"...Attendees watched the trailer and heard from Doug Gresham, Lewis' stepson, and Christian music star Rebecca St. James. Afterward, attendees received free goodie bags.

Marketers are counting on Christians, particularly the estimated 70 million Americans who describe themselves as evangelicals, to fill movie theaters Dec. 9, when "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is to be released. Nothing would please these marketers more than to make Narnia a financial encore to Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," which became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

Evangelicals might not need much encouragement. Christians have already embraced the movie, even though very few have seen the final cut.

 

...Mission America is actively encouraging evangelicals to see "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." The group has sponsored or participated in similar previews across the country...

"We actually find ourselves happily surprised to be involved in a movie like this, so swiftly on the heels of 'The Passion,'" Overholt said.

 

The movie's creators are wary about "Narnia" being pigeonholed as a Christian film. "We want to get the word out to as many groups as possible," Michael Flaherty, president of Walden Media, told The Gazette this summer.

 

...To capitalize on Christian interest, Walden and Disney hired Motive Movie Marketing, the same company that promoted "The Passion," to court evangelicals. Previews such as the one at Focus are a key ingredient in that push. Overholt said he hopes that churches will incorporate the film into their services and Sunday schools, and that its faith themes will give Christians a chance to chat about salvation with their more secular movie-going friends.

But he has another motive for pushing "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

"There is the value once again of demonstrating to Hollywood that there is a market for this kind of film," Overholt said..."1

"We’ve seen it—and it’s magnificent!"..."We are delighted to report that the movie is extraordinary–both in faithfulness to the content and as a visually stunning experience! "...At the same time, the producers have retained the underlying themes that have endeared the book to Christians for generations as a classic metaphor for the gospel message.  They got it right—and now it’s our turn to “get it right” in using this film to communicate with a world that desperately needs the hope of Jesus Christ. 

 

Jesus said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?  Or with what parable shall we picture it?”. . . And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.  But without a parable He did not speak to them.  And when they were alone, He explained all things to his disciples (Mark 4:30, 33-34).

 

As Christians, we have the opportunity in Narnia to follow the example of our Lord by sharing the parables of our day through the technology of motion pictures.  In this wonderful “parable” Lewis pictured a land like Narnia and then imagined what would happen if the Son of God, as He became a Man in our world, became a lion there - a lion named Aslan..."

 

Mission America Coalition partners have developed a number of outstanding resources to help pastors and leaders increase the impact of this film in their community.  For more information about the movie and available resources, visit our Narnia Outreah Downloads page or contact our Narnia Outreach Team.

 

Aslan is on the move,"  2

"As in India, local officials in Egypt were alarmed at the large numbers of inhabitants who used hashish directly or in confections, many of which were exported to Europe. Among the variety of confectionery treats containing hashish that were sent abroad were 'Turkish Delight,' square pieces of hashish containing sugar and gelatin which were a particular favorite of the students at Cambridge University in England." 3

'Everyone knows that the book is a little lower than angels, and that we have to be as close to perfect as humanly possible. That's where we raised the bar to,' Flaherty said."

"Manchester Cathedral staged a Narnia day last month that culminated in an "Aslan worship event", focusing on the Christ-like talking lion who is killed but comes back to life.

Churches Together in England, whose presidents include the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Wiliams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, is encouraging children to explore the film's "deeper magic".

The Methodist Church has also issued guidance to ministers on how to tailor their Christmas services to include references to Narnia and Aslan.

Congregations will be asked to consider what the world would be like if, as in Narnia at the start of the story, Christmas never came and to examine the role of gift giving and receiving.

While it is not an overtly Christian film - many of its characters are drawn from pagan mythology - its symbolism mirrors much of the Gospel story." 5

Greg Wright, senior editor for HollywoodJesus.com thinks pastors see the movie as an evangelism tool and a sign of their growing cultural influence. Because of that, he said, pastors are being “used” to help promote the film even before seeing it. 6.   

