Temptation

Temptation is a theme that appears in the world of Narnia and in the bible. In Christianity it is commonly believed that all people will be tempted and that temptation is a fact of life, what is important and what makes a good Christian is the response to this temptation.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

1 Corinthians 10:13

This idea of temptation can be seen in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe when Edmund is tempted by Jadis, or the devil. Tempted by the promise of riches, kingship, and turkish delights, Edmund goes with Jadis and stands by while she exerts her reign on Narnia and on his siblings. At the beginning he falls prey to this temptation but eventually turns against it and to Aslan, or God.

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Timothy 6:9

In Prince Caspian Caspian is first tempted when he and the Narnians go to storm the castle of his evil uncle Miraz. Instead of following the plan he allows himself to be drawn in by the temptation of revenge and goes to kill his sleeping uncle. He is unable to do so and this momentary lapse in judgement is one of the reasons the raid is unsuccessful.

Temptation and Jadis go hand in hand in the world of Narnia as she appears after this loss to tempt Peter and Caspian. This time she presents herself as the lesser of two evils and promises them the ability to defeat Miraz if they resurrect her. Both men almost give in and bring her back until Edmund slices through Jadis’ spell.

There are other instances of temptation in Narnia as well. The actions discussed and the other actions in the Narnian stories reaffirm the Christian belief that temptation will always be there but that good Christians will turn away or make up for their past misdoings. This also ties into the Christian belief of forgiveness as all characters who fall prey to temptation will be forgiven by Aslan, an echoing of the Christian belief that God forgives all sins.