Narnian Ba'alei Teshuva: Eustace (Part 4)

We’ve spent the past few posts discussing Eustace’s transformation from “an ass” to a hero of Narnia. The climax of this transformation is the undressing of his dragon shell by Aslan and his subsequent baptism in the mountain well. A priori, this scene is based on the verses in Ezekiel (11:19 and 36:26) in which God says he will remove the people’s hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. Only then will they be able to return to following in God’s ways. Similarly, Eustace the dragon cannot undress himself. Aslan must do it. Eustace recalls that Aslan first makes a tear, “so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart,” and after his baptism Eustace transforms back into a boy.

There is, however, a reversal of chronology between Ezekiel and Eustace. In Ezekiel the people have sinned, they have not repented. God’s intervention enables the people to follow God’s ways and save His Name from desecration. The people themselves have no desire to repent, God must spur them to do so.

Perhaps surprisingly then, the actual parallel to God’s ‘heart transplant’ is not Eustace un-becoming a dragon, but Eustace becoming a dragon! As a dragon Eustace changes his ways. As a dragon Eustace perceives the wrong he has done. As a dragon Eustance follows the ways of a true repentant as outlined by Maimonides. Had Eustace been transformed back into a boy without meeting Aslan all evidence suggests he would have remained a penitent and, with the guidance of his cousins, Caspian, and Reepicheep, would have come to recognize Aslan. So, why have the meeting in the first place?

In our last post I suggested that perhaps this differentiated (Lewis’) Christianity and (my) Judaism. Lewis requires a repentant to have a direct encounter with God before full acceptance into the faith. I don’t believe Judaism has such a demand. Of course, one cannot be a religious Jew without recognizing God. However, the inspiration and path to becoming religious need not be a particularly direct revelation from God. Rather, the path may traverse tradition and history, or even nature and science.

Eustace's return was catalyzed by his transformation into a dragon. His subsequent path towards God was not due to direct revelation but by his understanding the good in helping others. He looked outwards from himself and eventually that would bring him back to God. Lewis provides Eustace with an (unnecessary in my mind) shortcut via revelation from Aslan.