That is the same marketing strategy Mel Gibson used to present another gospel and another Jesus in his occult based The Passion of the Christ, also heavily endorsed by Christian 'leadership' and their followers. In fact, one finds many of the same names doing the promotion for this admittedly occult based fable, also endorsed the occult based Harry Potter books.

"The move is particularly remarkable because for the past decade Disney has been the subject of a religious boycott imposed by Christian organisations, who accused the company of betraying its family-values legacy by providing employee health benefits to same-sex partners, allowing gay days at its theme parks and producing what they considered to be controversial films, books and television programmes through Disney subsidiaries."

Now the wooing of evangelicals, combined with the departure of Disney chief executive Michael Eisner - described by some religious leaders as "anti-Christian" - signals the implicit end of the boycott and the beginning of a possible money-spinning franchise for the studio"

It has already received the endorsement of Focus on the Family, ... which claims two million members and which initiated the Disney boycott in the early 1990s.

A spokeswoman for the group noted: "After the success Christians brought to The Passion of the Christ, I know Disney is banking on a big Christian turnout."

As well as courting religious groups, Disney has developed one of its largest ever promotional campaigns, involving shopping malls, fast-food restaurants, retail outlets and Harper Collins, which is publishing more than 140 editions of Narnia, including six box sets and 31 audio versions.

More than 50 licensees are manufacturing items such as board games, dolls, trading cards and photo albums and, of course, a video game is due out soon." 7

Disney, in their promotion for church goers, science fiction and fantasy connoisseurs, invited Bob Waliszewski, a media specialist with Focus on the Family, who was once a backer of the Disney boycott, along with 29 other evangelical groups to see an early trailer of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.' The Southern Baptist Convention and other groups ended the boycott this summer, but warned they would be monitoring Disney products. 8 

"It is a powerful film. I saw it last Friday night at a screening in New York and tears came to my eyes; not only because of the content, but because Walden Media and Disney have teamed up to give us something we can cheer and support. It is important that we do both. Buy tickets and see this film when it is released. Take family and friends. Invite nonbelievers. Make these companies a huge profit and they will make more of these types of films. It’s all about supply and demand. If we show by our ticket purchases that we demand, they will supply."

Cal Thomas
Syndicated Columnist

"At the Disney lot I recently saw a full, rough cut version of Walden Media's new film 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.' I went in with some trepidation, wondering whether the heart of the story would be left intact. I was not only satisfied that it was; I felt the redemptive message was even stronger than I'd hoped. Truly the Church has before it a fantastic opportunity to speak to the message portrayed in this great movie."

Scott Evans
Founder and President
Outreach, Inc.

  ...Evangelicals have long sought to follow the model of the Apostle Paul who employed 'all possible means that I might save some.' Here is yet another tool that many may find to be effective in communicating the message of Jesus to those who may not respond to other presentations. We hope that many churches will see the opportunity here to reach another part of their community with the story of the not-so-tame Lion who loves and lays down his life to set the children of Adam free from bondage.”...

Ted Haggard
President
National Association of Evangelicals

“‘Word has it, Aslan is on the move,’ is now more than a quote from 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.' The reality is that a quality film adapted from the great C.S. Lewis book, true to the book’s story and theology, ‘will move’ into millions of hearts and minds starting, this Christmas....

Lon Allison
Director, Billy Graham Center
Wheaton College

"The entire story was intact with clear themes of sacrifice and redemption…the biggest issue for me—key dialogue and thematic content--was handled beautifully. A triumph!"

Robert Smithouser
Focus on the Family
Editor, Plugged In magazine  9

"...He [Lewis] set out to write a children's book that would be exciting and adventurous.

