Finding God in the Land of Narnia

June 6, 2005
"It is not our intention to turn Lewis's stories into sermons," say Bruner and Ware, authors of Finding God in the Lord of the Rings. "But we do hope to draw spiritual insights from the faith that inspired their author and informed their plots." The authors use selected scenes from the Narnia Chronicles to open each of the more than two dozen short, thematic chapters of this book. These chapters address spiritual themes that many Christians can relate to: why do bad things happen to good people? How does the Holy Spirit work in the lives of the faithful? What should people do with feelings of disappointment in God? Those who haven't yet read the entire series may be confused by the examples given here, which jump quickly among the Narnia books without always identifying which novel is serving as a chapter's opening illustration. And despite the authors' determination not to reduce Lewis's Chronicles to mere sermons, many of these chapters feel like superficial narrative preaching, with a story, a brief meditation and a final take-away thought for reflection. Still, some of the authors' observations are insightful, and the chapters are short enough that the book could even be used as a month-long collection of daily devotions.

June 13, 2005
"It is not our intention to turn Lewis's stories into sermons," say Bruner and Ware, authors of Finding God in the Lord of the Rings. "But we do hope to draw spiritual insights from the faith that inspired their author and informed their plots." The authors use selected scenes from the Narnia Chronicles to open each of the more than two dozen short, thematic chapters of this book. These chapters address spiritual themes that many Christians can relate to: why do bad things happen to good people? How does the Holy Spirit work in the lives of the faithful? What should people do with feelings of disappointment in God? Those who haven't yet read the entire series may be confused by the examples given here, which jump quickly among the Narnia books without always identifying which novel is serving as a chapter's opening illustration. And despite the authors' determination not to reduce Lewis's Chronicles to mere sermons, many of these chapters feel like superficial narrative preaching, with a story, a brief meditation and a final take-away thought for reflection. Still, some of the authors' observations are insightful, and the chapters are short enough that the book could even be used as a month-long collection of daily devotions.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.