Liam Neeson, the actor behind Aslan in the Narnia film series, made a very controversial statement about the character of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia. He was making an attempt to remain politically correct about the character. It is a comment that created an uproar among many of us that were there interviewing him on Thursday morning, and word spread quickly that he was going to go that route with the interviews. He made the same comment at the start of the press conference in London.
What was the comment that was so controversial?
“Aslan symbolises a Christ-like figure but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries. That’s who Aslan stands for as well as a mentor figure for kids – that’s what he means for me.”
Anyone who has read the Narnia series and anything by C.S. Lewis knows that Aslan was intended to be a supposition of Christ. If you study world religions, you’ll find that Aslan could not be a reflection of Mohammed or Buddha. ‘He is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?”’
From The Daily Mail:
Neeson, 58, who grew up in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, is a practising Roman Catholic and was named after his parish priest. His actress wife Natasha Richardson died in a skiing accident in March last year.
Two years ago, he teamed up with an order of American Catholic priests to bring out a CD of spiritual meditations for Lent.
Walter Hooper, Lewis’s former secretary and a trustee of his estate, said the author would have been outraged.
‘It is nothing whatever to do with Islam,’ he said.
‘Lewis would have simply denied that. He wrote that the “whole Narnian story is about Christ”. Lewis could not have been clearer.’
Read more: The Daily Mail
As I understand it, Mr. Neeson himself is currently in a very questioning state in his life. I would go into more detail on it, but it’s his personal life and not for us to interfere with. I feel he needs more prayers than disdain. Instead of acting out irrationally toward him, I think some understanding, forgiveness and prayer is in order.
What do you think?
I think his point was that, even if you are not a Christian, Aslan is a universal figure who speaks over cultural and religious boundaries, which I heartily agree with. The Narnia movies, sadly, are marketed too strongly to Christians and Christians alone, and Liam Neeson was likely trying to state that Aslan is an accessible character to people of all beliefs.
I’m totally agree. Christ must be a mentor for everybody, and Lewis found the way to bring it to all world. Is great that Neeson can find in Aslan his god. Don’t forget the words of Lewis to a boy: doesn’t matter if you like the Lion’s body, cuse anyway, the words of Aslan, was the words of Jesus, and then, you are loving HIM. I don’t think that Neeson have to believe in Jesus and be christian, just all must be ecumenical, and be happy that we believe in Aslan. Lewis also said, that Aslan is just like Jesus could have been reincarnated in other world. Well, Budda has the way like God is manifest in the live of Neeson, for now. Only He knows his way to Heaven.
(sorry if I made a mistake in writing, I don’t speak English very well. Hugs form Argentina)
Gustavo
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
-Jesus Christ from John 14:6
You’re not God…must to read more about ecumenism…we can’t condem to all world just because they are not christians
No, but God said that. More importantly, God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, said that as he walked upon this earth.
THANK YOU DAVID!!!!!!! That is what people need to hear and THAT is what Christianity is about. Christ DIED…SUFFERED for us. Jesus Christ is not some generic kiddy character like Santa Clause or Barney! Christ gave everything…even the love of His Father…how can we say that Budda or Aslan will suffice. I really like Narnia…But Aslan is a FICTIONAL character! Christ is REAL! And something that should be scary for some is that Christ is alive and will one day come back to earth to take those who love HIM and HIM ALONE home. And he will judge those who do not to a terrible eternity.
And the scripture that David used is true…there is NO OTHER way to the Father, but through Jesus. if anyone does not believe in Christ and Christ alone for his salvation, he will not be with the Lord and he is not a Christian…yes, hard fact, but it is the truth. and the Bible says that the truth will set you free.
PLEASE, anyone who thinks that good works or something else will get you to Heaven, rethink this! Read the Bible. See what is so clearly laid out. Christianity is not something to be run by emotions. And, Christianity is not easy…it is hard, very hard very hard at time. But, oh, so worth it! The love and peace that you can find in Christ can NOT be found in anything else…not stuff, not music, not people, not money…nothing. And it is not all suffering, AT ALL. I am concerned for all who do not truly love Christ…and I rejoice with all who do!
