Fagerburg identifies Christian asceticism in the Chronicles of Narnia
In a lecture entitled “Turkish Delight and Asceticism in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia,” Notre Dame Theology Professor David Fagerberg drew connections between the literary works of C.S. Lewis and the Christian asceticism. Delivered primarily to an audience of undergraduates, Fagerberg’s multimedia presentation incorporated clips from cinematic versions of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.
Fagerberg began his lecture with a proposal to “rehabilitate” the concept of Christian asceticism. “Few words have suffered a worse fate than the word ‘asceticism,’” he said, noting its association with sternness and austerity is so excessive that those who practice asceticism are believed to be “unable to appreciate the delights of creation.” Rather than detracting from an ability to take joy in creation, however, Fagerberg asserted that asceticism is fundamental to Christian vocation.
Turning to the etymology of the word, Fagerberg defined asceticism as the exercise or effort exerted in order to realize a goal. If the ultimate Christian vocation is to share in the life of Christ and to be taken up into God, Fagerberg declared that asceticism is the discipline required to become united with God by becoming an icon of God, ultimately formed to His image through transfiguration.
Fagerberg’s first example of the depiction of Christian asceticism in Lewis’s novels came from THE HORSE AND HIS BOY. In the story, a talking horse named Hwin approaches the great lion Aslan and says, “Please, you’re so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I’d sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.”
Her humble desire to be literally consumed by Aslan is a display of her willingness to allow Aslan to love her fully. Fagerberg tied this scene from the Chronicles to asceticism by claiming that it is through the work of asceticism that Christians prepare themselves to enter wholly into God’s love.
In contrast, Fagerberg presented a video clip from the BBC production of THE SILVER CHAIR. In the clip a young girl named Jill Pole confronts Aslan before a great stream of water as she suffers from intense thirst. Aslan invites Jill forth to drink, but Jill is afraid to do so and asks Aslan, “Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do come?
Fagerberg pointed out that “we each hope to receive God on our own terms, that he will not do anything too radical to us.” And yet, he said, we must risk that God will change us through asceticism, aligning our wills to His.
Fagerberg’s presentation reached its crux in a clip from the Walt Disney production of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. In the scene the White Witch convinces Edmund that she will be able to make him king of Narnia one day if he will only lead his siblings to her. She seduces him with Turkish delight, enchanted candy that overwhelms Edmund’s senses and clouds his judgment.
Fagerberg emphasized that it is only later in the story that Edmund “learns two facts about enchanted food: first, ‘anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even… go on eating it till they had killed themselves,’ and second, nothing “spoils the taste of good ordinary food half so much as the memory of bad magic food.”
Similarly, Fagerberg compared our earthly appetites and desires to those of Edmund’s hunger for enchanted Turkish delight, declaring that “each one of us has been born with a spoiled appetite” because of the presence of sin in the world that causes us to desire what is neither good nor good for us.
Fagerberg proposed asceticism as the means Christians have of breaking the enchantments and seductions that worldly appetites have imposed on them. “It is not enough to merely know better,” Fagerberg said. “We must also love better. Asceticism is a way of training that love.” To accentuate this claim Fagerberg quoted Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyof, who said, “the purpose of Christian asceticism is not to weaken the flesh, but to strengthen the spirit for the transfiguration of the flesh.”
Near the conclusion of his presentation, Fagerberg displayed an illustration of the new Narnia from THE LAST BATTLE. It was a Narnia that had been transfigured, with every component infinitely more meaningful than its counterpart in the old Narnia.
This transfiguration was one that Fagerberg tied to the ultimate fate of humans as those who will also be transfigured, and highlighted asceticism as the means Christians have to prepare for this experience of being made new. “Asceticism trains our desires for something far more potent than we can imagine,” he said. “When our hunger for God meets God’s hunger for us, our beings become complete.”
Yuko Gruber is a sophomore from Badin Hall. Contact her at ygruber@nd.edu.
