Susan and Eternity?

[rusmeister]

[andy]

[rusmeister]

[andy]

[Jill-at-the-Well]

[Tuke]

Some day I will know even as I am known. My current apprehension tells me that I am not saved. The Apostles say that we only possess a hope of salvation now. Paul says we see the intangible with eyes of faith, that all ephemerae is chimaera. If you have salvation, then you no longer hope for it; heresy. The antinomian antonym is faith without obedience, contemned by Aslan.
Isaiah VL; Jeremiah XVIII; Hebrews VI, X, and Romans IX are sobering philologies. II Corinthians XIII.5 says we must continuously audit our immortal souls.
"Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." Romans XI.20-22
That's about the extent of my comprehension, for there follows Rabbi Paul's astounding de profundis in verse 26: "And so all Israel shall be saved...." Ford's exegesis says "Digory buries the apple core in the back garden, and an apple tree grows from its seeds." I am an amateur philologist, but an expert biologist. A tree can only grow from one seed ....

[Jill-at-the-Well]

[Tuke]

Well, the apple tree provided fruit which healed Digory's mother and it has other healing properties. Digory's tree was knocked down and died, the wood from the tree was used in constructing professor Kirke's magic wardrobe. That's a good thing, but there's no more healing fruit. Dr. Paul Ford's Companion To Narnia seems to imply that all the seeds from Digory's apple were used up. Maybe it's an inaccuracy or a misprint, but I thought if there were some unknown seeds remaining they might someday produce fruit which could heal Susan's alienation from Narnia.
I was drawing some parallels of our alienation from God and the reconciliation offered through Christ. The scriptures I referenced speak of God's sovereignty as the Potter and our weakness and dependence as formed clay.
Isn't all reconciliation dependent upon grace, unmerited favor? An acronym of grace has been helpful to me in receiving reconciliation and renewal: God's Righteousness At Christ's Expense

You mentioned Romans V and so I read it. It's a wonderfully clear chapter conrasting law and grace.

[Tuke]

I was remiss in welcoming you into the Wardrobe, Jill. May your pilgrimage here frequently cross through the wood between the worlds.

[Larry W.]

[Stanley Anderson]

[splashen]

[repectabiggle]

splashen, don't you think Lewis meant that in the same way Aslan used the phrase about "somebody's story," i.e., their life?

Besides, we all know Lewis wrote seven books for seven planets, so there were none left to be written. ;)

[Larry W.]

A story after The Last Battle seems unlikely with the book being mostly about the end of Narnia. I always regarded the incident of Susan as a loose end, something that Lewis deliberately didn't want bring to conclusion. It may not seem fair that he never told us what really happened to her, but as an author he had the right to withhold certain knowledge about a character. Some would view that as a weakness in the story, while others see her unknown fate as consistent with Lewis' of keeping people's destinies private. After all, it was her story, and perhaps none of our eternal business.

Larry W.

[splashen]