Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of CS Lewis-Michael Ward | CS Lewis Lecture 2015

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ย. 2024

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  • @roelfjanwentholt
    @roelfjanwentholt 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Splendid indeed. What a wealth is offered by Michael Ward.

  • @lesliefuller7292
    @lesliefuller7292 7 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Splendid, simply splendid including Dr. Ward's concluding remarks! With deep gratefulness, thank you!

  • @chrisharrison763
    @chrisharrison763 7 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    It starts at 6:10

  • @mother2midwife
    @mother2midwife 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Question: Is there a companion book, other than Michal Ward’s, that would make a good companion book that would help to see this code more easily while reading the Narnia books? (Adult and children’s books.)
    And- Thank you, Mr. Ward - for all your hard work and for being Lewis’s spokesperson!

  • @RichardBragg
    @RichardBragg 6 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Enjoyed but there is an issue that the speaker refers to diagrams but these are not visible in the video.

  • @conantheseptuagenarian3824
    @conantheseptuagenarian3824 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    this man is a good communicator.

  • @Fardawg
    @Fardawg 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    If Lewis had recreated all the major events of Jesus' life with Aslan, then Aslan would have been an allegory, and Lewis said he wasn't an allegory for Christ but a "supposal." He imagined what it might be like if our Jesus chose to become incarnate in a fantasy world as he had previously been in ours. The sacrifice of Aslan does evoke the sacrifice of Christ, but it isn't an allegory representing the real crucifixion and resurrection but a separate physical act similar to it that was performed in Narnia well after the actual crucifixion and resurrection, which still happened in the world of the books. Edmund wouldn't gain real, spiritual salvation through the act of Aslan in Narnia, but through the once-for-all sacrifice and resurrection of Christ on Earth. Aslan's act would point Edmund back to the original sacrifice, but not replace it as if the original didn't exist and was not necessary anymore.

  • @LeeLee-pk4ss
    @LeeLee-pk4ss 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    To any people out there who are undoubtedly smarter then me when Ward is talking about a good story having atmosphere so that you are there in the world of the book and bad stories are all plot and no atmosphere, I was wondering if a book could have too much atmosphere. Case in point the Clan of the Cave Bear books, I was listening to the audiobook and while the plot is good I just found the atmosphere to be too much. The author spent so much time on world building to the point where several times I fell asleep listening to the book and when I woke I didn't miss a thing when it comes to the plot. She left no room for my imagination to take over and actively fill in gaps. Sadly in the last book I gave up I just couldn't take one more description of the grasses and the trees and the shadows of the mountains and the.... so on and so on.
    I'd like to hear your take on this.

    • @c1audius
      @c1audius ปีที่แล้ว

      Tolkien was and is often accused of doing this regarding Middle-Earth. I feel that Lewis left it more to the reader’s imagination and struck the right balance between world building and the key component of mystery.
      Albeit; Lewis did have the whole of Christianity as his chosen template. I feel authors have a tendency to “overbuild” when starting from scratch.
      Lastly, I consider that character and motive are the best aspects of good storytelling. The setting should only
      be the stage the players act upon.

  • @marilynmelzian7370
    @marilynmelzian7370 ปีที่แล้ว

    I would argue that Narnia is not a fantasy land in relation to the England where the children normally live.. It is another world within reality.

  • @nielknox
    @nielknox 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you!

  • @friendofjesus1680
    @friendofjesus1680 7 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    fascinating

  • @clementinemonroe717
    @clementinemonroe717 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Begins 6:14

  • @Im_No_Expert_72
    @Im_No_Expert_72 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Brilliant

  • @annettebragg3130
    @annettebragg3130 9 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    oh this should be good

  • @isaiahclark1487
    @isaiahclark1487 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I won't wait .com

  • @AviViljoen
    @AviViljoen 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    No visuals/diagrams. 👎

