Last Battle [Paperback]

I thought it timely, in light of the controversy surrounding another "End Times" story, to remark on this most remarkable of C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles. This satisfying series conclusion illustrates Lewis' brilliant analysis of Biblical prophesy in a touching story children of God can all look to with anticipation ("...Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20b).

This is the story of Armaggedon; the conflict between anti-Christ (anti-Aslan) and the great masses of inhabitants of lost Narnia deceived by him and doomed for eternity versus the ultimate salvation of the few true followers of Aslan to eternal life in His Country, the True Narnia. The allegory to Scriptural truth is remarkable as illustrated by this most insightful, genius mind of modern-day Christian apologists.

The high point of the story occurs after the destruction of the old world and the lost souls who rejected Aslan, who are dispatched allegorically in Revelations 20, "lake of fire" fashion. The heroes of the story, including all the key players from the earlier Chronicles, are seen trying out their new "resurrection" bodies exploring the most beautiful place ever imagined, thrilled to have Aslan with them. They find after a while that the beautiful country is actually Narnia, the REAL Narnia. Though the Narnia they knew and loved was perceived most wonderful, it was a mere shadow of the perfect New Narnia, the one that would last forever, always with Him present and providing all the light in the never-ending Day.

For believers in Christ, Lewis has projected a clear picture mortal minds can comprehend of how it might be on that Day. It is shown through a children's story because that is how we must come to Him; like a child. "You must become just like a child to enter the Kingdom of God". Jesus said "let all the little children come to Me". In Narnia, those child-like believers were never lost once they found Him, by His grace. Those who perished were the lovers of the old, decaying, temporary Narnia and were deceived by what their own wills commanded, rejecting and hating Aslan and worshipping the god of their chosing, their own selves. This is a definitive picture of our fallen world and our fallen culture. Lewis' work is prescient in describing the condition of the world of today, one in which Jesus could return to at any time, as our prayer pleads from Revelation cited above (but if He tarries, one and all can be sure that He is coming soon; "soon" defined as the lifespan of the individual).

One last point on a most poignant scene from the story. It involves the fierce young Tarkaan warrior Emeth, devoted follower of the vulture-like god of the Calormens, Tash. As our heroes are exploring the Real Narnia, following Aslan "further in and further up", they discover this unlikely believer sitting perplexed under a tree, "surprised by joy". Emeth's story is one that demonstrates man's frequent inability to match his rational and correct thoughts with his often erroneous mental images of said correct thought. In this case this child of the Light lived bravely demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit in humility, submission and obedience to the true God of everything, the Self-Existant Great I AM. But his human error was in his vision of what God looked like and not knowing His correct name. Emeth is somewhat like Helen Keller, who, when "told" about Jesus by Anne Sullivan in the eternal darkness, quiet and aloneness of her disability, said "so that's His name; I know Him".

The story of Emeth's salvation by grace is much akin to the salvation of the thief on the cross, or like mine. It doesn't say that "being good" gets one into Heaven, as one mistaken reviewer opined. It does show that a totally surrendered heart turned toward the One true living God in obedience and love will not be turned away, no matter how mistaken one's mental images may be about God. It is a beautiful picture of salvation by faith through His grace and not by works. God does all the saving; the Holy Spirit teaches us about the true nature of God by His perfect, inerrant Word. Lewis' picture of Emeth is one all believers should take heart in, realizing it is not our purview to know who God has saved by His sovereign will. Of course, Emeth's works demonstrated his salvation, even though he was not recognized as a believer.

Emeth's conviction, humility and devotion in this passage continues to bring me to tears. As Aslan seeks him out in the New Narnia, Emeth is convinced he is about to die. He has seen Aslan in His Glorious Appearing and is convicted of his sins. He falls at His feet thinking "Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honor) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen Him." Read the book to see a most beautiful prosaic illustration of Christ's mercy and grace.

This is an ideal book to read either before or after reading the last of the Left Behind series, Glorious Appearing. The stories are very similar with the same outcome and the same great Hope. The self-possessed "intellectuals" of the world may guffaw at those who believe in "Whom" Lewis and other Christians have assurance. Most of these "intellectuals" are ignorant of Scripture, though some are over-studied yet deluded by their self-enlightenment, hard hearts or pride (see 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 for the bottom line, or if you can't get translation from that source, try reading Lewis' definitive study Miracles).

The Chronicles of Narnia are reading for a lifetime. They should be read by believers as a reminder of how we are to come into His presence. In Narnia we see the joys of serving Him in the trials and in the triumphs of this life. In The Last Battle we see the Genius of Revelation as given to Lewis on a plain that even great intellects can embrace if they are willing to "not harden their hearts" (Hebrews 3:12-15). If they are not willing they will get a clear picture of the consequences.

