Review: The Silver Chair and The Last Battle. Things Start Getting Whacky. (Spoilers)

The Silver Chair and The Last Battle are the last two books in the Chronicles of Narnia series and as implied in the title of this review, they are the whackiest books in the series, not because of the characters or the adventure, but rather because of the theology that was presented. While they are Christian books, I do wonder what all C.S. Lewis believed when writing the last two books since they seemed kind-of inconsistant with true Christianity.

#1: The Silver Chair

While The Silver Chair was a good book that was fun to read, compared to some of the other books, it felt somewhat lacking. The adventure itself was good, but in many ways it felt darker and drearier than in previous stories and theology wise there was almost no serious representation of Aslan as a Jesus figure. He just pops up and is like, “Okay kids, let me shove you off this cliff here into Narnia. Here are some directions (DON’T FORGET THEM!) to find your old buddy’s son and some plot armor. Have fun! BTW, you’re friend’s about to die.”

As though that wasn’t weird enough, when Caspian dies and Eustace and Jill are taken back to what I think was Aslan’s land (?), Aslan gives Caspian a new life by having a giant thorn pushed into his paw. While this is obviously representative of Jesus being hung on the cross through the wrists and feet, what happens next is confusing. After Aslan sort-of raises Caspian from the dead, Caspian asks if he can go to the real world outside of Narnia. Aslan agrees, but gives Eustace, Jill, and Caspian swords and whips so that for five minutes they can go wreak havoc on the crappy school that the kids go to. Obviously, while the bullies at the school got what they deserved and the school was finally looked into seriously, I do wonder what this was supposed to represent. Was it supposed to be Aslan showing his power? Was it supposed to be an allegory for Jesus driving the vendors out of the temple? Was it just Aslan letting the kids have fun and get their revenge? While it was a fun scene, if any of these are true, I would have to give the theology aspect of this book a .5/10 stars since none of those options really make sense.

#2: The Last Battle

For many people who read The Last Battle, they might’ve thought it was a wonderful representation of heaven and Christian faith. However, while it was a story that in many ways was taken from the book of Revelations (the book that James wrote when he was stranded on an island without a volleyball named Wilson), the end of it was very iffy.

The main plot of The Last Battle is King Tirian who is the great-great-something-grandon of King Caspian X hears that Aslan is back, but finds out it is a trick being played on him by an ape, a donkey in a lion’s skin, and a bunch of Calormenes. He calls on Aslan and Eustace and Jill come into Narnia to help him fight against the false Aslan and the Calormenes, but they all get killed in the end either from war or the god/demon, Tash. However, this isn’t that bad because Narnia’s ending anyways and everyone else (except for Susan which I’ll get to in a moment) has died and is in heaven with Aslan, which is where it gets weird.

The first part that has ticked some people off is where it’s explained why Susan isn’t in Narnia. The Pevensie children explain that she has become more enamoured with lipstick and nylons and invitations. While this is a take on becoming closer to the world instead of being closer with God (which happens to a lot of people), I do think in some ways Lewis could’ve worded it better.

Secondly, Lewis definitely held a Universalist view of salvation. For those who don’t know, the Universalist view is that Jesus died for everyone, not just those who accepted him as lord and savior. This is shown in the scene where the Calormene who was devoted to Tash but was still a noble person is let into Aslan’s Narnia 2.0. While this is a very “tolerant/accepting” view of Christ’s sacrifice, it is not biblical. The Bible clearly states that only believers can recieve salvation. Only those who truly believe in Christ and trust in him will be let in. While there is still some room left for interpretation, that’s what’s generally accepted by actual Christian denominations, with a few variations here and there. You could be the best person to have ever lived, but we all have sinned and unless you trust in Jesus, you’re not getting saved and will be going to hell. Had Lewis taken the actual view of salvation for his book, I think most other things could be forgiven, but unfortunately, he didn’t.

Would I still recomend the Chronicles of Narnia series to someone? Yes, but read with caution. Not everything with the Christian label is exactly Christian. Just because it has some parallels with the Bible doesn’t make it Christian. Harry Potter has parallels to the Bible in it, but you don’t see that being sold at Mardels (though Mardels does sell Christian romance novels, so maybe that will be coming soon….)

Until next time,

M.J.