Do we hear Lewis’s Christian voice sounding through these movies? The answer is a resounding “no.” We find the Hollywood screenwriters and producers writing out things central to the Lewis’s original thought and inserting their own godless revisionism. Aslan is sidelined to a significant degree; a subtle feminism is introduced as Queen Susan mocks her older brother and Peter the “High King” is shown to be a bit of a jerk. We could go on. If your children look at these movies then make sure that you, with them, re-read the books from which they are taken and critique the subtle re-writing taking place throughout. Should we be surprised that there is a different ‘voice’ coming through from Hollywood when handling the writings of an avowedly Christian apologist? We should expect nothing else for the ungodly of the twenty first century can only conform to their Christ rejecting rebellious mindset, inevitably it must come through and all this should serve to warn us to discern the voices, for none are without meaning. Beware the propaganda peddled in movies, radio and TV for it is all-pervasive.
Many years ago I came across a poem by a man named Ronald Bottrall, I think it had the title “Adam Unparadised.” I have been unable to find it on the Internet though doubtless it is out there somewhere! I remember this particular poem for a descriptive phrase referring to Satan’s words to Eve, “he spake with an educated lisp.” Obviously this author is using poetic license yet he is capturing something important for Eve did not discern the voice, the fount from whence these words flowed. Paul refers to a trumpet giving an indistinct sound and the absence of a clear note will result in the soldiers being confused in battle (1 Corinthians 14v8&9). There is no doubt that the church in Corinth was undiscerning and blundering about in its spiritual life and practice because there were too many confused voices sounding in the midst.
Yet we live in a world of so many voices, they sound incessantly all around us. Surely at times we must long for stillness and quietness when we can hear those things that really matter. The book of the Revelation shows us a man named John attentively in tune with the Spirit of God, in that condition of heart he heard a Voice both clear as a trumpet and as all commanding as a Niagara of waters (Revelation 1v10&15). In contrast to this clarity and wonder is the stream of waters that flow out of the mouth of the serpent, the old dragon Satan who sent a flood of water (words?) out of his mouth to drown the woman and her seed (the church?). This seems to be an extremely graphic illustration of the many voices at work in this world (Revelation 12v15) and is reinforced by the vision of three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet (Revelation 16v13). Anyone who has lived by a lake where a colony of frogs reside will not miss the nuances of this picture! Ceaseless croaking, all night long and all day sometimes too, switch your TV or radio on and listen to the constant trivia absorbing the souls of people today.
Voices figure a great deal in what is probably the oldest book in our Bible. I had not particularly noted this until recently, but reading through the book of Job again the voices grabbed my attention. If we list them in order of appearance in the drama being played out around Job’s soul we find God speaking first and His words set the scene for all the action (chapter1v7&8). Be encouraged for God always speaks first and His voice and word is eternal and does not fade away. Satan (this word means ‘the adversary’) speaks next and directly challenges God’s assertions concerning Job. We know the outcome of the permission God grants to His interlocutor but Job had no idea of this dialogue between the Lord and His enemy and responds to those who bring bad news with an attitude and voice of unbroken trust in God (chapter1v20v21). Enter the enemy again and again God initiates conversation and again Satan’s voice is heard challenging God’s integrity, again, permission is given to Satan to touch Job. Indeed, it was all ‘again’ only deeper this time. Now we hear the voice of Job’s wife, the only time in the whole book that we do hear what she had to say and it her words were far from positive and helpful. She was overcome by all that had occurred and exhorted her husband to forsake his integrity, curse God and die, to which Job’s retort is a clear rebuke and a wonderful confession of trust in God, he recognizes that her voice and words are foolish and gives them no room (chapter 2v9&10).
Now comes the lengthy dialogue between Job and three friends, there are twenty-nine chapters in which we hear their voices by the end of which we are glad to read, “These three men ceased to answer Job…” (Chapter 32v1) they had dried up! Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had begun well for they used their voices to weep for Job when they saw him and they sat for seven days in a sympathetic silence with their broken-hearted friend and this was, no doubt, the best thing that they did. “None spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great” (chapter 2v13). After this the torrent of words commences, Job first gives vent to some of his feelings, confusions, questionings and reasoning and the three friends share their viewpoints liberally. There is plenty of irony, subtle (and sometimes not so subtle finger pointing) that goes on and by the time we reach the end of this long dialogue we wish for silence, there are just too many voices, too many attempts at explanation, so much that seems right but all is thoroughly inadequate and cannot satisfy Job’s troubled heart though it does appear that his friends feel pretty pleased with their efforts and only desist when they see that Job will not shift his ground. “They found no answer” (chapter 33v3&5) is the perception of another voice that now fills the airwaves with his viewpoint. Elihu is his name and he has evidently listened to all everything that has been said and is angry at the ineffective argumentation. He is younger than Job and the other three and so has waited until his opportunity comes along and he is certainly vociferous, he tells his hearers that he is ‘full of matter’ and ought to give his opinion. In some ways he says some better stuff than the others but it still satisfies no one, all the reasonable philosophical argument fails to settle the heart of Job nor any one else come to that. By the time we get to the end of chapter thirty-eight we feel similarly unsatisfied. Voices, voices and more voices, words, words and more words; we are overwhelmed by them and their ineffectiveness. “THEN the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind…”(39v1). At last, God’s voice! Although He offers no explanation Job is comforted, he is truly ‘answered,’ God has spoken to him and it is enough. If we have entered into something of the drama narrated in this book of Job we too feel a profound relief that God has spoken and although His voice comes at the end we know He has been there all the time. Perhaps we could sum up everything that God said in those words “Fear not, I am.” They are nowhere spoken in the book but they underlie everything. God has come to His servant, and “comforted him with conundrums” as G.K.Chesterton once wrote.
The Lord does speak, He always is doing so, His voice is ever sounding, but we need to attend to Him more than we do. It is true that at the right time, when our opinions dry up, and all voices are silenced we hear Him, but in fact, He has been speaking always for He is the Everlasting Word, it is just that we have got quiet enough to listen! What relief we experience when we attend to His voice. Jesus said that His sheep would hear it. We must distinguish between His voice and the many others that clamor for our attention, sometimes even saying the correct things it would seem, let alone all the false voices that peddle their ideas. Jesus spoke of His sheep and His voice and surely it is not by chance that in that same conversation He also says that “the thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy: but I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10v10). In this way Jesus ties inextricably together the hearing of HIS voice and the abundant life that is the result.
The talkative Peter comes to mind at the end of this musing when He is gently but firmly rebuked by the Voice of the Father from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased, HEAR YE HIM” (Matthew 17v5). It may well be that with our oft-times fertile talkativeness we need to heed this word of our Father.
