XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.childrens   
   XPost: rec.arts.sf.written   
   From: jwkenne@attglobal.net   
      
   stephen@nomail.com wrote:   
   > In rec.arts.books.tolkien westprog  wrote:   
   >   
   >> "Derek Broughton"  wrote in message   
   >>> Well, ask a cross-section of Christian theologians whether, if there is   
   >>> intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, if it's possible that they can   
   >>> have been "saved".  If so, ask if Christ could have appeared to them.   
   >>> You'll get the whole gamut of responses, but there are a good number of   
   >>> Christian sects who will say that Christ came to _us_ and _only us_.   
   >> Those   
   >>> same people will have a serious problem with the concept that Aslan _IS_   
   >>> Christ.  otoh, I have no problem with ETs, but I have major problems with   
   >>> the idea that Aslan is anything more than a representation of Christ.   
   >   
   >> Er... Aslan is a fictional character. Lewis is not saying that Christ did   
   >> incarnate in other worlds - or that other worlds exist. He's saying that   
   >> this is what might happen. If you have a problem with this, then you have a   
   >> problem with Lewis.   
   >   
   >> J/   
   >   
   > Lewis did consider such questions in the "Out of the Silent Planet"   
   > trilogy.  Whether those expressed his "true" opinions or not   
   > is not clear, but there life does exist on other worlds.  The   
   > Incarnation on Earth was a unique event (so far anyway), but   
   > because of the Incarnation all future intelligent life forms   
   > will be human.   
      
   In "Out of the Silent Planet", part of the story is that Earth is the   
   only world that has Fallen. So that doesn't track with "Narnia" in the   
   first place.   
      
   Lewis actually writes (in a letter, I think) that:   
      
      Other worlds may not have Fallen, or   
      Other worlds may have Fallen, and been Saved in a different way, or   
      The Divine Son may have been incarnate on other Fallen worlds, or   
      The Incarnation of Jesus may have been unique, and Earth's mission   
        may be to evangelize every other Fallen world,   
      And, at present, WE DON'T KNOW WHICH IS TRUE, and a Christian writer   
        of fiction has the right to take any of them as a donnée.   
      
   --   
   John W. Kennedy   
   "But now is a new thing which is very old--   
   that the rich make themselves richer and not poorer,   
   which is the true Gospel, for the poor's sake."   
      -- Charles Williams.  "Judgement at Chelmsford"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)