October 2, 2002

Not Peace, But a Sword
Brett C.

So far I have tried to scrupulously avoid any entrance to the discussions about Christianity, as much as possible. Having said that, Laurie, you must understand that Christian Hobbit is expressing his belief in a way consistent with the teachings of Christ, in as much as he [Jesus]states quite categorically that "I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except by me." There really is little room for compromise in this statement. On the other hand, Christian Hobbit, I think if you check out some of the works of C.S. Lewis, especially 'The Last Battle', you will find an interesting spin on this point where the character Aslan, Lewis' allegorical Christ figure in the Narnia stories, states to the follower of a different faith who finds his way to Aslan's realm that "if it was not me you were searching for, you would not have searched so long and so faithfully." And later, he adds that no good service or kindness can be done that does not find its root in him [Aslan].

And just to tie this back to the major point of this forum, I think the difference between LOTR and allegroy can be seen by anyone who really compares it to the Narnia books, which are allegory at its finest.