Is literary symbolism blasphemy?
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Is literary symbolism blasphemy?
The short answer is no.
A Christ figure is a legitimate manner of expression, as long as the author makes no claim that the literary figure is indeed Christ in person, but remains simply a literary styled symbol only.
Literary imagery must never be thought as being reality, but figurative and symbolic only.
Christ is symbolized in a manner of speaking in various ways, including the Old Testament. Christ is symbolized in the Paschal Lamb.
For some the Brazen Serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness symbolized Christ. Is it true that the Brazen Serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness symbolized Christ? Why would the image of a serpent be used to represent the Savior?
We should also note that C.S. Lewis never claims that Aslan symbolizes Christ. Yet the connection between the two can be easily understood by many of the C.S. Lewis readers and fans.
Christ figures are common in literary circles, but none claim these personages are Christ. Take Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings:
The philosopher Peter Kreeft, like Tolkien a Roman Catholic, observes that there is no one complete, concrete, visible Christ figure in The Lord of the Rings comparable to Aslan in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series. However, Kreeft and Jean Chausse have identified reflections of the figure of Jesus Christ in three protagonists of The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn. While Chausse found "facets of the personality of Jesus" in them, Kreeft wrote that "they exemplify the Old Testament threefold Messianic symbolism of prophet (Gandalf), priest (Frodo), and king (Aragorn)".
Several commentators have seen Gandalf's passage through the Mines of Moria, dying to save his companions and returning as "Gandalf the White", as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. Like Jesus who carried his cross for the sins of mankind, Frodo carried a burden of evil on behalf of the whole world. Frodo walks his "Via Dolorosa" to Mount Doom just like Jesus who made his way to Golgotha. As Frodo approaches the Cracks of Doom, the Ring becomes a crushing weight, just as the cross was for Jesus. Sam Gamgee, Frodo's servant, who carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, parallels Simon of Cyrene, who helps Jesus by carrying his cross to Golgotha. When Frodo accomplishes his mission, like Christ, he says "it is done". Just as Christ ascends to heaven, Frodo's life in Middle-earth comes to an end when he departs to the Undying Lands.
Great Christian authors will force readers to seek out various symbolic meanings within their literary works. C.S. Lewis did a great job in this domain. I can recall reading medieval non-fiction novels that did this very thing and used religious symbolism to affect their expressions of truth of God’s and evil.
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