The Magician's Nephew is a Supposal of the Creation Myth in the Old Testament, but a few incongruencies exist. In the Magician's Nephew, Aslan the Lion's role shifts from that of a Christ-figure to that of the Old Testament God. The book is the story of how Narnia was created. From nothingness, Aslan created light. (Lewis 100). The story follows very closely with the Old testament version of the creation myth.
Aslan creates a firmament between heaven and earth, then light is created. Water runs through the land, and soon trees and grass are growing, next animals are there, and lastly some of the animals are given the gift of speech. A few incongruence exist, however. The children, the cabby, and the witch all exist before the beginning of Aslan's world. They are there in the nothingness. Man was created last in the bible, and created in God's image. Man in Narnia is not created in the image of Aslan.
The most vitally different part of the Narnia creation story is Lewis's removal of some of the unpleasantness of the story of Eden. The original sin never actually occurs in Narnia. Digory falls to temptation in Charn. "Strike the bell and bide the danger" says the inscription "or wonder til it drives you mad" Digory can't resist striking the bell (Lewis,50).
He claims that it was the inscription that had him under a spell just as Eve blames the snake: "The serpent deceived me" says Eve (Genesis, 2:13). Digory places blame not on himself, but on temptation. In Narnia, however, Digory admits to Aslan that he was only pretending he was enchanted by the inscription. Falling to temptation was his own fault (Lewis, 135) The Witch is the only one who eats forbidden fruit. Digory does not fall to the witch's temptation a second time.
The Witch eats the apple off of the tree of life, not the tree of knowledge. (Lewis, 161) In the biblical story, the reason Adam and Eve must be expelled from the garden is that if they eat from the tree of knowledge they have the capacity to do evil, and if they had then eaten from the tree of life, they could be doing evil forever. The Witch, who acts as the first entrance of evil into Narnia, like the snake's introduction of Eve to the idea of eating the apple, exists before Narnia's true existence.
Lewis may be making a point about paradise here, can a truly pure clean world ever actually exist? How does one measure good if there is no evil? The Witch's indulgence in the tree of life turns her from an Eve figure into a devil figure. She is no longer mortal. She is an enduring symbol of evil. The consistent triumph of good over evil is illustrated in Narnia by the Witch's attempt to throw the piece of lamppost at Aslan. The iron bar does not phase Aslan who simply continues walking, as if he did not even notice he was hit. (Lewis, 108)
The theme of rebirth is pervasive, the lamppost plants itself in the ground, growing into a lamppost tree that is always lit. This is, again, a biblical symbol. The symbol of God's enduring existence is a light that burns forever. "The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Command the Israelite people to bring you a clean oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. Aaron shall set them up in the Tent of Meeting outside the curtain of testimony to burn from evening to morning before the Lord regularly; it is a law for all time throughout the ages. He shall set up the lamps on the pure lampstand before the Lord to burn regularly." (Leviticus 24:1-4)
