c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was published in 1950, it was impossible to conceive the influence this story, written by a childless Oxford professor, would have on generations of readers.

Anticipating the Dec. 9 film release of Disney’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” publishers are releasing scores of books tapping into the mystique of Narnia and its creator, C.S. Lewis.

One is by Lewis scholar Peter J. Schakel of Michigan-based Hope College, whose “The Way Into Narnia: A Reader’s Guide,” was recently released by Eerdmans Publishing Co. Schakel offers readers a brief look at Lewis’ life, as well as themes and meanings for each of the Chronicles. He also provides explanatory annotations for each book.

“I very deliberately aimed for general readers,” said Schakel, whose two other books on the subject targeted academic audiences. `My hope is that the book will enrich and enhance and enlarge the experience of reading the Chronicles of Narnia.”

Christian readers long have suggested the tales are a biblical allegory. Schakel, the Peter C. and Emajean Cook Professor of English at Hope _ in Holland, Mich. _ said the Chronicles are fascinating stories that take readers into other worlds and carry significant spiritual meaning.

“Lewis was a deeply Christian man,” Schakel said. “He wrote a lot of Christian nonfiction works, but I think his primary reason for writing the Chronicles was to write a story.

“He would never have wanted to sacrifice the story for a religious effect. His argument was that Christians ought to be the best at whatever they do, which would then give opportunity to witness to what Christianity is and can be _ but he had to write good fiction first.”

Schakel readily acknowledges the similarities between Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, a friend of Lewis and author of “The Lord of the Rings.” Both Narnia and Tolkien’s Middle Earth have changed our culture, Schakel said.

“These two popularized the idea of going into other worlds,” he said. “They expanded readers’ appetites for it enormously and, in that sense, made the book world and the film world what it is today”

Schakel said he is excited about the new film because it will introduce Lewis to a new group of fans and bring people back to the books.

“When I start to see plush Aslans and Narnia lunch boxes and Happy Meal toys _ I think I’ll cringe,” he said.

MO/JL END RNS

(Ann Byle writes about religion for The Grand Rapids Press.)