The Christian Skeptic

Every world ends. The question C.S. Lewis asks in the final Chronicle is what you’ll be able to see when it does. The Last Battle is the darkest book in the series and arguably the most beautiful. This week we work through the finale of our Narnia series — the book that opens with an ape draping a lion’s skin over a donkey and selling the whole world a fake Aslan, and ends with the end of everything. We dig into why the most dangerous counterfeit isn’t the one that takes things away from the gospel but the one that adds to it, the difference between right and almost right, Emeth the devout follower of the wrong god and what Aslan’s welcome does and doesn’t mean, Susan and “once a queen, always a queen,” and the Dwarfs — who got burned so badly by a fake that they stopped believing in anything at all. Let’s get to it. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:46) Lewis’s eschatology and Platonism (03:56) The Shadowlands: does Lewis devalue this life? (06:42) Recap: Shift, Puzzle, and the fake Aslan (09:16) The door of death into the new Narnia (10:46) The questions this book forces (12:05) Emeth and the followers of Tash (15:29) Not universalism, not a second chance (17:28) Two modes of salvation and the edges of orthodoxy (22:38) False religion: what gets added to the gospel (24:44) The difference between right and almost right (29:53) The Dwarfs, deconstruction, and deconversion (32:55) Susan: once a queen, always a queen? (37:31) Biggest takeaways from the whole series Links C.S. Lewis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia The Last Battle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Battle How You Lose Faith Without Noticing | The Silver Chair: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/how-you-lose-faith-without-noticing-the-silver-chair/ Is God Really In Control? | The Horse and His Boy: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/is-god-really-in-control-the-horse-and-his-boy/ Plato: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato J.R.R. Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien Have We Tamed Jesus? | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/have-we-tamed-jesus/ Donald Trump: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump Are We Living in the Last Days?: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/are-we-living-in-the-last-days/ Mere Christianity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_Christianity Doug Wilson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Wilson_(theologian) Rob Bell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Bell Charles Spurgeon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon Lordship ep: Paul Washer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Washer What Paul Washer Gets Wrong About God’s Love | TCS Reacts: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/what-paul-washer-gets-wrong-about-gods-love-tcs-reacts/ Should Christians Judge Each Other? Steve Lawson and the Problem with Lordship Salvation: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/should-christians-judge-each-other-steve-lawson-and-the-problem-with-lordship-salvation/ The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ Connect with Adam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avclark Connect with Aaron Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromgreytown Subscribe and stay in touch Website: https://thechristiansekptic.org Instagram: https://instagram.com/christianskepticpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-skeptic/id1761285349 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HlSAPHewfbLESl61D3XH9 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic Get full show notes and links at https://www.thechristianskeptic.org. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic.

This week, we go underground in The Silver Chair, the Narnia book about how people actually lose their faith — not argued out of it, but slowly seduced out of it. We dig into Puddleglum’s answer to the witch as the best response to atheism in the series (and why it isn’t an argument at all), why Lewis treats spiritual deadness as environmental and not just moral, faith as remembered obedience, and more. Let’s get to it. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:07) Why this book grew on us (04:44) Experiment House and Lewis on education (06:09) “Will you promise not to eat me?” (07:37) The four signs and our habit of forgetting (09:17) The lost prince and the underworld (10:38) Puddleglum stamps out the fire (14:05) Why he doesn’t out-argue the witch (15:13) You can’t reason with two different planes (17:34) Seduction, not force (18:54) Spiritual deadness as an environment (20:18) The coffee shop and losing your discernment (26:10) “There is no other stream” and the God who won’t promise safety (31:04) Passing the torch, generation to generation Links C.S. Lewis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia The Silver Chair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Chair The Silver Chair (movie): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098912/ Plato: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato J.R.R. Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien The Pilgrim’s Progress: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim’s_Progress John Bunyan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bunyan Is God Really In Control? | The Horse and His Boy: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/is-god-really-in-control-the-horse-and-his-boy/ Have We Tamed Jesus? | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/have-we-tamed-jesus/ Donald Trump: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump Mere Christianity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_Christianity The Screwtape Letters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screwtape_Letters The Great Divorce: Weight of Glory: Connect with Adam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avclark Connect with Aaron Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromgreytown Subscribe and stay in touch Website: https://thechristiansekptic.org Instagram: https://instagram.com/christianskepticpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-skeptic/id1761285349 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HlSAPHewfbLESl61D3XH9 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic Get full show notes and links at https://www.thechristianskeptic.org. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic.

