Perelandra (ch.2)
In this chapter we read of the preparation for and the journey of Ransom to Perelandra and back. For our purposes of Christian reflection two matters stand out. The first is that Ransom is to travel to Perelandra in a coffin-shaped container and that he is to travel naked. To my mind, and I suspect Lewis’ too, this can scarcely be other than his way of speaking about our lives with God in Christ as having the shape of the cross (or cruciform). As Christ died hanging naked on a cross so Ransom “dies” (hence the coffin-shaped container) to his old life and is borne naked into his new one. Candidates for baptism in the early church would strip of their old clothes, signifying their old way of life, descend into the baptismal font naked, and arise from it to receive a white robe signifying their new life. Surely there are echoes of that here as well. Does remembrance of your baptism play any role in your walk with God today? Do you live with the awareness that, in all truth,...