C.S. Lewis was nine years old when his mother died of cancer. He prayed for her healing. She died anyway. Lewis became an atheist for most of his adult life — and then, decades later, wrote The Magician's Nephew, a children's book about a boy in his exact situation.

This week, we kick off a seven-part deep dive into The Chronicles of Narnia, starting with the most autobiographical book in the series. We explore whether Lewis was retelling Genesis, why evil already exists in this world before humans even get there, what the "deplorable word" and Hiroshima might have in common, and whether Uncle Andrew is a fair portrait of the skeptical scientist or just a caricature.

Along the way: Aslan singing creation into being, Digory's reverse of the Fall, the cabby who becomes a king, and the scene at the heart of the book — where Aslan weeps over a dying mother.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro
01:03 Why a Narnia series
06:30 Past the "religious dragons"
08:10 Publication order vs. chronological
10:35 Lewis wrote himself into the story
11:26 Is this a retelling of Genesis?
13:47 Why evil predates humans in Narnia
20:09 Uncle Andrew and the skeptical scientist
23:10 Aslan weeps with Digory
27:01 Threads of redemption: the cabby, the apple, the lampstand
29:55 A wild lion, not a tame one
31:35 The reverse fall

Links

C.S. Lewis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia
The Pilgrim's Progress: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim%27s_Progress
John Bunyan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bunyan
Charles Spurgeon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon
J.R.R. Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
Out of the Silent Planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Silent_Planet
Perelandra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perelandra
That Hideous Strength: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Hideous_Strength
Mere Christianity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_Christianity
The Screwtape Letters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters
Doug Wilson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Wilson_(theologian)

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