Blessings,
For Christ Alone
Kudos for enthusiasm, but this discussion is about the cultural relevance of a fictional character, not about the relevance of Jesus. That Aslan is a representation of Jesus is obvious, but he as a character can also speak to people who are not spoken to by the story of Jesus himself, that is the power of Lewis’ stories, what makes them relevant in the first place.
that was well put, neeson really flubbed it the way he stated it-
I honestly think it was more that what he said was probably edited and cut out of a broader statement, interviews have a terrible tendency to do that to the interviewees.
What Liam says will not change who Aslan really is, who we have always known him to be, not even the ‘other spiritual leaders’ will agree to accept that parallel.
Long live the Lion!
Thank you for handling this interview with respect and courtesy, Mr. Martin. May we all treat Mr. Neeson with the same respect.
I do not agree with his statement about Aslan at all. However, be that as it may. I’m pretty sure it would not affect his acting in the film — it’s the script that matters. 🙂
exactly what I was thinking! Neeson can play ANY part awesomely!
I saw an interview yesterday with him and could not finish it. It was upsetting to hear the voice of Aslan saying things like you have printed above. But instead of finishing the interview i choose to stop and just pray. I pray(ed) that all of the cast not just Mr. Neeson will see through the words and hear the meaning of them. That God will reveal these things to their hearts and that they will be changed. Can you imagine..just think about it what could happen to our film industries if people like Liam Neeson where to become a Christian. God changes people. I was a sinner, one of the worst and I am hear to say, He can change us all.
God Bless.
Kathy,
yes! You obviously understand what is really important in this life.
He chastens those He loves…
I can’t believe he said that. Obviously he’s never read the books.
Liam has said that he read the books, in fact, he told me himself. In fact, his children are who begged him to take the role. I think he said it because that is probably where he is at in his life, spiritually or otherwise. Remember, he recently lost his wife in a tragic accident. Something like that can cause one to question everything. It is truly devastating to go through.
I’ll definitely pray for him! We can hope and pray that as he goes through this questioning time, He might find the answer in Jesus Christ.
Total agreement, Paul. Liam needs understanding and prayer. He’s endured great grief and pain – death. God can use that grief to bring Liam to him. But only God can do it. Without divine intervention (mercy, grace, leading, etc), Liam will go the religious route of others who’ve endured grief and others who’ve embrace religious tolerance – with or without the pain. Actually, because of the religious climate in the UK right now, I’m not surprised at Liam’s comments. We should be surprised instead that more don’t think just like him. The UK needs prayer!
I heard about this yesterday! While I am disappointed, everyone certainly is entitled to their own opinions. Just as Paul Martin said, he did, just last year, go through the tragedy of losing his wife. I’m praying though that hopefully, especially through the CoN series, he will be able to truly meet God! Also, it must be noted that he is actually Catholic; he’s not saying that the real God is Mohammed or Buddha. He was just saying that Aslan could be one of those (not that I agree with that either).
I read a report today that several crew members of the movie became Christian because of the movie!
That i a praise! (crew members) that means God is on the move
Yay for the crew members! I will definately be praying for Liam. I’ve also been praying that the rest of the cast and crew, especially Skandar, will find Jesus through Narnia.
I will pray for them all. Because everyone needs Jesus.
yes, I really hope that they will understand. I’m praying too.
Awesome! Yay For the crew members! Now they can talk with him. (And I don’t agree with Liam.)
I’m surprised he said that considering they want christians to watch this. You would expec them to “control” him in some way, but then again it may not bother them.
I don’t agree, but I “kinda” see why non-christians would try to make aslan into there own God. One simple way to see the difference is that christianity is the only religion where God is “said” to love people, and Aslan obviously is shown to love people.
Where is the U.S. premiere going to be? Who won the Operation Narnia Contest?
I have to agree with Liam on this… especially considering the turn of events CS Lewis himself created when he wrote the Last Battle. Emeth won a place in Aslan’s Country despite believing in Tash – which is clearly not a Christian belief. Its is my personal opinion that the Chroncles of Narnia are purely a work of fiction. They are not the bible.
