A well-known author and apologist, C. S. Lewis is best known by the public as the author of the seven volume series 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.
Narnia is an imaginary world visited by children from this world. Obviously Lewis has two major reason in writing Narnia: to entertain the readers and to suggest parallelism of the Christian faith.
CS Lewis has been successful in using fiction to open peoples' hearts in accepting Christ as their Savior because he first entertains the audience with a wonderful story. The Chronicles tell of the different adventures of English children as they visit the kingdom of Narnia and then talks about their love for the lion Aslan.
Aslan, is the "the son of the Emperor over Sea," can be compared to this Jesus Christ.
Lewis during his childhood always favored fairy tales and fantasies and as an adult, he came to a decision to write one. And so began The Chronicles of Narnia. Instead of planning to write a fictional book that succeeded in using apologetics, it is quite obvious that Lewis presented the "facet" of Christianity "as with Aslan”.
I have read in one interview with Walter Hooper (C. S. Lewis' biographer) he describes Lewis as being the most religious man he ever met. For this reason, no matter what Lewis wrote, his religion would greatly impact all of his works. If religion would be the correct term to use.
Even though Christian symbolism can be found in The Chronicles, I believe that Lewis recognized the importance of getting "past those watchful eyes" these are people who are not open to the beliefs of Christianity because they were told they should believe it.
But how should Lewis go about getting past those who are not open to the idea of Christianity? He believed that the best way to do this was to present it in a fictional world, a world in which it would be easier to accept.
The readers grows to love Aslan and everything that he symbolizes; in fact they love him so much that they might begin wishing for someone like Aslan in this world. After finding this love for Aslan, they will ideally transfer that love to Christ when presented with the Gospel later in life.
That saddest part is that The Chronicles of Narnia are successful because many readers do not realize the resemblance of Aslan to Jesus Christ.
Even though Christian themes are present, the Chronicles are NOT dependent on them. For this reason, "the Narnian stories have been so successful in getting into the bloodstream of the secular world".
But what I remember strongly about Lewis is this article in a magazine about a girl asking what is Aslan’s real name was, Lewis answered her with this-
‘As to Aslan's real name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who -
1. Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas.
2. Said he was the son of the great Emperor.
3. Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people.
4. Came to life again.
5. Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb....
Don't you really know His real name. Think it over and let me know your answer!’[*].
When Lewis' readers realize who is Aslan in the real world, they will find out that his true name is Jesus Christ.
And when this happens, Lewis is successful at opening a person's heart to accepting Christianity.
C. S. Lewis has been credited in writing some of the most well-known books on Christian apologetics, also he has been successful in writing fictional books, books that are appealing to both Christians and non-Christians.
Although there are many debates as to whether Lewis should use fairy tales to share the Gospel, it is evident that he is successful in doing so because of his strengths as a good story teller.
[*] Dorsett, Lyle W. and Marjorie Lamp Mead, eds. C. S. Lewis Letters to Children. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985.
