Aslan lying on the Stone Table is a quintessential Narnian image, but does it also give us a vision of the Atonement? David interviews Dr. Charles Taliaferro about “A Narnian vision of the Atonement: A defense of the Ransom Theory” to find out…
S6E39: “A Narnian Vision of the Atonement” (Download)
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Show Notes
Introduction
Drop-In
Quote-of-the-week
“…if [the White Witch] could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards.”
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chapter 15)
Introduction
David referred to his “Half Pint” interview with Mako Nagasawa and the episode in Season 1 where the atonement was discussed.
Biographical Information
Dr. Charles Taliaferro is a philosopher specializing in theology and philosophy of religion. He is an emeritus professor of philosophy at St. Olaf College, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Faithful Research, and a member of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of twenty books, including Aesthetics: A Beginner’s Guide, A Brief History of the Soul, and the book which we’ll be discussing today, “A Narnian vision of the Atonement: A defense of the Ransom Theory”
Biographical Information
Toast
- David was drinking some Earl Grey Tea
- His guest was drinking Kambucha
Discussion
01. “Background”
Q. So I gave you a very short bio, but would you mind filling in the details by telling us a little bit more about yourself?
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Q. What did you read after Narnia?
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02. “Atonement and Theories”
Q. What do we mean when we talk about “atonement” and “atonement theories”?
- Penal Substitution Atonement
- Eleonore Stump
- Ransom Atonement was addressed by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor
- Christus Victor
03. “Theory interactions”
Q. How do these different atonement theories interact with each other? Are some of the compatible with each other?
- Tham Luang cave rescue
- The Seven Deadly Sins can be remembered as PALESAG – Pride Avarice Lust Envy Sloth Anger Greed
04. “Why Narnian atonement?”
Q. So now is the time to pass through the wardrobe door and explore Narnia. After all, your book is called “A Narnian Vision of the Atonement”… Why did you decide to combine the theological question of the atonement with Narnia?
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05. “What happened at the Stone Table?”
Q. In your opinion, what are we to make of Aslan’s sacrifice on the stone table? How does it “work”?
Sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.
…
The very first tear he [Aslan] made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.
C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chapter 6 and 7)
Following the interview, while I couldn’t find references in the Early Church comparing the Atonement in terms of an exploding dragon, I did find references by Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor and others referring to Christ as a bait on a fishing line.
“Therefore Death will advance, and, gulping down the bait of the Body, be transfixed with the hook of the Divinity: tasting that sinless and life-giving Body, he is undone, & disgorges all whom he has ever engulfed, for as darkness vanishes at the setting in of light, so corruption is chased away on the onset of life.”
St. John of Damascus
06. “Magic, Deep Magic, Law and Grace”
Q. Some people connect with the Stone Table with the Moral Law. What do you make of that?
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Wrap-Up
More Information
- Dr. Charles Taliaferro
- A Narnian Vision of the Atonement
- Philosophy of Religion: Bolinda Beginner Guides
- Aesthetics: Bolinda Beginner Guides
