CS Lewis: Space Missionary for our COVID times
By Rev. Dr. Ed and Janice Hird
-an article for the
Engage Light Magazine
Christians
love CS Lewis for his best-selling Narnia Tales, which have sold over
100 million copies. The Narnia Tales movies have grossed over 1.5 billion
dollars worldwide.
Many people
however have not connected CS Lewis with science fiction. Before Aslan and the Narnia
Tales (1950-1956), there was Elwin Ransom and CS Lewis’ Space
Trilogy (1938-1945). Dr. Ransom, a professor of philology (language study) modelled
on J.R.R. Tolkien, is the main character of C. S. Lewis’ Out of the
Silent Planet, Perelandra and a significant character in That
Hideous Strength.
Science fiction, thanks to CGI technological advances, has
become the dominant genre of the 21st century. Just think about the relentless blockbuster
films like Starwars and Star Trek, produced by Marvel, Disney, Time Warner, DC,
and others.
JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis as close friends challenged each
other to write a book on a favorite topic.
While Tolkien chose time travel, Lewis chose space travel. Lewis read 19th
century science fiction pioneers like Jules Verne and HG Wells. The type of
science fiction that most interested CS Lewis were strange encounters with the
other which have moments of beauty, awe, or terror which our actual world does
not supply. He called this fantastical literature. Lewis saw space not as a
region of cold, terrifying vacuity, but rather as the heavens.
In the final book of the trilogy That Hideous Strength,
Lewis poetically envisioned a modern-day tearing down of the Tower of
Babel. He chose the book title from a
1555 poem about the Tower of Babel which had a lengthy ‘shadow of that hyddeous
strength’. It was completed on Christmas
Eve in 1943 during one of the darkest periods of WWII. George Orwell, author of
1984, wrote a book review of Hideous Strength, saying that “one
could recommend this book unreservedly….Unfortunately, the supernatural keeps
breaking in.”
In the final novel, the dark forces that were earlier repulsed
by Dr. Ransom from Mars/Malacandra and Venus/Perelandra are gathered for a last
assault on planet Earth itself. It has
been called ‘the true return of the Jedi’. The Hideous Strength alerts us that
science, technology, and education can sometimes dehumanize ourselves, our
families, and even our marriages. When we were younger, many of us
were taught and believed that science and education would solve all the world’s
problems. Few realized the potential
dehumanizing aspects of science and education when they become absolutes,
replacing biblical morals. A modern
example of that is the native residential school tragedy, robbing children of
family and language.
Lewis described Hideous Strength as a fairy-tale for grownups.
He saw a close connection between this novel and his earlier book The
Abolition of Man. Dr Francis
Schaeffer noted: ““I strongly urge Christians to read carefully this prophetic
piece of science fiction. What Lewis casts as a warning in the form of fantasy
and science fiction is much closer today.”
Lewis distinguished
between science and the ideology of scientism, what he called scientocracy, the
unchecked belief in progress which allows for no ‘wholesome doubt’. Covid
anxiety makes us more vulnerable to trusting in technocrats who think that they
know best. Lewis commented: “I dread
government in the name of science. This
is how tyrannies come.” Overreach by governments is a prevailing temptation,
particularly during pandemics.
The technocrats in Hideous Strength work for a
governmental agency entitled N.I.C.E. (National Institute for Controlled
Experiments). When power becomes
absolute and totalitarian, then even goodness is sacrificed on the altar of
ideology. N.I.C.E. powerfully swallows the sleepy university town of Edgestow,
gaining total political and military control of the area. This is the first
step into turning England into a police state and eventually world domination. Totalitarianism
always hates democracy, freedom of speech and religion. One wonders to what degree the Big Brother
organization of Orwell’s 1984 was influenced by Lewis’ earlier N.I.C.E.
concept.
Mark and Jane Studdock, as the protagonists in Hideous
Strength, become swallowed by the secular agenda of N.I.C.E. As a sociologist, Mark is forced to write media
propaganda about riots that have not even taken place yet. Mark’s idol is group
acceptance at the cost of giving up self.
Jane’s idol is independence at the cost of relationship. While he feared exclusion, she feared intrusion. Their marriage is being sacrificed on the
altar of work success. C.S. Lewis also
saw independence as the primary obstacle to his eventual conversion: “I had
always wanted, above all things, not to be ‘interfered with.’ I had wanted (mad
wish) ‘to call my soul my own.’”
The only opposition to this take-over bid is an unlikely
tiny group led by Ransom at St. Anne’s manor house. After having remarkable
accurate disturbing dreams about a decapitated scientist Alcasan, Jane ends up
visiting Dr. Ransom’ group at St. Anne’s. Having discovered a way to keep Alcasan’s
head alive, N.I.C.E. sees this as a true resurrection and the scientific way to
have eternal life. Its ultimate aim is to free humanity from nature itself. Organic
matter is seen as dirty and unnecessary. N.I.C.E. aims to transform humanity
into ‘the most efficient animal’, by ridding us of all ‘our rivals on this
planet’: insects, bacteria, animals, and plants. Everything else is to be scientifically
sterilized. NICE’s real agenda was a war on nature. They had a particular
hatred for trees as unhygienic:
At present, I allow, we must
have forests, for the atmosphere. Presently we find a chemical substitute. And
then, why any natural trees? I foresee nothing but the art tree all over the
earth. In fact, we clean the planet … And why not? It is simple hygiene.
Absolute power in the hand of the elites easily becomes
deified and systemically entrenched. The
Kingdom of God, according to N.I.C.E, is to be realized through technology,
turning humans into supermen and superwomen: “The Son of Man -that is, Man
himself, full grown -has power to judge the world – to distribute life without
end, and punishment without end.”
The wild card in this story is the reappearance of Merlin
from King Arthur days. N.I.C.E. tries to
capture Merlin in order to harness his supernatural abilities, but instead
kidnap an unsuspecting homeless tramp. The real Merlin joins force with Dr.
Ransom’s team, seeking to rescue and rehumanize Mark Studdock.
Covid anxiety can dehumanize us. The Kingdom of God makes us
more human, more Christ-like. Lewis knew
that we all long, perhaps unknowingly, for the Kingdom of God, for what he
later called Narnia. Imagine the
missionary impact if just like the Narnia Tales, the Space Trilogy made it into
film. Will you pray with us for that
future miracle?
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