Creation of Narnia

Danielle Benedict: Narnia (1)

At this point, I have read both the Magician’s Nephew and the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was initially excited to start reading the Chronicles of Narnia and found myself genuinely invested in these books. They are such a simple writing style and they are not lengthy but remain rich, vibrant narratives. I appreciated the Christian themes and allegories I saw throughout both books.

In reading the Magician’s Nephew, I realized this was the only other creation story I had ever read besides the account in Genesis 1. I want to compare the two here. In the Bible the creation of Earth is described as: “in the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. Then God commanded, “Let there be light”—and light appeared. God was pleased with what he saw.” Similarly, Aslan is the god and sole creator of Narnia, who sang the world into existence from darkness and nothingness. Diggory, Sally, and their companions witnessed the transformation from empty space to a flourishing world. The birth of animal species as well as plants were described as land boiling like water until it burst where an animal would scurry out. In Genesis 1:20-26, God makes animals in the sea and on land.

These accounts made me realize that people want to have a starting point. Humans desire to know that this is point A, from which everything else came, whether it is your religious conviction or a story that you read to your children at night. We know someone created us and we keep repeating that story.