This week, we sail east through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, an often overlooked book in the series, and the one where the villain isn’t “out there”, but inside the characters themselves. We dig into Eustace’s un-dragoning as one of the clearest picture of grace in the series, why the transformation has to hurt, Reepicheep as Lewis’s “argument from desire”, and more. Let’s get to it. In this episode: (00:00) Can you fix yourself? (01:01) Why Dawn Treader gets underrated (05:15) The book with no villain (07:21) The “un-dragoning” (12:24) More Calvinist than Lewis realized (15:39) Does grace have to be painful? (17:37) Reepicheep and the argument from desire (21:12) Longing, not fear, as the engine (23:11) “By another name” and the Emeth problem (26:17) The hiddenness of Aslan: “Courage, dear heart” (28:09) The Lamb and the Lion: supposal, not pluralism (31:19) Favorite moments and Reepicheep’s exit (33:22) Looking ahead to The Silver Chair Links C.S. Lewis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Dawn_Treader The Silver Chair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Chair Plato: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato J.R.R. Tolkien: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien Is God Really In Control? | The Horse and His Boy: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/is-god-really-in-control-the-horse-and-his-boy/ Have We Tamed Jesus? | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: https://www.thechristianskeptic.org/have-we-tamed-jesus/ Doug Wilson: https://dougwils.com/ Mere Christianity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere_Christianity Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/dp/019973870X Connect with Adam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avclark Connect with Aaron Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromgreytown Subscribe and stay in touch Website: https://thechristiansekptic.org Instagram: https://instagram.com/christianskepticpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-skeptic/id1761285349 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HlSAPHewfbLESl61D3XH9 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic Get full show notes and links at https://www.thechristianskeptic.org. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic.

C.S. Lewis set Prince Caspian 1,300 years after the golden age of Narnia — long enough that Aslan has become a legend, the talking trees have gone silent, and the people who rule the land insist none of it was ever real. So, what do you do when the God you used to see has gone quiet, and the culture around you has decided He was never there? In part four of our series through the Chronicles of Narnia, we dig into the most generous portrait of an honest skeptic Lewis ever wrote (Trumpkin), whether there’s room for doubt inside the church, why Lewis thought certainty could be its own kind of unbelief, and the famous scene where Lucy is told she should have followed what she saw—even when no one else could see it. Let’s get to it. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:53) Why Prince Caspian is the most skeptical book in the series (02:07) Chronological snobbery: does “old” mean false? (03:24) 1,300 years later: a world that forgot Aslan (05:00) Trumpkin, the honest skeptic (07:18) Three kinds of faith: Trufflehunter, Nikabrik, and Trumpkin (11:54) Why honest skeptics are taking Christianity seriously again (13:01) The place for questions (and answers) (16:34) How should Christians hold their certainty? (18:38) When truth is forgotten, the culture decays (21:13) Why did Aslan disappear? Where is God now? (26:01) Faith means believing without sight (27:14) Lucy, and faith as perception (31:38) The marriage of faith and reason (34:53) Are myths “half-glimpses” of truth? (37:30) Reepicheep’s tail and generational faithfulness (40:33) Determinism and responsibility Links C.S. Lewis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia Joe Rogan: https://www.joerogan.com/ Jordan Peterson: https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/ Martin Luther: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther William Tyndale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale John Wycliffe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wycliffe Jim Jones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones Doug Wilson: https://dougwils.com/ Connect with Adam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avclark Connect with Aaron Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromgreytown Subscribe and stay in touch Website: https://thechristiansekptic.org Instagram: https://instagram.com/christianskepticpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-skeptic/id1761285349 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HlSAPHewfbLESl61D3XH9 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic Get full show notes and links at https://www.thechristianskeptic.org. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic.

The Horse and His Boy is the Narnia book most people skip—and the one with one of the most difficult question at its center: if God is behind every event of your life, including the painful ones, is that the most comforting idea imaginable or the most unsettling? This week we sit inside Aslan’s “I was the lion” speech and ask what it would mean if it were true. We also dig into the difference between God’s sovereignty and his providence, where C.S. Lewis actually landed on free will and divine control, why providence is something you can usually only recognize looking backward, and why, in the end, we both walk away from this strange, intimate little book feeling more comforted than unsettled. In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:03) Real decisions, or God’s plan? (02:00) The best Narnia book nobody reads (07:00) From slavery to royalty: Shasta’s story (13:30) “I was the lion” — comforting or terrifying? (15:33) Sovereignty vs. providence (19:45) Was C.S. Lewis a Molinist? (24:11) Where we land: free will, control & the invisible hand (29:10) Holding the mystery without weaponizing it (37:14) Why Aslan won’t explain Aravis’s wounds (40:22) The comfort of being seen in the dark Links C.S. Lewis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia Al Mohler: https://albertmohler.com/ John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/ William Lane Craig: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lane_Craig Ravi Zacharias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Zacharias Providence by John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/providence Charles Spurgeon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Spurgeon Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652926 Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton: https://www.amazon.com/Orthodoxy-G-K-Chesterton-G-K/dp/1657592197 The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God by John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-misery-of-job-and-the-mercy-of-god Connect with Adam Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avclark Connect with Aaron Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromgreytown Subscribe and stay in touch Website: https://thechristiansekptic.org Instagram: https://instagram.com/christianskepticpod Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-christian-skeptic/id1761285349 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HlSAPHewfbLESl61D3XH9 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic Get full show notes and links at https://www.thechristianskeptic.org. Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thechristianskeptic.