aikido7

Hank ("the Bible Answer Man") Hanegraaff of the Christian Research Institute is touting a new book--probably already available in Christian bookstores--called "Finding God in the Lord of the Rings," written by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware.

What I found noteworthy in this fact goes a little beyond the superficial "secular humanist" dismissive gloss given by many believers to aspects of modern culture. Maybe Christians are warming up to Tolkein's masterpiece because it is so damned vivid, alive and well-written. Just like the Bible is not.

The blurb for the book says "(Like) Tolkein's hobbits, we Christians are also on an epic quest." And the blurb blurbs further:

"Truth and fiction are not as far apart as they seem."

This could almost be called "almost pushing" the envelope for evangelical fundamentalists--although I doubt even the authors would ever admit to looking outside their own mailbox (to continue the metaphor!). It does show a half-willingness to explore another venue of rich fantasy besides the Bible and to draw comparisons between them.

The book also reportedly uses "modern parables" to guide readers in exploring topics like courage, friendship and wisdom.

In truth, I have not read the book. But I tend to think their idea of parable might be more accurately called allegory: it would be too much to expect most Christians to devise a real, earth-shattering parable of the kind their idol would have performed.

For me, this new book was cause for a little surprise and a little hope.

<a href="http://equip.org/special/" target="_blank">Christian Research Institue link</a>

Godless Dave

Tolkien was a Catholic, and there are without doubt theological ideas and Christian themes in "Lord of the Rings", and much more in "The Silmarillion". But Tolien was by no means a fundamentalist, and definitely not a young-earth creationist. There's a line in "The Silmarillion" to the effect of the history of men and elves seems like a long time, but there were many ages of the world before they even showed up. The moral and theological concepts in his books, while inspired by his Christian beliefs, are not exclusively Christian. And I suspect they are too complex for the CRI people.

[ March 07, 2002: Message edited by: Godless Dave ]</p>

bubby

I have come across the claim that "The Lord of the Rings" is loaded with Christian allegories and values before, but never seen any of these mentioned.

Maybe one is that Gandalf "dies" and later is resurrected? Hardly surprising since it turns out he is a maia.

Sauron as the devil? People know what breaks Saurons influence and banishes him forever.

Aragorn as the Messiah? Well, he claims his throne and unites Gondor and Rohan...

The orcs as Evil Atheists?

Anyway, it's a long time since I last read the trilogy and "The Silmarillion", but I remember finding the Silmarillion pantheon and heroes very appealing.

I think that the Middle-Earth is a world that is pretty much without religion, temples and such, since it is a well known fact that the gods do exist and they require no special attention.

Instead Tolkiens books are loaded with atheistic values:
People (and other races) taking matters into their own hands instead of waiting for the gods to intervene...

[ March 07, 2002: Message edited by: bubby ]</p>

Godless Dave

Bubby, if you've read the Foreword to the Lord of the Rings, you'll know that Tolkien hated allegory. I think the Christian themes are more abstract than simple allegory. Frodo saves the world by sacrificing himself. The experience of being a ringbearer changes him so much that he can no longer exist in Middle-Earth, and passes on the the Undying Lands of Valinor. Also, the notion that little hands will change the world while the powerful are screwing around could be seen as a Christian theme.

I believe Tolkien was telling a story, not an allegory or a parable. That's why it's so powerful, and has such great appeal, even to non-Christians like myself.

Contrast that with his buddy C.S. Lewis, whose Narnia chronicles and other fantasy stories were overtly allegorical. I found some of his novels preachy, and others didn't make sense to me because I didn't know the concepts he was allegoricizing.

Be warned, I've read LoTR about a million times, and can discuss it endlessly.