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Furthermore, HarperCollins has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to reissue and publicize Lewis's great nonfiction works, including Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Problem of Pain, and Surprised by Joy. Well-known Christian authors, including Madeleine L'Engle and Kathleen Norris, are writing introductions and forewords. Where's the conspiracy there?

Then there are the words of Simon Adley, managing director of the C.S. Lewis Company, who has been painted as the devil in all this mess. "It's fatuous to suggest that we're trying to take the Christian out of C.S. Lewis," he told The New York Times. "We wouldn't have made the effort that we have with Mere Christianity if we felt that way. It's just crazy. I suppose you could get a little depressed by this. I'm trying to get more people to read."

Should we believe Adley? When Susan and Peter Pevensie asked Professor Kirke about Lucy's strange claims to discovering a world inside a wardrobe, Kirke (who was loosely based on Lewis himself) responded, "There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. … For the moment, then, and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

It may very well be that there are plans afoot to market Lewis in a way inconsistent with his character. Whether or not that happens, let us comfort ourselves with the knowledge that the Aslan we know cannot be tamed.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also appearing on our site today is Mere Marketing? | Publisher, estate under fire for handling of C.S. Lewis's identity.

News about the new Narnia books was first reported by The Sunday Times of London.

The New York Times heated up the Narnia controversy by publishing parts of a leaked HarperSanFrancisco memo.

Additional media coverage included USA Today, The National Post, World, The BBC, and The Telegraph.

Opinions and editorial pieces on the issue came from Frederica Mathewes-Green, The Montreal Gazette, Lauren Winner, Andrew Greeley,and Charles Colson.

Christianity Today's Weblog has covered the C.S. Lewis debate extensively:

Missionary Pilot Reportedly Off the Hook in Investigation of Peru Plane Shooting | Plus: Deadly church vans, more Narnia wars, and other stories from media sources around the world. (July 20, 2001)

The War for C.S. Lewis: The Prequel | Plus: Gabriel's blessing for the Guthrie family. (July 17, 2001)

The War for Narnia Continues | Charles Colson, Andrew Greeley, Frederica Mathewes-Green, and Lauren Winner join the battle—and Doug Gresham comes out to reply. (June 20, 2001)

Grief Observed Over Abolition of Lewis's Mere Christianity | Plus: Supreme Court okays Christian elementary school club, and American missionaries are still alive. (June 11, 2001)

God Banned from Narnia | Plus: Missionaries still held by terrorists despite military attack and other stories from mainstream media around the world. (June 4, 2001)

Narnia Will Return In New Books | As all of the Inklings' publishers await record interest, HarperCollins seeks to "fill in the gaps" beyond the wardrobe. (May 15, 2001)

Washington Post Covers North Korea's Persecution of Christians | Plus: Missionaries to United Arab Emirates deported, and HarperCollins's C.S. Lewis deal. (April 10, 2001)

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August 6 2001, Vol. 45, No. 10