The Narnian Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse

Rev. Samuel P. Schuldheisz

Have you noticed a recurring theme in the books we read, the movies we see, or the TV shows we binge watch? As those great theologians of the apocalypse, REM, once sang, It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.

But seriously, why all the doom and gloom, the world-is-going-to-beblown-to-bits-like-Alderaan hysteria?

Is it the money? Let’s face it, Judgment Day sells like oceanfront property in Arizona when the Big One hits. Bookstores, theatres, and Netflix queues are full of stories set in an apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, or dystopian, world. We can’t seem to read or watch enough of this genre.

Is art reflecting reality? Screenwriters and storytellers frequently use their art forms to warn us about problems common to human experience or reveal thought-provoking themes and moral dilemmas like those that regularly occur in The Walking Dead or The Hunger Games.

Or is it just entertainment? Some like romantic comedies, while others enjoy the adrenaline rush of surviving yet another alien invasion of planet earth.

Truth be told, reality is a mix of all three. But there’s something more than money, madness, and marketing revealed by our culture’s obsession with the End Times.

There’s a lot we know: the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow, the distance to the moon, or how long it took Magellan to circumnavigate the globe. But when faced with hard questions—the ones we’re unable to answer, such as, “When will the world end?”—we panic. And when we’re afraid, survival instincts kick in. Ironically, as much as we want our story to have a happy ending, we are incapable of creating the happily-ever-after-ending we so desire, whether it’s on the pages of a good book, the silver screen, or the front page of the morning news.

As baptized Christians, however, we know how the story ends: The good guys win. Jesus returns. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. We look forward to the new heavens and the new earth, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Still we wonder, how do we dare to be Lutheran in a Mad Max world?

Consider the Last Days of Narnia, as written by C.S. Lewis in his book, The Last Battle. What C.S. Lewis does in depicting Jesus’ passion in a symbolic and imaginative way through Aslan’s substitutionary death in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he portrays for the Last Days in our world through symbolism and storytelling in this masterful conclusion to The Chronicles of Narnia.

Think of The Last Battle as The Narnian Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. By seeing the end times in Lewis’ imaginative world of Narnia, we can see Jesus’ Second Coming better here in our own world.

Survival Tip #1: Know the Signs

As the story begins, Narnia is in its last days. Shift the Ape finds a lion’s skin in Caldron Pool. After some trickery, he fools the donkey, named Puzzle, into wearing the lion’s skin. His devilish deception is worsened by his next move: Puzzle is commanded to wander the forest pretending to be Aslan, the true Lion.

Tension heightens in Narnia as Shift the Ape spreads his great lie that Aslan has returned, and that he alone is privileged to communicate with him. Narnia devolves in turmoil. The talking animals are treated like ordinary beasts. Ancient trees are destroyed. Narnians are enslaved. Even King Tirian is captured. The signs of the end abound: confusion, doubt, and despair at every turn.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Jesus promised this would happen in our world, too: famine, earthquakes, wars and rumors of war, apostasy, unbelief, and of course, false prophets. Know the signs. Be prepared. The end is near.

Survival Tip #2: Know the Enemy

However apparent Shift’s treachery is to the reader, his villainy is much harder for the Narnians to recognize. The Ape is manipulative, cunning, and most of all, self-serving. He claims to speak for Aslan, yet lacks Aslan’s selfless mercy, and love. He leads many astray into false belief, great shame, and vice. He blasphemes Aslan, claiming that Aslan and Tash (the Calormenes’ false god) are the same. Clearly, Shift is the anti-Aslan.

Identifying evil in our world can be just as tricky. Like Puzzle the donkey cloaked in lion’s skin, sin, death, and the devil masquerade their lies with cunning, beauty, and empty promises, and are dead set against God’s will. Jesus warns us about this, too: Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray (Mark 13:6). Know the enemy. But also know that sin, death, and the devil are defeated. Forever. For you.

Survival Tip #3: Know That Help is on the Way

Narnia’s final chapter seems dark, ugly, and hopeless, just as it seems in our world. But hope was not lost. Eustace and Jill are sent to help. Aslan returns and Old Narnia gives way to the New Narnia. Further up and further in, to Aslan’s country they go. The end is really the beginning.

So it is for us. We don’t have to worry about the sky falling or pray that the odds are in our favor. We already know the outcome. Jesus died; we died with Him in Holy Baptism. Jesus rose from the dead; we will, too. Jesus’ promised return is not something to fear, but to long for. “Come quickly, Lord Jesus,” we pray.

For us, the end is the beginning. Jesus’ teaching on the End Times is our supreme comfort. When you see these signs, lift up your heads. Know that your redemption draws near. Help is on the way. The Shadowlands will soon be behind us. Jesus will return. And in Jesus, “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” 1

Rev. Samuel P. Schuldheisz is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach, California.

1 C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle. New York: Harper Trophy, 2000, p. 210.

William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea and Death on a Pale Horse, 1805 and 1800.