In the final volume of the Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan assures a Calormene that, although he has believed himself to be a follower of the evil Tash all his life, whatever good he has done has truly been done in Aslan's name.
His message is that wherever the unfortunate man has believed his loyalties to be, loyalty itself is not possible in the name of evil. The message echoes that of the church in explaining that, while the only path to salvation is through Christ, not all men have the opportunity to fully understand what lights their paths. Nonetheless, to follow the unknown light may be enough to lead them home.
There is another, darker message inherent in these words, though. For just as it is not possible to do good in the name of Tash (or of Satan), it is not possible to do evil in the name of God. And so, if the man who in ignorance does good though he knows not that it is God's path he follows may be saved, what of the man who does evil though he persuades himself that it is in the name of God?
Just as surely as one cannot love in the name of evil, he cannot hate in the name of good. Where, then, does that leave the Christian whose righteousness has hardened into pride, whose hatred of the sin has hardened into hatred of the sinner? What of the poor man who offers darkness up to God?
Monday, October 1, 2007
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3 comments:
oooohh....
I've never thought about this in quite this way.
Of course, now it's going to be bouncing around in my brain all night. :)
Thanks for this post.
What a thoughtful message. I guess this is another reason why we need to stay in acommunity of believers who hold us accountable - left to our own devices, we can easily convince ourselves that wrong is right.
Thank you!
Very true, Angela WD.
It also reminds me of some of the situations in the late middle ages. The forced conversion of Jews in France, for instance. That was done by the French king and nobility at the time. The Vatican did not approve and tried to tell them to stop.
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