Lewis uses this episode to introduce children to the difficulties inherent in judging the actions of others. But the same could be said of Saint Joseph. It can at first appear to be a denial of logic or of the facts. This is exactly the logic the Professor applied to Lucy. He decided to break off the betrothal quietly and for this the Bible labels him as ‘just.’ Based on what Joseph knew of the facts, he did the reasonable thing to do.
One can only imagine that Joseph applied his personal knowledge of her and was humble enough to realize that here were things afoot that he did not comprehend. The Mosaic Law would have condemned Mary as a sinner, and indeed, what further proof would one require that she was not? She was not married, yet she was pregnant. This is not the mistaken notion that we should not judge at all but rather it is teaching how to judge as Saint Joseph did to Mary when she was found to be with child. So Professor Kirk is teaching the children something about what it means to judge rightly. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.” There is a wonderful jab in this scene at the mistaken yet prevalent idea that scientific knowledge reigns supreme, with the Professor giving more credence to the specific and non-scientific knowledge they have of their sister rather than to the empirical experiment they conducted in the wardrobe. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. “Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. “There are only three possibilities,” the Professor says. He tells them they are going against logic to assume that Lucy is lying about the magic wardrobe that leads to the magical country of Narnia even though Peter and Susan made a failed attempt to reach Narnia in the wardrobe themselves. The two older children are completely taken aback by the Professor’s reading of the situation. In one of the more memorable chapters in the book, Peter and Susan go to seek council from Professor Kirk concerning the irregular behavior of Lucy. I offer here three noteworthy lessons from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first installment of the Narnia series.
My children love the adventure stories of other children and I enjoy the sound practical lessons and theology woven by Lewis throughout the stories. Lewis that chronicle the adventures of English children in the land of Narnia. Close to the top of the list are the seven books by C.S. Fortunately, it is not very difficult to find such books: ones that I genuinely enjoy reading and that they genuinely enjoy listening to. My children insist that I read to them on a daily basis and I insist on reading them books that I too enjoy. A mark of excellent children’s literature is that it appeals to adults.
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