A question on animals...

Machiathemarshwiggle

Machiathemarshwiggle

First Mate
I was trying to figure something out. I want to see what your opinion is.
At the begining of Magicians Nephew, Aslan goes around to the animals and touches their noses and they come with him and become talking animals. But it says that he passes over animals all together. Why do you think that is?
 
Well, this is nothing more than an observation, but one result of this was that there was a two-tier animal kingdom in the Narnian universe: those who had been breathed on by Aslan and granted the gift of sentience and speech, and those who were (literally) "dumb" animals. Why Aslan chose some and not others - well, you'd have to ask Him :)
 
Machiathemarshwiggle said:
I was trying to figure something out. I want to see what your opinion is.
At the begining of Magicians Nephew, Aslan goes around to the animals and touches their noses and they come with him and become talking animals. But it says that he passes over animals all together. Why do you think that is?
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Just because they were passed over didn't mean they couldn't attain the ability to speak. Mice weren't initially granted the ability...until they bit through the ropes binding Aslan to the Stone Table.

Why does he pass over some? I'm not one to argue with a guy who created an entire planet and all the animals that inhabit it, he can do whatever he wants.
 
Corin Thunder-Fist said:
Just because they were passed over didn't mean they couldn't attain the ability to speak. Mice weren't initially granted the ability...until they bit through the ropes binding Aslan to the Stone Table.

Why does he pass over some? I'm not one to argue with a guy who created an entire planet and all the animals that inhabit it, he can do whatever he wants.
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totally agree :)
 
Machiathemarshwiggle said:
Okay. I was just wondering what people thought.
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I wasn't trying to sound standoffish, that's just the way I felt about it.

I didn't read that scene and wonder why he precluded some races. It's like wondering why God made the sky blue, who am I to judge right?

You can ask that question. I just don't think there was any particular reason he precluded them, if there had been a reason then I think Lewis would've listed them and it would've played out later in the books why they might not've been selected. He could've, for instance, remarked at how Aslan neglected snakes...and then later in the series a snake could've bitten Lucy on one of the islands on their Dawn Treader adventure. It would've justified his not selecting them for talking creatures...although he did make some bears able to talk and a bear attacked Lucy in Prince Caspian so I guess that was a bad example.
 
well do you think its kind of a metaphor or allegory for the salvation of sinners? I mean God elected some to be saved and other not to be, maybe thats what Lewis is saying, God chose some and not others and we dont know why
 
I agree, and because with some religious ppl (like me) think that God breathed on us and we were given life, maybe Lewis is trying to put that in another way. Aslan IS the creator of Narnia, and all of its creatures, so he has the authority of doing so.
 
I don't believe that a life without speech is a life not worth living. There are perfectly legitimate reasons for all creatures to enjoy their lives.

Ultimately, however, without a division in ranks there would be nothing for talking carnivores to eat except other talking animals.
 
Reepicheepfan said:
well do you think its kind of a metaphor or allegory for the salvation of sinners? I mean God elected some to be saved and other not to be, maybe thats what Lewis is saying, God chose some and not others and we dont know why
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In my opinion, such a thought would be stretching the story. Remember, the animals that remained dumb were innocent of any wrongdoing - in fact, quite incapable of wrongdoing, since they had no free will. Aslan specifically instructed the Talking Beasts to be gentle and considerate of them.

It seems to me that the speech that was given to some of the animals was the "Image of Aslan", parallel to the "Image of God" imprinted on every human. We were made in God's image from the start, while the Talking Beasts were made just like ordinary beasts but given the gift of speech, sentience, conscience, and free will. We were given stewardship over creation; it seems that the Talking Beasts (and other creatures such as dryads) were in Narnia. Aslan just chose to run Narnia differently than our world. As such, I don't think the selection of the Talking Beasts is parallel to election for salvation.

Also, if you study your Lewis carefully, you'll see that he never teaches double predestination (i.e. God chooses some for salvation and some for damnation). He follows Augustine and others in teaching that the saved are saved by grace alone, but the damned damn themselves.
 
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