Are the Chosen Narnians to be a Kingdom of Priests?

Both the Chosen beasts of Narnia and the Chosen people of God are commanded to distance themselves from the ways of the Unchosen. In Narnia, Aslan warned the Chosen beasts at the very beginning as we have seen in the last few posts. In the Bible, the Children of Israel are consistently warned in ways such as the following verse from this week's Torah reading, "You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws (Leviticus 18:3)." 

In addition, the Chosen have a positive obligation towards the unchosen. In Narnia the beasts are to "cherish" the dumb animals. Though there are no outlined methods as to how to cherish the Unchosen beasts, I have always assumed that it means to care for them in the way that (good) people in our world care for their pets. The Bible is far more enterprising and commands the Children of Israel to be a, "Kingdom of Priests and a Holy people, (Exodus 19:6)." This requires the Children of Israel to teach, minister, and guide the Unchosen in the ways of the true God.

The need for a Kingdom of Priests in the Bible arises from the expulsion of Adam from the Garden of Eden. Original man sinned and his descendants began to worship idols and steal, bringing about the Deluge. God saved Noah and his family from the Deluge in an attempt to reset humanity. That didn't seem to work either as demonstrated from in the infamous incident of the Tower of Babel. 

At that point humanity self divides into 70 nations each with their own language and (presumably) culture. To redeem humanity to its formerly pristine ways, humanity now needed a Chosen Nation. A nation that would teach and guide. Throughout the Bible God spends a lot of time forging that nation, as Lewis himself notes, "[God] selected one particular people and spent several centuries hammering into their heads the sort of God He was —that there was only one of Him and that He cared about right conduct. (Mere Christianity).” And though there are glimpses of the proper function of such a nation such as in the time of Solomon (highlighted by the pilgrimage of the Queen of Sheba), and the prophetic visions of Isaiah and others, as a whole the experience has yet to succeed. 

But we try... 

Do the Chosen Narnians have a parallel calling? Are they, too, ordered to act as Kingdom of Priests for the Giants to the North, the Calormens to the South, and the inhabited Islands of the Eastern Sea? 

Frankly, I don't know the answer.  

Into Them You Can Return

For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. 

The Magician's Nephew

In the beginning, Aslan chose from amongst the beasts he created, a few to be endowed with consciousness and understanding. He gave the land of Narnia over to his chosen Talking Beasts and ordered them to care for the unchosen, Dumb Beasts. Furthermore, the Talking Beasts were warned against returning to the ways of the Dumb Beasts which, in previous posts, we have understood to mean placing instincts before morals. 

Once so defined we can understand the "punishment" to be meted out against those Talking Beasts who do return to the ways of the Dumb Beasts: they will cease to be Talking Beasts. As we have seen, this is precisely what happens to the Ginger the Cat, who joined with the Calormen to promote Tashlan. Perhaps, however, this is not simply a punishment but also a consequence. 

The Talking Beasts are chosen and given, at least implicitly, a moral framework which includes believing in Aslan, remembering and respecting the past, treating others with dignity and respect, defending those who are weak, and in general maintaining a code of honor. What happens when one breaks from that moral framework? Such an individual has, on their own volition, returned to the ways of the Dumb Beasts and, more so, has lost the uniqueness of being chosen. Thus, this individual once again becomes a Dumb Beasts.

This same moral underpinning of the chosen underlies the Exodus from Egypt that we just celebrated and commemorated on Passover. The Children of Israel were "freed" from the slavery of Pharoah only to become slaves of God. One may question whether anything was gained, are the Children of Israel not still slaves? 

The answer of course, is yes. The Exodus enabled the Children of Israel to fulfill the mission set for them by God when He chose Abraham to father the Chosen People. The midrashic literature tells that a large number of Jews were lost during the plague of darkness because they were not interested in leaving Egypt. Usually this is understood that they were killed, but perhaps they simply chose to become unchosen. They returned to the pagan ways of Abraham' father and were thus returned into them.    

Chosen for the Sake of the Un-chosen

A quick introduction to our next few posts, as we approach Passover, the holiday in which God took His chosen out of Egypt. 

The ‘chosen’ people are chosen not for their own sake (certainly not for their own honour or pleasure) but for the sake of the unchosen. (C.S. Lewis, Miracles)

How do the "chosen" fulfill what is demanded of them for the sake of the unchosen? Lewis notes that the chosen suffer for the un-chosen, but presumably would not argue the point that the chosen are to guide and teach the un-chosen the reality of the true God.

Should there be a social separation between the chosen and the un-chosen? Can members of the chosen lose their way due to assimilation or apostasy? 

In the Chronicles of Narnia the Talking Beasts are chosen from amongst all the Beasts of Narnia and have an obligation to the un-chosen, as Aslan commands:

The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be Talking Beasts.

While such a chosen-ness must be different from that of humanity's chosen (only the Talking Beasts are sentient), perhaps both are commanded to remain chosen and not mimic the ways of the un-chosen.