Into the Wardrobe

Lewis and Tolkien were obviously good freinds and I am sure each influenced each other's work. However one thing I read about them that I found interesting is that Tolkien did not like that Aslan is so obviously tied to Christ. This for me is actually one thing I really liked about the Chronicles Of Narnia, it is very easy to see Christian truths coming through. The Lord Of The Rings has beautiful Christian truths as well. However they tend to be alot more hidden and complicated then in Lewises Narnia. Which I know some people enjoy. I do as well depending on mood, but alot of the time I like the ease of reading Narnia and seeing the Truths effortlessly jump out at me. I have an untested theory that these differences may be tied to Lewises being a protestant and Tolkien being Catholic. However this could simply be that Lewis in his books was writing for Children, and perhaps Tolkien was not. Let me know what you guys think.

-Jesse

I think Lewis might have been a little more open-minded than Tolkien. Having Aslan in the story was very effective. The lion as king of beasts should relate effectively to both Catholics and Protestants since both of them see Jesus as their king and ultimate authority. Tolkien had his own ideas about how he thought it wouldn't work with his own personal mythology. But those ideas were his own. I doubt if most Catholics would have a problem with Aslan. Like most Christians, they would probably like the connection of the lion with Christ.

Larry W.