The Italian Memorandum

“And one of the elders said to me, Weep no more; behold,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered,
so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals”

(Revelation 5:5)

Perhaps the most quotable line in C.S. Lewis’, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is that which was spoken by a beaver to children in the Land of Narnia—“Aslan is on the move.” Here was a message of hope and power and comfort to the frightened and morally challenged. Surely, our world will wonder what these words mean and from whence they come, knowing that C.S. Lewis was a Christian scholar and literary critic from Oxford. But, not all are pleased with bringing a New Testament message into the secular market-places of America. After all, what will the religious liberals, who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ, say to their wide-eyed children who marvel at the Lion called Aslan? We can hear them now, “Oh, that’s just a myth honey! There’s nothing real about it. It’s just a story”(see John 7:17).

The box office for this movie earned $290 million in the United States. The Narnia winter wonderland series, itself, has sold over 85 million books since their first appearance in 1950. Of course, the critics have their own biases. Alison Lurie, for example, sees this film as nothing more than a conservative Christian work of mindless respect for authority that blocks social progress. (adapted quote from John Williams, “Narnia on Film,” Harding University Publication (Spring 2006/Vol. 14/ Number 2).

As we compose this article, several of our number are in the hospital. To them and others, we propose that Jesus is represented in Revelation 5:5 as, “the Lion” for a reason. That reason is found in his ability to open the scrolls and the seals. Let’s close with a question, What are the scrolls and the seals? And, why would that matter?

-Robert M. Housby