occult either because its of the genre. (The mist knows your fears in both movies)

And Disney isnt occult also... and they do promote magic, witchcraft etc.

Please help me out?
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You must realize that there is a difference between fantasy tales, movies, books and between involving in withcraft, occultism and believing it.

If you like fairy tales with Shrek, it does not make you a believer in Shrek.

Also, your use of "occultism" is more a popular use than a real one. Real occultism has nothing to do with what you can see in Harry Potter.
 
PennEd

PennEd

Senior Member
#14
Apr 22, 2013
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#14
Angelique said:
So then Harry Potter isnt occult either. Narnia is of the same genre. And the Mist of stephen King isnt occult either because its of the genre. (The mist knows your fears in both movies)

And Disney isnt occult also... and they do promote magic, witchcraft etc.

Please help me out?
Click to expand...

If you think it is sin, then to YOU it is sin. Others have freedom in Christ. So if you think merely reading about magic, NOT ACTUALLY ENGAGING IN IT, but just reading it, is sin, then to YOU it IS sin.
 
posthuman

posthuman

Senior Member
#15
Jul 31, 2013
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#15
Seems like you're working under the assumption that if a story involves or mentions sorcery etc. that it is necessarily occult. The Bible talks about witches, wizards, magical arts, demons, et al. The Bible is not 'occult' so i think you can discard that idea.

There is a big difference between how the Bible talks about these things and how for example the Harry Potter books do; they glorify it but the Bible condemns it - while both acknowledge and talk about it. If you read the Narnia books, you'll find that they don't 'encourage' sorcery in the same way, even while, within the fictional narrative, supernatural events happen to the protagonists.
 
S

Stunnedbygrace

Senior Member
#16
Nov 12, 2015
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#16
Oh The Screwtape Letters! Read it if you haven't. It's very good!!
 
A

Angelique

Senior Member
#17
Aug 19, 2016
109
11
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#17
PennEd said:
If you think it is sin, then to YOU it is sin. Others have freedom in Christ. So if you think merely reading about magic, NOT ACTUALLY ENGAGING IN IT, but just reading it, is sin, then to YOU it IS sin.
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Its not about what I think. Its what the bible says about it.

By what you are saying you can (for example) watch porn and not be in sin, because you dont engage in it.
 
A

Angelique

Senior Member
#18
Aug 19, 2016
109
11
18
#18
PennEd said:
If you think it is sin, then to YOU it is sin. Others have freedom in Christ. So if you think merely reading about magic, NOT ACTUALLY ENGAGING IN IT, but just reading it, is sin, then to YOU it IS sin.
Click to expand...
It is not about what I think. Its what the bible says about it.

Deuteronomy 18:10 There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, 11 a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to YAHWEH, and because of these abominations YAHWEH your God is driving them out ahead of you. 13 You must be wholehearted with YAHWEH your God.

By what you are saying you can (for example) watch porn and not be in sin, because you dont engage in it.

But watching /listening or reading bad things will influance a person, and in time will make you drift away...
 
Lucy-Pevensie

Lucy-Pevensie

Senior Member
#19
Dec 20, 2017
9,263
5,618
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#19
Angelique said:
So then Harry Potter isnt occult either. Narnia is of the same genre. And the Mist of stephen King isnt occult either because its of the genre. (The mist knows your fears in both movies)

And Disney isnt occult also... and they do promote magic, witchcraft etc.

Please help me out?
Click to expand...
Harry Potter is about a school where witchcraft is taught. Witchcraft is learned, used and portrayed as a positive force by the main characters. It's quite shallow compared with the Narnia stories or Tolkien's. Tolkien's wizards don't teach and the backdrops to the stories are historical myth. I'm a fan of that genre myself, the folklore of the ancients, things like Beowulf and the Icelandic Sagas. Harry Potter is rather lacking in depth IMO.

The witchcraft aside, I don't rate JK Rowling very highly as a storyteller. Her stories are a collection of cliches. CS Lewis was an academic most of his life with a good knowledge of history. A Professor of Literature who spoke Greek and Old English. He did military service in WWI. His stories have a depth lacking in the Harry Potter franchise.

I would suggest reading Surprised By Joy (The Shape of My Early Life). It contains Lewis's testimony of his conversion from atheism to theism and finally to acceptance of Jesus Christ as the son of god.
 
posthuman

posthuman

Senior Member
#20
Jul 31, 2013
36,647
13,121
113
#20
Angelique said:
It is not about what I think. Its what the bible says about it.

Deuteronomy 18:10 There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through fire, a diviner, a soothsayer, an enchanter, a sorcerer, 11 a spell-caster, a consulter of ghosts or spirits, or a necromancer. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to YAHWEH, and because of these abominations YAHWEH your God is driving them out ahead of you. 13 You must be wholehearted with YAHWEH your God.

By what you are saying you can (for example) watch porn and not be in sin, because you dont engage in it.

But watching /listening or reading bad things will influance a person, and in time will make you drift away...
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Can i read about Moses and Aaron and Pharaohs magicians without being tempted to become a sorcerer?
 
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