Episode 4: Tolkien Vs. Lewis – The Ultimate Smackdown

January 30, 2011

Featuring Matt Anderson and Ben De Bono

Tolkien and Lewis were both Christians whose faith influenced their work, but in very different ways. Find out what their differences were all about as Ben and Matt debate the merits of each approach.

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10 comments on “Episode 4: Tolkien Vs. Lewis – The Ultimate Smackdown

  1. Talan Feb 15, 2011

    Ender’s Game is one of my Favorite sci fi books ever. you guys defiantly need to see and do a review on that.

  2. The flaw in this argument is that Narnia is not an allegory in the strictest sense like the Pilgrim’s Progress is.

    A story doesn’t suffer from the tool of allegory. A story suffers from the writer of the allegory!

    Yes indeed ‘His Dark Materials’ does rip into Christianity.

    Ben, Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel, not slip it in under the radar where it may not be noticed by the receiver.

    I don’t see that Narnia is preachy in the sense that it condemns the unbeliever. Narnia is the truth spoken/written in Love!

    Mythology is less effective because it slides under the radar, and hides in darkness.
    Allegory is more effective because it put it’s light is put on a stand.

    The gospel is never going to be an easy swallow for anyone. Jesus said take up your cross and follow me. A cross is not something that is ornamental. It is something tough to bare. We mustn’t lie and tell the unbelievers that Christianity is a bed of roses. Christianity is a Garden of Gethsemane.

    The point I’m making with the above statement is this. The gospel cannot be effective if it buttered up and made appealing to a non believer, the moment you do that, the gospel becomes cheep and is in fact a false gospel. This is a very serious offense. No a person must count the cost. Read Luke 14:25 – 33.

    The Lord of the Rings Movies sold more tickets, because it had a bigger budget, exceptional script writers and fantastic direction, period! The Chronicles of Narnia didn’t have all that going for them.

    Let’s also not negate the work of Holy Spirit. If something in the bible is hard for our heads to understand, it doesn’t mean the word cannot change us inside. I like to believe that if a story is written in the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit can take that and work on a persons heart, even if they have processed the symbols in something like ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’.

    Please Ben. Don’t cling too tightly to your opinions, so far Matt hasn’t. He was prepared to go to your side after the Trial of Batman. Stubbornness can throw off truth.

    In Christ
    Glenn

  3. Sorry found a mistake.

    * I like to believe that if a story is written in the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit can take that and work on a persons heart, even if they haven’t processed the symbols in something like ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’.

  4. Kristen Larson Apr 24, 2012

    Glenn, I LOVE how you said everything in your post, and I couldn’t agree more 🙂

  5. Boy, I love me some classic era Sci-Fi Christian. This is my favorite episode of all time. Ben pounded Matt into a thousand tiny indecipherable pieces. But Matt’s resistance allowed for great tension, debate, and podcasting.

    Simply terrific. This episode shines as the epitome of the SFC.

    • Ben De Bono Dec 25, 2013

      Glad you enjoyed a bit of classic SFC, Wes. Believe it or not, this is one of my LEAST favorite episodes we’ve done. Looking back on it, a lot got lost through our debate approach. I feel we presented it as an either/or rather than looking at the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. Still, glad you enjoyed it!

      • Well, I think you were more sincere in your argument than Matt. I think Matt was pushing his argument as hard as he did to provide that tension and alternate side of things.

        I understand your hesitancy to appreciate that approach, but it allowed for great humor within that transparency.

        Even so, your discussion did explore the strengths and weaknesses of both sides quite spectacularly.

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