"He was not trying to win anyone to Christianity with this story. And I think you can tell that by the way so many people can read it and love it without having any idea of the biblical connection." 10 

That report also noted, "Lewis, who was Anglican, is an unlikely hero for evangelicals in some respects. He smoked and drank and lived for 30 years with an older woman who was not his wife." That in spite of his writings being embraced and taught in seminaries and Lewis viewed as one of the greatest Christian apologists by many advocates. J.I. Packer called him “our patron saint.”, in an article observing the 100th anniversary of Lewis’s birth in Christianity Today and also stated that Lewis ”has come to be the Aquinas, the Augustine, and the Aesop of contemporary Evangelicalism” 10b

Christianity Today continued and continues today to advocate and glorify Lewis and his writings. April 23, 2001, they again praised him in an article titled, “Myth Matters.” Lewis, whom they called “the 20th century’s greatest Christian apologist,” and whose mythical works such as The Chronicles of Narnia, are highly recommended by Christianity Today who said that “Christ came not to put an end to myth but to take all that is most essential in the myth up into himself and make it real.” Christianity Today also included the foolish and unbiblical statement, “In Aslan, Christ is made tangible, knowable, real.”

"...Plans are afoot for Prince Caspian, which will be the next Narnia movie if Wardrobe succeeds. The Christian symbolism becomes more obvious in some of the later books, particularly in the last one, The Last Battle, a retelling of Revelation. Near the end, Lewis makes it clear that, in his cosmology, heaven is open to the good of all faiths.

"That's nothing new in Christian tradition, but it's not the most common view among evangelical churches," Wheaton's Jacobs says. "Some people will find that very disturbing for Lewis to have done." 11  

While many Christians claim that the story is an allegory of Jesus Christ and the gospel, Lewis himself insisted that it was never intended as an allegory. According to USA Today, "Lewis insisted the Narnia books were not allegory — where things are meant to represent something else — but were a supposal of how it might have gone if Christ had come to a world of talking animals and become one of them." 12.

"As he [Lewis] wrote to some Maryland fifth graders in 1954, “I did not say to myself ‘Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia’; I said ‘Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.’” 13

"...The most conspicuous omission from this film is the scene of Father Christmas giving the Pevensie children their gifts. While we hear about Father Christmas and the gifts he gives to others, we never see him, himself; instead, it is Aslan who gives the children their gifts.

 

...And when the grown-up Kings and Queens of Narnia pursue the White Stag, ..." 14

"...This version owes its great length partly to the fact that it has retained almost everything from Lewis's book,...Edmund heads for the White Witch's castle to give them all away, he begins to wrestle with his own conscience, depicted here as a sort of ghostly copy of himself that emerges from his body to talk to him every now and then. At one point, after talking to this doppelganger, Edmund tells it to "disappear."...

 

The BBC version includes the Father Christmas episode; however, ...it leaves out some of the mythological references in Lewis's original novel that might rub some Christians the wrong way. These include the bit where Mr. Beaver explains that the White Witch is not human because she is descended from Lilith—a demonic being who was Adam's first wife, according to medieval Jewish legend—as well as the bit where Mr. Tumnus regales Lucy with stories of how the Roman god Bacchus and his drinking buddy Silenus feasted with the forest people. (This last element becomes especially important in Prince Caspian, but the BBC eliminated it from their adaptation of that book, too.)

Seymour's script also adds a curious bit of dialogue after Aslan comes back from the dead and explains the Deeper Magic. Susan and Lucy ask why he didn't tell them that he knew he would rise again (a fair question, since Jesus had predicted his own resurrection to his disciples), and Aslan replies, "I knew of the old incantation, but it has never been put to the test, until now." The girls then marvel that Aslan took such a "risk"—as though he had been uncertain of the outcome. Some critics, like Steven D. Greydanus, have said this line is "rank heresy" against Aslan's omniscience..." 15

Hags, - Dictionary Definition: "A very ugly old woman, especially one who is vicious or malicious; a witch, a sorceress; a female demon  [related to witch, fury] ." 

According to Oxford online ...witch--hag is another name for witch--"1 woman supposed to have dealings with Devil or evil spirits. 2 old hag. 3 fascinating girl or woman. witchcraft 1 use of magic. 2 bewitching charm. witch-doctor tribal magician of primitive people.