This is EXACTLY what I thought of when I read the Daily Mail Article.
The part with Emeth brings to mind the line in the Bible which states “In my Father’s House there are many Mansions”.
Different Religions are simply another “mansion” within the house of God. Its very clear and visible when one looks at Catholic and Anglican. They both worship the same God – the rest is all semantics!
I do wish people wouldn’t get so worked up about someone’s opinion when that someone is just trying to reach out to other people.
As you say, The Chronicles of Narnia are NOT the Bible. Its just another way of telling God’s story and ours.
If you’ve ever studied C.S. Lewis you would know that he was a christian and he wrote the books with christian stories in them(many of which are not in other religions at ALL).
Emeth believing in tash a simbolic of someone who has not reached the age of accountability. This is when you hear first about God, if you have never heard of God then you will go to heaven. Emeth had never heard of aslan before the end and never could have made a choice.
“that’s what he means for me” It would appear that Neeson is saying that for himself, Aslan isn’t just Christ. Nothing in his statement says about what Lewis intended, nor did say in the quote provided how others should see Aslan. If he said something like Aslan symbolizes Mohammed, then I would criticize him for being wrong in a subject people are very particular about. But he isn’t doing that. All he did was share a belief, and people have the right to interpret works like Narnia as they choose. In the quote he says that Aslan symbolizes Christ, but when he mentions the other religions, he always adds “for me.” Upon analyzing his words, I don’t see this statement as controversial. Like Paul said through, he does need prayers.
Even if this had nothing to do with Christianity, it still doesn’t make since. C. S. Lewis very plainly wrote Aslan as a type of Chirst. Aslan is incompatible with other religions. I personally don’t even think that the religious matter in the Narnia books is that greatly presented, even though I really like C. S. Lewis. I’m just saying that Neeson is only looking stupid when he says that a character like Aslan is compatible with any religion.
Were Neeson’s comments a big deal? Not really.
Are they incorrect? Absolutely. This is, as Paul said, an attempt to be politically correct.
I agree with you, Mike. I think Paul handled the interview honestly. Good for Him
Honestly, it’s not surprising coming from an actor…I strongly disagree with his comments, but to a lot of people, Aslan is just a character not a Christ-figure. Gotta accept that.
My first instinct was to get upset reading that, but thanks for bringing things back into perspective. 🙂 I agree completely…he must be hurting terribly after the loss of his wife.
~Kristin
I remember when I saw “Dorian Gray” (just because Ben Barnes was there) unknowing what were the film about.
I felt disappointed for watching “Caspian” doing weird things… So, He’s an actor… isn’t He? We can’t change what they do with their personal lives or speaks. BUT We (christian who love Narnia and the crew that bring it alive) can pray for them.
I pray all of them can find faith in Jesus through the experience of working in the C.S. Lewis’ tales.
yes i have to agree we all should pray for liam nesson and for the rest of the cast & crew, i do not agree with his statement about aslan either but i do not encourage boycotting the cast & crew or getting upset over this article and i’m glad spector did a wonderful job on how he wrote this article and his perspective on it
Well, this proves once again that money and talent alone can’t buy wisdom. Once again, I am glad I’m not one of those celebrity-worshiping sheeple.
yeah cause TRUE wisdom comes from Christ alone
I think Liam is still reeling from the death of his wife. Yes, he definitely needs our prayers.
I think Mr. Neeson was talking about the voice of Aslan, not about the character, or the meaning of the words that Aslan says in the movie. Perhaps he just was referring to the technical creation of the voice, and thought that his version of Aslan´s voice can be the same for a Mohammed or Buddha representation.
Well, in my religion we believe that all religions revolve around the same beliefs in their own ways. My dad has proven this so and looked through both the bible and the bagwadghita. I know I’m Hindu and I don’t know how to pronounce the book. Anyways in that fashion Liam Neeson brings out an intersting point. Yes Aslan and/or Narnia are there to describe or define, however you want to put it, Christianity. Yet many other cultures and religions can relate because there are small links of the same message in all. You can disagree with me all you want, but this is my belief with Narnia, Aslan, Neeson, and Religion.