The Last Battle is the last in the series of Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, and my personal favorite. Most people think this book is for children, but I think many people can enjoy it, as it can be understood on many levels. For example, a child may appreciate this story as a group of kids on a fun adventure. I, however, really got a lot of spiritual meaning out of this book, as I found a lot of biblical parallels. In this book, the children are battling the greatest evil to exist in Narnia since the White Witch. A cunning ape and his lackey Puzzle (a donkey) find a lion skin in the river. The greedy ape convinces Puzzle to dress up in it and convince the Narnians that he is great Aslan the Lion, king of Narnia. Through Puzzle, Shift the ape exploits the Narnians devotion to Aslan by giving cruel orders that will only profit Shift. Out of fear, the animals follow his orders. "Aslan" invites the enemy Calormene army into the land to help him rule the country. The animals at this point turn to the real Aslan, and the people he sent (all the humans from the previous books in the series) to save them, but there wasn't much they could do Aslan came just in time however, bringing with him the final Judgment Day. The good creatures left Narnia through a lone standing door frame and entered into a magnificent place of which I haven't space to describe the magnitude of its beauty. The evil were rejected, and Narnia began to fold in on itself, much the way it had formed in The Magician's Nephew. Once in this paradise, the children are told that they were here after having been pulled by Aslan into Narnia after their Earthly deaths. The children grappled with this, as it must be a very difficult thing to be told you are dead, but accepted it happily in the end, seeing as everything they loved on Earth and more was there. This was the most spiritually enlightening aspect of the book, and it really left me in awe. Aslan accepted all the good into this "heaven." Not caring whether they had worshipped the Calormene God Tash, Him, or any other deities, he simply accepted them on their goodness. This to me is very interesting because on Earth, it seems, all the various religions are in some sort of competition with each other. Wars are fought over religion often, but as this shows, none of these specifics really matter.

As the title implies, "The Last Battle" is the final book of C.S. Lewis' acclaimed Narnia Chronicles. It is also, for all intents and purposes, the end of Narnia itself, culminating in a sequence that bookends with the creation chapters and final coda of "The Magician's Nephew."

Unlike the other Narnia books, "Battle" begins not in the real world with the children who have been at the core of the series, but in Narnia itself. There, an ape called Shift and a donkey named Puzzle find a lion skin which washed down a waterfall. Seeing an opportunity to makes others do what he wants, Shift forces Puzzle to wear the lion skin and pretend he is Aslan. The ape's deception is central to both the conflict that drives the story and the questions of faith and belief that act as this book's moral center.

That conflict and the events which follow lend the story a tension not found in the previous six books, largely because the ape's deceptions just feels *wrong* in every way. The populace of Narnia believes the false Aslan is the real thing, even when he begins to sell them into slavery. Narnia's last king, King Tirian, tries to convince the Narnians that this Aslan is not real, but most are either too scared to not believe or are losing their faith in Aslan altogether. Enter Eustace in his third Narnia appearance and Jill in her second.

The tale moves along at a good pace, driven sometimes by action and other times by a pressing need to know what will happen next. After six Narnia book, the effect of Narnians turning away from Aslan is compelling. What little hope there is for the Good Guys falters again and again, which only adds to the steadily growing tension of the book's first two-thirds. It's effectively done and reads well; it is also has a more serious tone than previous Narnia books, similar to the difference in tone from Lloyd Alexander's first Prydain book and the last.

It is roughly two-thirds of the way through that the story takes a left turn in much the same way "The Magician's Nephew" shifts its focus. Here, however, the effect is not as jarring as it was in "Magician." It works largely because the sense of wonder and discovery present in much of Lewis' work is here in spades.

The final chapters of the book may be overly spiritual for some readers, but by and large that spirituality is of the same sort present at the end of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," a wondrous, timeless sort of revelation that fits within the framework of a fairy tale. Those readers who want to see Christian elements in the tale's finish surely will see them, but one can easily enough read it as the magical end to an equally magical saga told in the tradition of ancient storytelling.

Themes of faith, belief and trust drive "The Last Battle" forward.
All time-tested themes, and Lewis weaves them into a good enough story that they rarely feel heavy-handed. Because the story ends as it does, "Battle" offers true closure to the series, a rarity in lengthy works of fiction where "one more installment" is always a possibility.

"The Last Battle" is a well written and superbly fitting end to C.S.
Lewis' Narnia Chronicles, granting readers a compelling conflict before delivering on a finish that satisfies in spite of the near deux ex machina end to it all. The book manages to tie the elements of the six previous volumes together to close out one of the most beloved children's series of all time. "The Last Battle" is fine piece of work all but the most demanding reader will enjoy.