  • @klohitman
    @klohitman 8 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    As if what we have already been over is not enough, we find
    what a gross pagan Lewis really was when we notice that he portrayed Dionysus
    (Bacchus), Silenus and the Maenads as good characters in his stories!
    First, let's find out exactly what this pagan deity and his
    followers are.
    In the Encyclopedia Britainnica (1963 and 1974 editions)
    Dionysus is described "in Greek cult and mythology, a nature god of
    fruitfulness and vegetation, but tending to specialize as a god of wine...The
    alternative names Bacchus (Bacchos...); Sabazuis and Bassareus are
    Thracian." He was also called
    Bromios.
    He is believed to have been introduced to Greece from Thrace
    and Phyrgia. While in Greece the orgiastic worship of him was toned down,
    "In his native country his worshippers sought to become possessed by or
    assimilated to him by wild dancing and the tearing in pieces and eating of
    animals..." The victims of this carnage may have originally been human.
    The female attendants of Dionysus were known as the Maenads.
    Many women were attracted to him and took to the hills wearing faun skins and
    crowns of ivy. The ivy wreath itself
    being one of his personal attributes. (Remember the ivy wreaths around the tops
    of the mazers of wine in Prince Caspian.) Their ritual cry was
    "Euoi!" They danced by torchlight to the flute and kettledrum and
    used wine freely. While under the god's power (really devils) they supposedly
    possessed occult powers, could charm snakes, suckle animals, and were given
    super strength to tear their living victims in pieces before devouring them
    raw. In Greece a dancing circle surrounded his altar. Through this complete,
    unconditional surrender to the devils in this orgy, they believed they could
    cross over into the eternal, spiritual realm.
    The phallus was a prominent symbol in Dionysus' rituals and
    was carried in processions in his honor. One of the oldest known prayer-hymns
    is one used by the followers of Dionysus and is addressed to the genitals.[1]
    His followers included fertility spirits, such as satyrs.
    He was said to have the "gift" of prophecy and was
    given a position at that wretched shrine of Delphi only slightly lower than
    that of Apollo. He often took animal forms and, interestingly enough, was
    associated with the lion, among others.

    • @klohitman
      @klohitman 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Silenus in mythology was the son of Hermes or Pan
      (Satan). He was said to be a nymph and
      was the companion and nurse of Dionysus.
      Which gives room for speculation regarding sodomy since Hermes was
      associated with such.
      Silenus was often depicted in the Bacchus' train in art and
      was generally shown as "a little pot-bellied old man with snub nose and
      bald head, riding on an ass and supported by satyrs..." (Quite
      appropriately, there is a statue of him carrying an infant Dionysus in the
      Vatican.) In the plural they were said to be the same as satyrs, but older,
      wiser and drunker. They were
      characterized as prophets and expert musicians.
      Now, having laid all this disgusting filth out, let's take a
      look at how C.S. Lewis portrays them in his Chronicles of Narnia for kids to
      read!
      In Prince Caspian, Chapter XI, "The Lion Roars,"
      Lewis opens to us his true heart: (The
      quotes are somewhat long in order to show the context as Lewis has it.)
      p. 152 - "The crowd and the dance round Aslan (for it
      had become a dance once more) grew so thick and rapid that Lucy was
      confused. She never saw where certain
      other people came from who were soon capering among the trees. One was a youth, dressed only in a fawn-skin,
      with vine-leaves wreathed in his curly hair. His face would have been almost
      too pretty for a boy's, if it had not looked so extremely wild. You felt, as Edmund said when he saw him a
      few days later, 'There's a chap who might do anything --- absolutely anything.' He seemed to have a great many names ---
      Bromios, Bassareus, and the Ram, were three of them. There were a lot of girls
      with him, as wild as he. There was even, unexpectedly, someone on a
      donkey. And everybody was laughing: and
      everybody was shouting out, "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi." [Emphasis added.]
      Note the wild dance, the extremely wild faced youth that is
      Bromios (otherwise known and Dionysus or Bacchus), the wild girls (Maenads),
      the man on the donkey (Silenus) who is also said to cry
      "Refreshments!" (which in the context of Dionysus would be wine), and
      the cries of "Euoi!". What
      Lewis is describing here is nothing other than a Bacchanalian orgy!

    • @klohitman
      @klohitman 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Notice also that Lucy is confused. Lewis gives himself away on this one.
      1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in
      all churches of the saints.
      Again --
      p. 154 - "One saw sticky and stained fingers
      everywhere, and, though mouths were full the laughter never ceased nor the
      yodeling cries of Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi-oi, till all of a sudden everyone
      felt at the same moment that the game (whatever it was), and the feast, ought
      to be over, and everyone flopped down breathless on the ground and turned his
      face to Aslan to hear what he would sat next.
      "At that
      moment the sun was just rising and Lucy remembered something and whispered to
      Susan,
      " 'I say, Su,
      I know who they are."
      " 'Who?'
      "
      " 'The boy
      with the wild face is Bacchus and the old one on the donkey is Silenus. Don't you remember Mr. Tumnus telling us
      about them long ago?' "
      " 'Yes, of
      course. But I say Lu ----' "
      " 'What?'
      "
      " 'I
      wouldn't have felt very safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met
      them without Aslan.'"
      " 'I should
      think not,' Said Lucy." [Emphasis
      added.]
      Again, all the sign posts are in place and Lewis even puts
      the event at sunrise!
      Continuing --
      p. 192 - "Bacchus and the Maenads --- his fierce,
      madcap girls --- and Silenus, were still with them. Lucy, fully rested, jumped
      up. Everyone was awake, everyone was laughing, flutes were playing, cymbals
      clashing. Animals, not Talking Animals, were crowding in upon them from every
      direction.
      " 'What is
      it, Aslan?' said Lucy, her eyes dancing and her feet wanting to dance.
      " 'Come,
      children," said he. 'Ride on my
      back again to-day.' "
      " 'Oh
      lovely!' cried Lucy, and both girls climbed on to the warm golden back as they
      had done no-one knew how many years before. Then the whole party moved off ---
      Aslan leading. Bacchus and his Maenads leaping, rushing and turning
      somersaults, the beasts frisking round them, and Silenus and his donkey
      bringing up the rear." [Emphasis added.]
      Now, note here that Lewis actually names the Maenads and
      describes them as "fierce". To
      complete the description of this devil worship for your children to mimic in
      their play, he adds the flutes and cymbals, and animals are brought in, though
      their fate at the hands of the Maenads is carefully excluded.
      He also describes them going down a hill into
      town where they found a girls' school.
      The girls were dressed in ugly tight collars, thick stockings and tight
      hairdos. The teacher and class all fled
      in terror except one girl. Aslan called her "sweetheart" and asked
      her to join his wild crowd, which she did.
      She was instantly dancing with the Maenads who helped her take off some
      of her "unnecessary" and uncomfortable clothes!

