Every world ends. The question C.S. Lewis asks in the final Chronicle is what you’ll be able to see when it does. The Last Battle is the darkest book in the series and arguably the most beautiful.
This week we work through the finale of our Narnia series — the book that opens with an ape draping a lion’s skin over a donkey and selling the whole world a fake Aslan, and ends with the end of everything. We dig into why the most dangerous counterfeit isn’t the one that takes things away from the gospel but the one that adds to it, the difference between right and almost right, Emeth the devout follower of the wrong god and what Aslan’s welcome does and doesn’t mean, Susan and “once a queen, always a queen,” and the Dwarfs — who got burned so badly by a fake that they stopped believing in anything at all. Let’s get to it.
In this episode:
(00:00) Intro
(01:46) Lewis’s eschatology and Platonism
(03:56) The Shadowlands: does Lewis devalue this life?
(06:42) Recap: Shift, Puzzle, and the fake Aslan
(09:16) The door of death into the new Narnia
(10:46) The questions this book forces
(12:05) Emeth and the followers of Tash
(15:29) Not universalism, not a second chance
(17:28) Two modes of salvation and the edges of orthodoxy
(22:38) False religion: what gets added to the gospel
(24:44) The difference between right and almost right
(29:53) The Dwarfs, deconstruction, and deconversion
(32:55) Susan: once a queen, always a queen?
(37:31) Biggest takeaways from the whole series
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 Last Battle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Battle
How You Lose Faith Without Noticing | The Silver Chair: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/how-you-lose-faith-without-noticing-the-silver-chair/
Is God Really In Control? | The Horse and His Boy: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/is-god-really-in-control-the-horse-and-his-boy/
Plato: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato
J.R.R. Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
Have We Tamed Jesus? | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/have-we-tamed-jesus/
Donald Trump: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump
Are We Living in the Last Days?: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/are-we-living-in-the-last-days/
Mere Christianity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_Christianity
Doug Wilson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Wilson_(theologian)
Rob Bell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Bell
Charles Spurgeon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon
Lordship ep:
Paul Washer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Washer
What Paul Washer Gets Wrong About God’s Love | TCS Reacts: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/what-paul-washer-gets-wrong-about-gods-love-tcs-reacts/
Should Christians Judge Each Other? Steve Lawson and the Problem with Lordship Salvation: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/should-christians-judge-each-other-steve-lawson-and-the-problem-with-lordship-salvation/
The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/
Connect with Adam
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Connect with Aaron
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromgreytown
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Get full show notes and links at https://www.thechristianskeptic.org.
Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic.