I agree with you. You are absolutely right.
In my case I am Christian. I have not studied in depth religion as a subject on its own, but I have looked at different major religions and I can see a common thread to ALL of them.
Most seem to have a Flood story – even cultures which were not touched by, say, the Christian faith have that story – just with differnet names.
All the major Religions have at their root the message of caring for each other and not offending etc etc. Its only “some” people who will dictate what people should believe.
I strongly feel that Religion is Man Made (and subject to all the flaws of humans) which is why we get all this silly arguments over whose is “The One True Way”. Its all about controlling other people.
But, Faith is God Made and is between the individual and God – whatever that individual calls Him. We don’t fight people because they have a different name for a chair from us – so why should we fight each other because we have different names for God.
I really feel that Liam Neeson was simply trying to reach out to other people who are NOT Christian. Perhaps to those who have no faith.
And yet only one religion says that you cannot do anything on your own to gain paradise, but have to trust completely on God, who became man, walked on this earth, died to take the punishment we deserve, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life.
The root of Christianity is Christ. And that’s different – really different.
yuppers! thats what i was gonna say 😉
yes! That is great Katy! Glad that someone else believes the same as me…and we are both from Al. 😉
Keep up the good work. Never be afraid to take a stand for what you KNOW is right. It’s encouraging to see you say that. 🙂
God bless you!
It really does sound like the kind of bunk some film industry types would tell an actor he should say to the public.
yeah, you can tell they are coached as to the politically correct , non controversial things they are to say, so as not to turn off the secular audience. They are parroting the same lines in all the interviews – it’s MAGICAL, the MAGIC is back!, it’s like the FIRST film,Aslan can represent ANY religious figure, blah blah blah, can’t blame them though
the funny thing is, though, lewis indirectly was warning about islam if you can read between the lines of his books, esp. THHB, AND LB. wonder if he would have spoken up to correct liam’s statement if he had heard THAT one. Though it is true you can enjoy narnia books on a purely secular level too, as they were purposely written on 2 levels.
I don’t think his statement is all that controversial. In LWW, C.S. Lewis stated that when Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy hear Aslan’s name for the first time, they each felt something different. Aslan, despite his Christian parallels to Christ, is meant to be something different for everyone, but his greatness and aura remains universal.
Absolutely!
It reflects the personal relationship a person has with God and Christ. Its different for every single one of us and have a CHOICE to pursue that relationship with Him.
God gave us all Free Will. He does not force us to love him. He does not break his own rules.
and if i’m not mistaken, liam has stated he is agnostic/a.theist. (unless maybe he has gone back to catholic church since his wife died tragically)
This is something that he commented about during one of the interviews. However, it’s not my interview, so I can’t really speak to that unless/until it is published. I wouldn’t say that he is atheist, but definitely agnostic.
reminds me abit of Lucy’s point in Prince Caspian, when the debate was over whether they stay here, or go there…;)
Why are people getting so upset about this? Although Narnia has quite quite deep roots in Christianity, it has universal themes like love, forgiveness, courage and loyalty that every one can relate to, no matter from what religion. I am not a Christian and although I can understand some people may get upset about it, Liam was just expressing his personal opinion and was trying to wider the perspective of the film. I am just a teenager and I can see that Liam is not the writer. Besides that, thats the beauty of writing – you can interpret from it what you wish.
I couldn’t agree more with you. This is something similar to what I had posted yesterday, accept I added something with religion, while you are stepping away from it. In the end it is about the universal messages far more than a simple thread line, which does not deviate from the path.
We’re not upset… or if people are they SHOULDN’T be upset. 🙂 For myself I can tell you this: I know the love and grace of Jesus Christ every day, and it has changed me. Completely. Totally. Forever. So, naturally, I feel very strongly about this kind of subject, because I just love Jesus so very, very much.
I don’t want to beat people over the head with what I believe, but I do want to defend it and share it with others, so that they too may know Jesus’ love as I have.