·1enchantress, sibyl, sorceress. 2crone, gorgon, hag, harridan, shrew, virago. witchcraft 1black magic, charms, enchantment, incantations, magic, necromancy, the occult, occultism, sorcery, spells, voodoo, witchery, wizardry  [as noted in http://www.SeekGod.ca/hpsymbols2.htm]

Dwarfs, salamanders etc. -called elemental spirits or demons and used in magic and sorcery. [as noted in http://www.SeekGod.ca/hpsymbols1.htm]

Bacchus- The Roman god of wine and intoxication, equated with the Greek Dionysus. Dionysus also represents the features of mystery religions, including, ecstasy, personal delivery from the daily world through physical or spiritual intoxication, and initiation into secret rites. The Bacchanalia were orgies in honor of Dionysus, and were introduced in Rome about 200 BC. They were later banned due to their notorious sexual and criminal character. Bacchus is often portrayed as a young boy. He makes visits to Narnia every now and again, and is mentioned in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" as well as "Prince Caspian."  16

Centaurs- In Greek mythology, Centaurs have the head and chest of a human, but the body of a horse. Centaurs are the followers of the wine god Dionysus and are known for drunkenness and carrying off helpless young maidens. In Narnia, Centaurs are star-gazers that tell the future by the stars. They are all portrayed as wise creatures that are loyal to the end. Centaurs are also found in the Zodiac and promoted under the guise of Biblical Astrology. Proponents include D. James Kennedy (CNP), Noah Hutchings, J.R. Church, John Barela and David Webber, and Chuck Missler of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. “Sagittarius,” is a centaur and Kennedy teaches that this mythological beast from the Zodiac is representative of Christ. From the article Astrology: The Gospel of Truth??

"The centaur which Kennedy would align our Lord with is connected to the abominations known as false gods. The Centaur is another name for Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead, also known as the sun god. Throughout the world and various cultures, the various names for Osiris include: The Centaur, Liber, Bacchus, Dionysus (human sacrifices), Mithras (astrology), Zagreua (underworld divinity), Sabazius (solar deity, with horns and serpent emblem)  Deouis, The Boy Jupiter, Orion, Saturn, The Boy Plutus, Iswaram, The Winged One, Nimrod, Adoni, Hermes, Prometheus, Poseidon, Butes, Dardanus, Himeros, Imbors, Iasius, Zeus, Iacchus, Hu, Thor, Bel, Serapis, Ormuzd, Apollo, Thammuz, Atus, Hercules, Shiva, Moloch, and Baal.  4 "  

Dryad- Tree nymph or the spirits of the trees. Each has a tree that is its own, and when the tree dies, the dryad dies. It can move freely outside of the tree. In ancient myth, it is portrayed as a shy being that flees from people. In Narnia, they are more mysterious than shy, and are faithful to Aslan and Narnia itself

Fauns- half-human creatures with the legs and tail of a goat. Among the Romans, fauns were wild forest deities with little horns, the hooves of a goat, and a short tail. They accompanied the god Faunus. Fauns are analogous to the Greek satyrs. In Roman mythology they were raucous creatures that followed Pan, god of the fields and woods, and Bacchus, god of wine. In Narnia the majority of fauns are presented as good and kind.

Satyr- In Greek mythology Satyrs were gods of the wood, and were similar to Fauns. They followed Pan and Dionysus, also known as Bacchus in Roman mythology. One is  mentioned in "The Last Battle," which claimed to be about the book of Revelation."

Phoenix- mythological bird symbolizing immortality, resurrection and life after death. It consumes itself in its own flame and rises again from its own ashes 500 years later. The Phoenix is mentioned in "The Last Battle," where it lives in the orchard in the true Narnia.

Maenads- female attendants of Bacchus or Dionysus in ancient Greek and Roman mythology that were believed to have occultic powers and were cruel. In Narnia they are presented as "madcap" girls that attend to Bacchus.

Naiads- Water nymphs in ancient mythology which were thought to inspire those who drank from their waters, They were female sex symbols and they had the power to prophesy, and, like Dryads, they were shy and fled from people.

In The Great Divorce, Lewis taught that hell is a state of mind, and said, “...every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind--is, in the end, Hell” 16b

The Scriptures are clear:

Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.