Discussion Guide

Chapter 1: The Mystery

1. How important were the stories you read as a child in making you the person you are now?

2. In his teaching, Jesus often told parables that weren’t immediately easy to understand. What are the benefits of teaching by means of stories?

3. As well as being open and candid, C. S. Lewis could sometimes be secretive, private, and even deliberately misleading (as with the fox-hunters). Is it ever right not to tell the whole truth?

4. Before being introduced to this book, had you ever wondered whether the Chronicles of Narnia might contain a hidden level of meaning? Explain. What do you think are the merits of exploring this idea?

Chapter 2: The Beam of Light

1. Good ideas often come when you’re relaxed and idling in one of the three B’s: the bed, the bus, or the bath. Do you think idling can be a good thing at times? Explain.

2. Which do you generally prefer: looking at the beam of light or looking along the beam of light? Is there a situation where you might prefer the other? Explain.

3. Lewis believed that coming to know God is more like “breathing a new atmosphere” than it is like “learning a subject.” Do you agree with Lewis? Why or why not?

Chapter 3: The Seven Heavens

1. In English, the days of the week are named after the seven planets and their associated “gods.” Does knowing this make any difference to you, either for good or for bad?

2. When you look out at the night sky, which word immediately comes to mind: space or heavens? Does it make any difference?

3. In The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader,” Eustace says that a star is “a huge ball of flaming gas” and Ramandu tells him that “that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.” How much do you agree with this?

Chapter 4: Jupiter’s Kingly Crown

1. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the children become kings and queens at the end of the story, and in the Bible we are told that God will “give a crown of life to those who love Him” (James 1:12). What are the advantages of thinking about the Christian life in royal terms? What are the disadvantages?

2. Lewis nearly always uses winter to symbolize things that are bad or undesirable and summer to symbolize things that are good and lovely. Do you think of winter and summer in this way? Explain.

3. Do you think Lewis was wise to include Father Christmas in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Why or why not?

Chapter 5: The Wooden Shield of Mars

1. In Prince Caspian the trees adore Aslan, and in the Bible we are told that “the trees of the field clap their hands for joy” (Isaiah 55:12). How is it possible for the nonhuman parts of creation to worship God?

2. Why did Lewis value the knightly ideal so much, and how helpful do you find it to think about the Christian life in martial terms?

3. Reepicheep is described as a “martial mouse.” Why do you think Lewis made the most martial Narnian character a mouse?

Chapter 6: Sunlight’s Golden Treasury

1. In The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader,” Eustace is greedy for gold while Caspian is greedy for Aslan’s country. Is one kind of dragonish greed worse than the other? Why or why not?

2. Lucy makes Aslan visible though he has been present with her “all the time,” and in the Bible Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Is light something we see or something we see by? Explain.

3. What sort of influence, if any, does the Sun have on your mood? How helpful do you find Solar imagery as a way of talking about the Christian life?

Chapter 7: Mirror or Moonshine?

1. In The Silver Chair, Aslan says to Jill, “Remember, remember, remember the signs.” What place does learning by habit have in the Christian life?

2. After Puddleglum stamps on the fire, Lewis writes, “There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.” Have you seen this principle at work in your own life or in the world at large? Explain.

3. Lewis reminds us that moonlight is sunlight at second hand and that the word moonshine means “nonsense, foolishness.” How is the Moon’s imagery used to portray foolishness in The Silver Chair? Does it provide any useful cautions for your own life?

Chapter 8: Mercury’s Winged Cap

1. In The Horse and His Boy, when Shasta first sees Aslan’s face, he doesn’t say anything but falls at his feet. What part does silence play in the Christian life?

2. Aslan says “there was only one lion” but speaks his name, “Myself,” in three different voices. How much do you think of God as one and how much do you think of Him as three—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? What does it matter?

3. In The Horse and His Boy, Shasta and Aravis come to love Narnian poetry and a Narnian lord wears a winged cap (suggesting thoughts that can take flight and bring freedom). What value do you attach to poetry and the life of the mind?

Chapter 9: Apples Are from Venus

1. In The Magician’s Nephew, both Aslan and Jadis are described as beautiful. How can the evil Jadis be beautiful? What role should beauty play in the Christian life?

2. Aslan says to the Narnians, “Laugh and fear not.” When you think of Christianity, do you think of laughter? Why or why not?

3. Digory has to find a magic apple and give it to Aslan rather than using it, as the Witch suggests, to heal his own mother. This makes Digory sad, but why is it the loving thing to do?

Chapter 10: Saturn’s Sands of Time

1. In The Last Battle, Tirian calls out to Aslan for help and “there was no change in the night or the wood, but there began to be a kind of change inside Tirian.” How is it that Tirian changes even though the night and the wood do not change?

2. Tirian says it would be a “discourtesy” if he didn’t weep for the death of Narnia, and in the Bible Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4). Why is it good sometimes to cry and lament?

3. What did Lewis mean by the word Saturnocentric, and why did he think that Saturn was not the center of the seven planetary “spiritual symbols”? Which planet did Lewis consider to be symbolically central? What is the significance of that?

Chapter 11: The Candlestick

1. Lewis said that the Narnia series was “about Christ.” In each Chronicle, Lewis uses the planetary symbolism to structure the whole story: not just the plot, but also the portrayal of Aslan and all sorts of ornamental details too. What does this tell us of Lewis’s beliefs about Christ?

2. What are the benefits of having seven different symbols of Christ? What are the drawbacks?

3. There are various questions we can ask about the universe such as “Why is it there?” “Who made it?” “How was it made?” “What is it made of?” Which sorts of questions did Lewis think were most important? Which sorts of questions do you think are most important?

Chapter 12: The Telescope

1. How did John Couch Adams discover Neptune, and why did Lewis think this discovery was so interesting?

2. Lewis pictured each Christian person as a “telescope” trained on God, so why did he think “the Christian community” so vital to the Christian life?

3. The psalmist wrote that “the heavens are telling the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1) and the apostle Paul said that the heavens spoke “the word of Christ” (Romans 10:18). Do you agree that the seven heavens are the Christian symbolic code that Lewis used to structure the Narnia Chronicles? Why or why not?

4. Before reading The Narnia Code, did you know about Lewis’s academic interests in pre-Copernican cosmology? If not, how has reading about Lewis’s love of the medieval planets enriched your understanding of his work?