What God has told us in his word, the Bible, is true. Say what you want, believe what you may, it is still true. One day, you’ll know it to be so… either in this life, or the life to come.
AMEN!! totally!!! I was typing out a comment and then I stopped when I saw yours because it is exactly what i wanted to say. Agreed 100% !!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 Thank you for posting this.
in your dreams
Katy in AL, I can give you evidence people are taking this out of hand – on both Narnia fansites I go on I can tell you this is the most commented issue and people are praying for him left right and centre. I thought this was a free country? Wheres freedoms of speech gone?
That’s a double standard.. if people are allowed to say things, people should also be allowed to pray for others, no?
ok true i do admit that – but still people are making this out to be too much of an issue than its worth. It’s his opinion so lets leave it at that
Good job reporting on this, Paul. And some great discussion. I reported on this over at Hollywood Jesus. I talk about Emeth in The last Battle, and came to this conclusion:
“I don’t think that Lewis would be shattered because Neeson sees Mohammed and Buddha in Aslan. If Neeson finds other spiritual leaders besides Christ in Aslan, then perhaps it is because he sees something of Christ in them and someday will find what he is truly seeking.”
Click on my name to read my article.
As an agnostic, I’d like to oppose what Neeson said for purely technical reasons.
Of the the great prophets of the Abrahamic traditions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity), only one claimed, ‘I and the Father are one.’ Only one religion believes that it’s messenger was also God incarnate, and that is Christianity.
The Qu’ran mentions Jesus 25 times but considers him merely a prophet, but he is held in sacred regard much like Moses. Muslims believe that Mohammed is the messenger of the same God of the Christians and the Jews, however they believe he is the final messenger of Yaweh/God the Father/Allah and not God incarnate.
Buddha made no divine claims either. He was a Prince in India that gave up his riches to pursue enlightenment. Furthermore, there is no God in Buddhism at all. It is not a religion that believes in a personal God or deity to which it prays (hence meditation).
I have no problem with being open to other religions, but it’s not about Neeson’s lack of knowledge about Narnia, but his lack of knowledge about other religions. Mohammed didn’t create the world in Islam, Allah did. The Buddha did not suffer for all mankind, die, and resurrect, he went on a quest for enlightenment, battled his temptations, and achieved it and taught about his experience (later dying of old age). None of the other prophets or teachers with the exception of Jesus, were God incarnate, and Aslan is not a mere prophet. Aslan had the power to create and destroy Narnia. If you want to compare Aslan to aspects of other religions it can’t be to their prophets and teachers.
If he had said, ‘Aslan symbolizes a Christ-like figure but he also symbolises for me an avenue for exploring any person’s faith, whether they are Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu. That’s what Aslan means to me, as well as being a mentor figure for kids,” that would actually make sense.
I love Neeson, love Narnia, and don’t think what he said is worth this level of fuss, but let’s be clear, Jesus is very unique as a religious figure to believing Christians. If anything, I think members of these other religions should be offended by what Neeson said.
I will just say that if Aslan (or anybody) says anything against Christ Jesus, I will do the opposite of endorsing this movie! And if they do speak against Him, I hope that no more movies are made. I know that I am just one person, but I pray that other Christians will react the same way. It’s really sad to have to say this. 🙁 No one has been more excited about this movie than me! I have been planning on watching the first showing with my dad for a long time now…I pray that it is honoring to God…Like LEWIS WOULD HAVE WANTED!!!!!!!!
He’s saying nothing against Jesus. He’s saying Aslan, for him, can represent any god- basically he’s saying for him Aslan represents faith, kindness, loyalty, charity- common threads in all the religions he listed. He said nothing against Jesus.
If you cut out anything that might’ve possibly said something against Jesus, you’ll be living a very lonely, unstimulated life with perhaps four books and two movies, dear. It just isn’t done, and it shouldn’t be done. One must learn to make themselves strong enough in their faith so that things that are good but possibly not entirely Christian in every way, like Harry Potter, don’t mess you up. Jesus didn’t die so Christians would be scared of everything that moves.
