What's Prince Caspian About?

I have been surprised by the number of times I've been asked this question. We've been announcing that our VBS this year will be based on the book Prince Caspian, and many of you have asked what it's all about. There's curiosity, but just not as much familiarity as there is with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book of C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia."

On the surface, the story is about the same four children from LWW, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie and their return to the mythical land of Narnia. One year has passed in their lives, but 1300 years has passed in Narnia - the timelines never match up between the two worlds. When they arrive, the learn of a young prince, Caspian, who is the rightful one to be King of Narnia, but the post has been assumed by his uncle Miraz, who ascended to the throne through deception and murder. The story follows the battle of Prince Caspian with his small army of talking beasts and creatures fighting under the banner of Aslan, the Great Lion, against King Miraz and his large army of battle-tested warrior men.

Below the surface, Lewis tells a fascinating tale of faith. Several storylines interweave to compare and contrast characters and the decisions they make according to their faith. Lucy and Trufflehunter (a talking badger) are consistently faithful (although not perfect), showing us what Lewis portrays as model faith. Trumpkin the dwarf begins from the perspective of what we would call "modernity" (the view that the only reality is physical and the only knowledge is scientific), but later he converts to adopt the same kind of faith as Trufflehunter. Nikabrik, another dwarf, displays what we would call "post-modernity" (the view that the spiritual world exists, but absolute Right and Wrong do not). The older Pevensie children display various levels of genuine faith that is plagued by doubts caused by the effects of modernity.

Ultimately, it seems to me that the story is about comparing the childlike faith that Jesus teaches us to have against the worldview of secular humanism. Throughout the story, the characters face decisions they need to make based on faith - will they display childlike faith, or will they consider themselves too "sophisticated", too "practical", and too self-reliant to trust? When you ponder all the problems that we work through as Christians, doesn't it usually come down to this very dilemma? Will I trust God at His Word, or will I rely on my own thoughts and actions?

Yes - it's told a children's story, and a story that children will love. But the biblical truths Lewis reveals appeal to a mature look at childlike faith. Lewis doesn't try to explain all these views, he doesn't use any of the technical terms, and he doesn't forcefit a storyline into an attempt to teach Philosophy 101. He simply tells the story of characters who come from these different perspectives and allows their worldview to drive the story. You won't come away from the story thinking that you've just had a lesson on the various kinds of faith - you'll come away appreciating a well-told story about different characters and their struggles, failures, and successes.

Please consider joining us Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm to see the movie Prince Caspian. As of this writing, there are still tickets available. Call or email Debbi at the church. Also, please consider helping us put this VBS together - we need craftmakers, builders, fixers, painters, teachers, leaders, helpers, feeders, preparers - a whole host of tasks. Everyone has something they can do that would be a big help to Debbi and her crew.

Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia!