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Live Like A Narnian: Christian Discipleship in Lewis's Chronicles
In Live Like a Narnian Joe Rigney shows that Owen Barfield was right—what C.S. Lewis thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything. From apologetics to his thoughts on education, from his view of science to the role of government, from Natural Law to true manhood and womanhood—the breadth of Lewis's bright vision of life shines through in his beloved Chronicles. Come, learn to breathe Narnian air.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 13, 2013
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1601 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
February 3, 2022
Really enjoyed Rigney’s observations here. Listened to the audio on Canon+
January 29, 2016
As I’ve read the Narniad over the years, I have often thought that a book needed to be written highlighting the richest and most poignant lessons that Lewis intended to be learned in Narnia. Joe Rigney’s “Live Like a Narnian” is that book. This was an incredibly enjoyable read for any friend of Narnia (or Archenland). However, rumor has it that the Calormenes don’t particularly like this book.
Rigney has masterfully chosen some of the most precious parts and themes in the Chronicles and then layers in other writings by Lewis to bring additional insight into what error, vice, or flawed logic Lewis was aiming to address. Obviously this is not an exhaustive book, and I hereby assert that Mr. Rigney ought to pen a second volume.
Aslan hints in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader that the reason the children were brought to Narnia was that by knowing him there, they might know him better in our world (although of course he has a different name in our world). This is Lewis’ more explicit moments of tying Aslan to being a Christ-figure. I, along with many others, have been shaped by the lessons I learned upon the fresh and vibrant soil of Dancing Lawn, Beaversdam, the Stone Table and the Eastern Seas. Rigney has helpfully pointed out how Narnia is not an escape from reality, but rather it is brimful of lessons to be learned, and a manner of life that, as Christians, we ought to live. Chivalry, boldness, humility, enduring hardness, worship, obedience, masculine and feminine virtues all make an appearance in Narnia, and Live Like a Narnian aims to be a friendly reminder that to be a true King or Queen of Narnia, you must not forget Aslan’s signs.
I especially enjoyed Rigney’s pointed discussion in Chapter 3 on Edmund, and how our present actions (and what we are worshipping) are shaping us into what we will be. We must not take the object of our worship lightly.
I was moved to tears in several chapters, being reminded of the hardship that many of the Narnian heroes face, and yet despite the difficulties, persevere, resting all the while between the Lion’s paws. In Chapter 10 (about Shasta in The Horse and His Boy), I found a very timely reminder for me; in it Rigney quotes the Chronicle: “If you do one good deed your reward is usually to be set to do another and harder and better one.” What a great reminder.
And really that is exactly what this book is…a helpful reminder to grip those lessons learned in Narnia. Don’t forget, don’t let the thick air of the shadowlands cloud your thinking and cause you to forget the lessons learned in Aslan’s country. I highly recommend Live Like a Narnia. Obviously, you should read the seven stories first…but then, this would be a helpful companion and guide. I give this book a Reepicheep salute, and commend Rigney for a job well done, and for making this a read that was really a pleasure to read (and not just because it was full of Lewis); Rigney’s commentary was truly as insightful, pastoral, and good-humored as one would expect a descendant of King Lune to be.
Rigney has masterfully chosen some of the most precious parts and themes in the Chronicles and then layers in other writings by Lewis to bring additional insight into what error, vice, or flawed logic Lewis was aiming to address. Obviously this is not an exhaustive book, and I hereby assert that Mr. Rigney ought to pen a second volume.
Aslan hints in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader that the reason the children were brought to Narnia was that by knowing him there, they might know him better in our world (although of course he has a different name in our world). This is Lewis’ more explicit moments of tying Aslan to being a Christ-figure. I, along with many others, have been shaped by the lessons I learned upon the fresh and vibrant soil of Dancing Lawn, Beaversdam, the Stone Table and the Eastern Seas. Rigney has helpfully pointed out how Narnia is not an escape from reality, but rather it is brimful of lessons to be learned, and a manner of life that, as Christians, we ought to live. Chivalry, boldness, humility, enduring hardness, worship, obedience, masculine and feminine virtues all make an appearance in Narnia, and Live Like a Narnian aims to be a friendly reminder that to be a true King or Queen of Narnia, you must not forget Aslan’s signs.
I especially enjoyed Rigney’s pointed discussion in Chapter 3 on Edmund, and how our present actions (and what we are worshipping) are shaping us into what we will be. We must not take the object of our worship lightly.
I was moved to tears in several chapters, being reminded of the hardship that many of the Narnian heroes face, and yet despite the difficulties, persevere, resting all the while between the Lion’s paws. In Chapter 10 (about Shasta in The Horse and His Boy), I found a very timely reminder for me; in it Rigney quotes the Chronicle: “If you do one good deed your reward is usually to be set to do another and harder and better one.” What a great reminder.
And really that is exactly what this book is…a helpful reminder to grip those lessons learned in Narnia. Don’t forget, don’t let the thick air of the shadowlands cloud your thinking and cause you to forget the lessons learned in Aslan’s country. I highly recommend Live Like a Narnia. Obviously, you should read the seven stories first…but then, this would be a helpful companion and guide. I give this book a Reepicheep salute, and commend Rigney for a job well done, and for making this a read that was really a pleasure to read (and not just because it was full of Lewis); Rigney’s commentary was truly as insightful, pastoral, and good-humored as one would expect a descendant of King Lune to be.
May 1, 2021
Livro maravilhoso e inspirador.
Faz boas conexões com as obras de Lewis, a Bíblia, com ótimas aplicações para o nosso cotidiano.
Certamente você se verá em vários momentos, tanto pela genialidade de Lewis, como pela perspicácia de Rigney.
Recomendo.
👍🏻 📔 ⭐️
Faz boas conexões com as obras de Lewis, a Bíblia, com ótimas aplicações para o nosso cotidiano.
Certamente você se verá em vários momentos, tanto pela genialidade de Lewis, como pela perspicácia de Rigney.
Recomendo.
👍🏻 📔 ⭐️
February 11, 2022
Glad to revisit this one in audio. Made me cry at least twice.
Read by the author, who did a fine job.
Read by the author, who did a fine job.
July 8, 2021
2021: Such a joy to read. This book will make you want to read the Chronicles of Narnia all over again!
2016: So many good things can be drawn from this book, but if I had to pick and choose only two, I would choose these sections as my favorite ones:
"I can speak for every one, but breathing this type of Narnian air has a particular effect on me, one that I think Lewis intended...
But more than just awaking my hunger, breathing Narnian air awakens a desire for a particular meal, one with tasty food, good conversation, lots of joy and laughter and revelry and strategizing about how to defeat the White Witch.
It makes me want to eat my bread with joy and drink my wine with a merry heart, because God approves (Eccles. 9:7). It makes me want to guard my heart against gluttony and miserliness. It makes me want to live so that those with shriveled hearts and icy minds accuse me of self-indulgence and waste. It also makes me want to live so that the accusations are false.
It makes me want to pay attention at mealtimes, both to the food on my plate and the friends on my table. It makes me want to enjoy high feasts on appropriate occasions, to eat simple meals as though they mattered (because they do), and to teach my children by example the meaning of jollification (hint: dancing is required). " (p.44-45)
And this other line :
"Indeed, the Witch provides two meals to Edmund: the enchanted candy and stale bread and water. The Witch and her evil are the origins of both gluttony and asceticism, of sinful indulgence and sinful austerity." (p.43)
2016: So many good things can be drawn from this book, but if I had to pick and choose only two, I would choose these sections as my favorite ones:
"I can speak for every one, but breathing this type of Narnian air has a particular effect on me, one that I think Lewis intended...
But more than just awaking my hunger, breathing Narnian air awakens a desire for a particular meal, one with tasty food, good conversation, lots of joy and laughter and revelry and strategizing about how to defeat the White Witch.
It makes me want to eat my bread with joy and drink my wine with a merry heart, because God approves (Eccles. 9:7). It makes me want to guard my heart against gluttony and miserliness. It makes me want to live so that those with shriveled hearts and icy minds accuse me of self-indulgence and waste. It also makes me want to live so that the accusations are false.
It makes me want to pay attention at mealtimes, both to the food on my plate and the friends on my table. It makes me want to enjoy high feasts on appropriate occasions, to eat simple meals as though they mattered (because they do), and to teach my children by example the meaning of jollification (hint: dancing is required). " (p.44-45)
And this other line :
"Indeed, the Witch provides two meals to Edmund: the enchanted candy and stale bread and water. The Witch and her evil are the origins of both gluttony and asceticism, of sinful indulgence and sinful austerity." (p.43)
August 2, 2017
This is a great, compact, little volume the way in which The Chronicles of Narnia disciples its readers into Christian maturity. Rigney shows how the books prepare the soil for receiving God's Word in the Bible, by preparing readers to think in biblical modes and categories.
It is a sort of companion book to Doug Wilson's "What I Learned in Narnia," which Rigney endorses toward the end. Where Wilson's book is geared toward younger readers, Rigney's is aimed at older readers that will help their children or students understand the books in a much deeper way.
This is really good, and I recommend it to everyone who has read the full series.
It is a sort of companion book to Doug Wilson's "What I Learned in Narnia," which Rigney endorses toward the end. Where Wilson's book is geared toward younger readers, Rigney's is aimed at older readers that will help their children or students understand the books in a much deeper way.
This is really good, and I recommend it to everyone who has read the full series.
July 28, 2024
Rigney recognizes the wonderful richness of the Narnia books—each story is infused with CS Lewis’s wisdom. Using The Abolition of Man as a guide to explain important aspects of Lewis’s philosophical outlook and to set the stage, Rigney then deftly unpacks the values and lessons to be learned in Narnia.
I’ve enjoyed a number of books that similarly help readers better appreciate the deeper meanings in Lewis’s fantasy works. Planet Narnia is probably the most revealing, but Deeper Magic, and What I Learned in Narnia are also very good. The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis focuses on how the cosmological framework of the Middle Ages affected his view of hierarchy and theology, and is also a valuable read.
In the appendix, Rigney discusses how the Narnia film adaptations completely fail to properly convey Lewis’s vision, and references this worthwhile article: Narnia Invaded: How the New Films Subvert Lewis’s Hierarchical World
I’ve enjoyed a number of books that similarly help readers better appreciate the deeper meanings in Lewis’s fantasy works. Planet Narnia is probably the most revealing, but Deeper Magic, and What I Learned in Narnia are also very good. The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis focuses on how the cosmological framework of the Middle Ages affected his view of hierarchy and theology, and is also a valuable read.
In the appendix, Rigney discusses how the Narnia film adaptations completely fail to properly convey Lewis’s vision, and references this worthwhile article: Narnia Invaded: How the New Films Subvert Lewis’s Hierarchical World
April 20, 2025
This is a fantastic work to help you breathe Narnian air and apply The Chronicles in your daily life. The connections that Dr. Joe Rigney makes are profound, fun, and incredibly edifying.
October 19, 2014
The best books on Narnia are the ones that make us want to return to the stories themselves, and Joe Rigney's slim, easy read does just that. He has a number of particularly fine insights, but the one that really sticks with me is this: "Though all of his plans come to naught, Tirian is never without one." - p. 145
March 23, 2025
I enjoyed this a lot! I love Joe Rigneys writing style. I particularly enjoyed chapters 1 and 6. In chapter 1 he gives a biblical defense of letting children read books like Narnia even with their magical components. In chapter 6 he discusses scientific reductionism which I also thought was super interesting! Definitely recommend.
December 27, 2020
terminei com vontade de reler nárnia, o autor relaciona as virtudes narnianas ao discipulado cristão e acrescenta relações entre as crônicas de nárnias e os escritos não-fictícios de lewis. e eu gostei muito pq ele explicou muitas coisas sobre a abolição do homem que eu não tinha pescado quando eu li (outro que eu preciso reler). recomendo!
March 7, 2020
I didn’t think it would be possible for me appreciate Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles more than I already did. But Joe Rigney has succeeded in making me do just that. While this book is packed with helpful insights into living like a Narnian, it’s Rigney’s love for Narnia and C. S. Lewis that really come through to the reader. Thank you, Dr. Rigney!
April 21, 2020
Um dos grandes méritos deste livro foi ter posto as crônicas em diálogo com as obras de não ficção de Lewis, proporcionando ao leitor uma visão mais abrangente e harmoniosa de seu pensamento. Em alguns momentos tive que parar a leitura/tradução para meditar e chorar. Rigney é muito bom com a caneta, e escreveu o livro que muitos narnianos gostariam de ter escrito. Como narniano convicto, fico imensamente feliz de poder “escrevê-lo”, por assim dizer, em português.
Em breve, pela Editora Monergismo.
Em breve, pela Editora Monergismo.
June 11, 2025
Listened to it while working, so I can't say much more than, "It was really good." However, I will say this: If you know someone who needs convincing that reading fiction (or even books in general) is worth their time, have them read this (or read it for them).
November 1, 2013
Great little book on things we can learn from Narnia. A great supplement to McGrath's section on Narnia in his biography of CS Lewis.
February 21, 2022
I thought this book would be less impactful because I had seen Joe Rigney's talk on it at one of the Desiring God Conferences. I was wrong. What a good book! The best part about it is that it makes the reader want to dive back into Narnia and in that sense, Rigney has achieved what he set out to do. To give the reader a greater appreciation of God through Lewis
May 14, 2024
Read it after you read The Chronicles of Narnia. Rigney takes characters from the Chronicles, breaks down their character and shows us their virtues and vices and why we should emulate them. He also takes themes from other Lewis books and gives background and application as well. This was such a fun read!
June 2, 2021
Pastor Rigney is a faithful guide to unlocking some of the deeper themes in Narnia.
April 3, 2023
I didn’t think I would like it, but I did. A great encouragement for the pilgrim journey and Narnian at heart.
April 7, 2025
So good. Four stars because I wish it was longer. What a great resource to better breathe Narnian air. I love Rigney’s inclusion of Lewis’s essays, demonstrating how he masterfully incorporated the same doctrines he taught in the academy to children, plowing the soil of hearts at an early age.
May 31, 2025
Excellent. Will probably reread the Narnia series again now. Will also try to get book club to read Narnia 😁😉
October 2, 2024
This was a fun dive into Narnia with practical takeaways and great insights into the stories and characters.
July 10, 2025
Excellent! So helpful as Im on the last book reading to my son. Rigney provides biblical themes to explore while reading Narnia. His knowledge of Lewis and Narnia is impressive but really, he’s just pastoral guiding the reader through the biblical worldview behind Narnia. My favorite chapters were the Witch’s war on joy and the chapter on how providence is guiding the children toward who they are becoming. Great book!
February 19, 2020
Wow! So good!
If you haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia yet, do it! Then you can enjoy this book.
Rigney pulls wonderful lessons out of the Chronicles and Lewis' other writings. I will be reading them again very soon to get a fresh breath of Narnian air.
I especially loved the chapter, "Tirian's Trials and Tragedy - Enduring Deep Doubt and the Soul's Dark Night."
"So then, The Last Battle shows us tragedy and despair. Does it also show us how to endure?
Can it instruct Narnians how to live in the dark and 'take the adventure that Aslan sends to
us'? I believe that it can."
I believe lovers of Narnia will love this book.
The appendix also has a good argument for the proper reading order of the Chronicles and I completely agree.
2020 A book about an interest of yours
If you haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia yet, do it! Then you can enjoy this book.
Rigney pulls wonderful lessons out of the Chronicles and Lewis' other writings. I will be reading them again very soon to get a fresh breath of Narnian air.
I especially loved the chapter, "Tirian's Trials and Tragedy - Enduring Deep Doubt and the Soul's Dark Night."
"So then, The Last Battle shows us tragedy and despair. Does it also show us how to endure?
Can it instruct Narnians how to live in the dark and 'take the adventure that Aslan sends to
us'? I believe that it can."
I believe lovers of Narnia will love this book.
The appendix also has a good argument for the proper reading order of the Chronicles and I completely agree.
2020 A book about an interest of yours
May 29, 2021
My favorite extra-Narnia book! Just...so good! That’s all!
January 23, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. I don't know that there really was anything new to me in that most of the things noted wouldn't be a surprise to any thoughtful Narnia lover, but it was good to have them pulled out of the book to think about.
I have a quibble which is perhaps more significant the more I consider it; the author is too ready to call Jesus Aslan. That may sound odd, but I think caution is needed. Aslan is a fictional character who represents Jesus. Jesus is real. Aslan is presented to us by a human fallible author and therefore we need to be very careful that we do not learn things from Aslan that are not true of Jesus. The Narnia Books are not Scripture.
Of course once you start down this line of thought you begin to wonder whether there is any point to a book such as this at all. Why draw lessons from Narnia when you can draw them from the Bible? But I think that goes too far the other way. C.S. Lewis was skilled in showing Christian truths in his work, and why should we not have a book to help us think about those truths more deeply?
I have a quibble which is perhaps more significant the more I consider it; the author is too ready to call Jesus Aslan. That may sound odd, but I think caution is needed. Aslan is a fictional character who represents Jesus. Jesus is real. Aslan is presented to us by a human fallible author and therefore we need to be very careful that we do not learn things from Aslan that are not true of Jesus. The Narnia Books are not Scripture.
Of course once you start down this line of thought you begin to wonder whether there is any point to a book such as this at all. Why draw lessons from Narnia when you can draw them from the Bible? But I think that goes too far the other way. C.S. Lewis was skilled in showing Christian truths in his work, and why should we not have a book to help us think about those truths more deeply?
March 8, 2025
So so good.🔥
October 19, 2013
Rigney captures the lessons that Lewis teaches in The Chronicles of Narnia without taking away from the magic and mystery of the stories. He helps the reader understand why they love Narnia, and how to live as much like a Narnian in this world as is possible. His thoughts left me feeling discipled, refreshed, and desiring to know Aslan better in that world, so that I might know Jesus better in this one.
June 7, 2023
Thought-provoking and beautiful. Rigney pulls out different elements of the Narnian chronicles and weaves them together with Lewis' other works, putting each of his arguments into perspective. Definitely worth several re-reads, and I'd recommend it to any friend of Narnia. (Note: I think he says this himself, but read the chronicles first . This book isn't a map to plunge into Narnia for the first time, but it's more of a scrapbook to review memories once you have.)
October 11, 2015
I heard Joe Rigney on a podcast about parenting and he was brilliant. I've read and reread the Narnia books, so while I expected to enjoy this, I didn't really expect to gain any new insight. I was quite wrong as this felt like a wonderful guide for citizenship into the Land of Narnia. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and now can't wait to read anything else he's written.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews