Christian doctrine in Dr. Seuss tales?

NEW LAYER | Minister finds subtle messages of faith

When Horton Hears a Who, is there a sermon to be heard?

What about the Cat in the Hat and the Lorax? Are those characters metaphors for Christ?

No one has ever doubted the layers of meaning in the stories of Dr. Seuss. The Lorax has obvious lessons about the environment. The Butter Battle Book took direct aim at the Cold War arms race. Some say Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! was one way to demand the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

So when Horton's world of Who-ville was ''saved by the Smallest of All,'' Robert Short saw the savior of the Whos as a symbol for the savior of all people. From Green Eggs and Ham to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Short has reinterpreted many of Theodor Seuss Geisel's stories as subtle messages of Christian doctrine in the new book, The Parables of Dr. Seuss.

Questions remain, however, about whether the original author intended such an interpretation or Short, a retired Presbyterian minister, is just seeing the stories through the lens of his own life.

''I was amazed at what I found when I started looking at it -- all this Christian imagery was very carefully factored into his stories,'' Short said in an interview from his home in Little Rock, Ark.

''And that's what this book intends to do, is show how he has done this in a very carefully crafted way. It's there, and you could make an argument for it being intentionally there because it's done with such great care.''

Short has spent four decades drawing spiritual lessons from popular culture, starting with the 1965 best-seller The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of his eight books.

The 75-year-old minister also does presentations that explore religious meanings in the popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.

A biography on the Dr. Seuss Enterprises' official Web site notes the following: ''Like most works of merit, the works of Dr. Seuss have been overanalyzed; many scholars have found devices where there are truly none to be found. For the most part, Ted enjoyed writing entertaining books that encouraged children to read.'' AP