    • @klohitman
      @klohitman 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      So, Lewis is telling your children that in order to be part
      of this wild bunch (which he portrays as fun), they must join in the dancing
      and take off some of their clothes!
      This sounds remarkably similar to one of the accounts in the
      Bible -- the occasion on which Aaron made the golden calf and Israel worshipped
      it with a wild feast and dancing party. When Moses got back down the mountain,
      he confronted Aaron and received a stupid excuse. Then we read, Exodus 32:25
      And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked
      unto their shame among their enemies:) 26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the
      camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the
      sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27 And he said unto them,
      Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go
      in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his
      brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. 28 And the
      children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the
      people that day about three thousand men. From this account we can see that the
      LORD does not look lightly on this sort of thing. Allowing C.S. Lewis to teach your children
      such heathenism is perilous to say the least!
      The most revolting thing, which has been evident right
      along, is stated plainly in the quote on p. 192. Aslan is leading! Now, if Aslan is supposedly the Lord Jesus
      Christ, as many assure us and as Lewis himself allowed, then what we find here
      is the grossest blasphemy! This is then
      supposedly Jesus Christ leading a Satanic orgy of Bacchus! This is sick beyond
      description!
      We have already determined that the real identity of Aslan
      in The Chronicles of Narnia is actually the sun god, but Lewis allowed and
      promoted the notion that this was an allegory of Biblical truth and that Aslan
      was indeed a picture of Christ Jesus - God in the flesh. Therefore, it is all the same as if he had
      written such filth about the Lord of glory in the first place! Deuteronomy
      32:41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I
      will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
      Amen!! Selah!!
      One interesting point here is that in The Last Battle on
      page 170 Lewis has Digory saying, "It's all in Plato, all in Plato."
      Now, Lewis calls Plato "an overwhelming theological genius"
      (Reflections on the Psalms, p. 80), which any discerning Christian familiar
      with Plato's works would take strong exception to. Plato was a pagan, Greek
      philosopher and his followers called Dionysus "Our Master". So, we
      see that C.S. Lewis gave credit to a Dionysus-worshipper as having written long
      before Christ was even born all the things that he, Lewis, put in his book!
      This is a real admission of guilt, and fits perfectly with Lewis' belief that
      Christ fulfilled paganism (Reflections on the Psalms, p. 129). Lewis has showed us plainly who his master
      really is, and it is not the Lord Jesus Christ!
      The next quote, which also appears in Prince Caspian
      (Chapter XV, "Aslan Makes A Door In the Air") brings in the subject
      of witchcraft.
      p. 205 of Prince Caspian - "Then three or four of the
      Red Dwarfs came forward with their tinder boxes and set light to the pile,
      which first crackled, and then blazed, and finally roared as a woodland bonfire
      on midsummer night ought to do. And everyone sat down in a wide circle around
      it.
      "Then
      Bacchus and Silenus and the Maenads began a dance, far wilder than the dance of
      the trees, not merely a dance for fun and beauty (though it was that too) but a
      magic dance of plenty, and where their hands touched, and where their feet
      fell, the feast came into existence -- sides of roasted meat that filled the
      grove with delicious smell, and wheaten cakes and oaten cakes, honey and many-coloured
      sugars and cream as think as porridge, and as smooth as still water, peaches,
      nectarines, pomegranates, pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries -- pyramids
      and cataracts of fruit. Then, in great wooden cups and bowls and mazers,
      wreathed with ivy, came the wines; dark, thick ones like syrups of mulberry
      juice, and clear red ones like red jellies liquefied, and yellow wines and
      green wines and yellowy-green and greenish-yellow." [Emphasis added.]
      First off, we have Red Dwarfs lighting the fire, and the
      fire is for "midsummer night." The fact that they are Red Dwarfs,
      meaning they have red hair, may not seem significant at a glance, but it
      emphasizes that nothing is lost on Lewis for symbolism.
      Red hair, according to Cirlot's book, symbolizes the lower
      regions -- hell. (This is a good reason to stop the myth of the "red
      head's fiery temper," by the way.) Midsummer night is the night for the
      sun-god's death and temporary descent into hell, so Lewis has the Red Dwarfs
      light the fire.
      Next, we note that it says a woodland bonfire on midsummer
      night. This is not just any fire and not just A midsummer night. This is the
      real thing. A high day of sun worhip. This comes from the burning of the bones
      from the sacrifices in the bonfire (bone-fire) on the summer solstice. It is a
      sabbat of witchcraft as the marriage of the death goddess or moon goddess to
      the sun god. The days become shorter from this point as the sun god dies and is
      sent for his yearly visit to hell. On December 25th he will be reborn. (We can
      see that Lewis' theology fits well with the paganized Roman Catholic Church.)
      Everyone sits in a circle around it. Again this is a
      powerful witchcraft symbol.
      Another pagan/witchy thing is the wild, magic dance of
      plenty. Those of "The Craft"are famous for their magic dances.
      Pomegranates are a symbol of fertility, and according to the
      Greeks sprang from the blood of Dionysus. (Cirlot, pg. 261) (Note: Remember
      Satan counterfeits what God does. Hence there were pomegranates used on the
      robes of High Priest in Exodus, and the devil corrupts their meaning to dirty
      the beautiful things of God.)
      The fruit is stacked in a pyramid - a powerful
      witchcraft/Luciferian/Masonic symbol.
      The whole thing, with Bacchus involved, sounds like a
      mixture of a typical English pagan/Wiccan midsummer night celebration and a
      Bacchus orgy.
      It should be clear by now that C. S. Lewis was a master of
      combining many and varied heathen myths to develop his plots. Worst of all,
      this is for children! What horrible, ungodly things Lewis has introduced to
      them! It's too bad nobody ever explained to him the consequences of such
      behavior. Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
      believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
      neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Perhaps he would not
      have cared. Perhaps he had a known "calling" for his father the devil
      which he was willingly fulfilling. We will only know when he stands before the
      Almighty to be judged someday.
      At this point it seems somewhat unnecessary to continue on
      with an in-depth study. The point has been made full well. Therefore, it would
      seem more useful to simply provide a list of information and observations which
      those who wish to can look into for themselves more fully.

    • @tammyjwhaley
      @tammyjwhaley 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      klohitman Perhaps this is what kept him from, at last, converting. This would have been scandalous. It has always puzzled people, particularly those closest to him, why he remained outside the Catholic Church.

    • @petercallaghan9851
      @petercallaghan9851 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Could it be that the Catholic Church is moribund and corrupt?

  • @garypotter5569
    @garypotter5569 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    About 180% more pretentious than it needed tobe but still I got the jist of what he was trying to say.
    Again, no thanks to his utterly pointless pretentiousness.

  • @KenDelloSandro7565
    @KenDelloSandro7565 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Brilliant