I see where you are coming from, but if the ONLY book I can read is the Bible because all others are filled with filth, I would not be upset. I am saying I don’t want to endorse things that speak AGAINST Christ. Like Avatar. The Bible says that bad company corrupts good morals…and no thank you when it comes to going against what Christ says is fact!
And as far as an “unstimulated life” I would rather have an unstimulated, or rather an unworldy uncorrupted and Christ centered, life and spend eternity with Christ Jesus than go somewhere where people beg for a drop of water on their tongue and groan and shriek for allllll eternity. We have to keep our thoughts a priorities straight! Our emotions cannot run our lives.
And I hope that there is nothing against God in the Dawn Treader.
I will say again that there is only one true God.
Poor guy. I am a Christian, but I understand that he is not wanting to single out Christianity. Even though I believe that all of the Narnia stories are Bible-based and Aslan is a Jesus-figure, he probably is wanting to stay objective and probably doesn’t want to force anything on anybody. He doesn’t deserve to be overly criticized about this.
I think what Neeson said is all right. I personally don’t see Aslan as Christ; as a kid I couldn’t justify what Aslan had done- taking the Pevensies out of their world and stealing 15+ years of their life only to throw them back and expect to cope, yet I wanted to like Aslan so I came to the conclution that Aslan is not omnipotent in Narnia, but is rather in the league of the rustic gods of Narnia-the trees, the rivers, Bacchus- though he is their leader.
For me, Lewis used Aslan to pass on some Biblical truths, but Aslan and Jesus are not symomynous.
Anyway, Narnia’s not this beautiful holy world where everyone is perfectly religous. They have Bacchinalias, for goodness sake! Take Bacchus, throw in some Satyrs, wine, and a few dryads and what do you have? Crazy party. Oh, and Narnia. It’s not chivalrous, it’s not perfectly sweet, it’s not kiss-your-hand, it’s pull you out into the woods to dance among the trees in bare feet, then possibly onto other activities.
That’s all my view, of course. If you want to see it as courtly that’s great, and I know I’m in the minority, most likely. Mainly it’s because take Aslan at his word when he says, “I am a true beast.”
In the press coverage surrounding Liam Neeson’s remarks on the character of Aslan in the latest Narnia film, there is reference to an order of “American Catholic priests and a Lenten CD of spiritual meditations.”
The Redemptorists of the Denver Province collaborated with Liam Neeson in 2009 on the Lenten production, “Praying the Way of the Cross.” Proceeds support the work of our foreign missionaries in Brazil and Nigeria.
The CD is available through Little Lamb Music at http://www.littlelambmusic.com
That’s interesting Gavin. It is a stlrggue to have conversations about the same God issues. After all these religions claiming direct revelation of God all claim Abraham, so it seems they are related. Islam has completely different notions of Abraham than either Judaism and Christianity who both agree on the same texts etc. Abraham had a completely different journey to the Biblical Abraham for instance. I am not sure that I would say that Allah has the same characteristics as God the Father. There is no doubt that Allah seems to bear a resemblance to the Jewish and Christian aspects of God. But rather Allah seems to be a distortion of a truth about God; God’s power. Allah is pure unfettered power. Therefore only His will is known. This is known through the Sunna; texts and example of Mohammed. Because this power is not known in relation to Allah’s nature of love any love’ that Allah has is more like an arbitrary expression of will or choice. While we cannot know God in Himself the Jews of the first Covenant and the Christians in the New Covenant (neither Covenant revoked) know that God has bound himself Covenantally in love through promises and the promised one; Christ promised in Judaism and revealed in Christianity. This is entirely absent in Islam which leaves one with the lonely obscure arbitrary power of will of God. A major distortion. Therefore is seems to me to be truer to say that though Islam claims knowledge of the One God they only know one aspect; God’s power which God has not bound in love by Covenant. Therefore the Islamic God is unknown except his sheer unfettered power. This leads to the conclusion that the law to be obeyed in Islam is not secure or trustworthy even for faithful Muslims. Allah could simply change his mind in fact that is the problem in Islam how to obtain salvation.