Emeth facts for kids

Emeth is a brave young man from the land of Calormen in C. S. Lewis's book The Last Battle, which is part of The Chronicles of Narnia series. His name comes from a Hebrew word meaning "truth" or "firmness." Emeth is a special character because his story helps explain an important idea about doing good deeds, even if you don't know the true source of goodness.

Emeth's Story

Emeth is a young officer in the Calormene army. He comes to Narnia as part of a secret plan by Rishda Tarkaan to take over the country. This plan involves tricking the Narnians with a fake Aslan, who is controlled by an ape named Shift. The ape tries to make Narnians believe that Aslan, their great lion, is the same as the Calormene god, Tash.

Even though Emeth wants to be a hero in battle, he feels uneasy about all the "lies and tricks" being used. He doesn't like how they are pretending Aslan is Tash. When Shift and Rishda claim that "Tashlan" is inside a stable, Emeth insists on going in to see Tash for himself. Inside the stable, Emeth bravely fights and kills a Calormene soldier who was waiting to harm anyone who entered.

After this, Emeth finds himself in Aslan's Country, which is like a beautiful, true version of Narnia. He meets Aslan, the true lion, and realizes that his life spent serving Tash might mean he's in trouble. However, Aslan explains something amazing: Aslan and Tash are complete opposites. Any good and honest act done in Tash's name was actually accepted by Aslan. This is because Tash can only accept evil deeds, so anything truly good done by Emeth was really for Aslan. So, Emeth's loyalty to Tash, which came from noble reasons, was actually received by Aslan.

Good Deeds and True Faith

Aslan's words to Emeth are very important. He says that he accepts the good things Emeth did, even when Emeth thought he was doing them for Tash. Aslan explains that if someone makes a promise and keeps it because they are honest, then they have truly sworn by Aslan, even if they don't know it. And Aslan is the one who rewards them.

This idea means that people who have a good heart and do good things are recognized, even if they believe in a different god or don't know about Aslan (or, in our world, about Jesus). It suggests that doing good is always important, no matter what you call your faith.

C. S. Lewis, the author of Narnia, also wrote about this idea. He believed that any sincere prayer, even if it's to a god that isn't the true God, is still accepted by the true God. He thought that Christ saves many people who don't even realize they know him, because Christ is present in the good parts of the teachers or beliefs they follow.

See also

In Spanish: Emeth para niños