June 19, 2002

Re: Christianity and LotR
Beans

Matt and Richard, I have a few things to say in reply of your essays on Christianity and the LotR.

First, Matt, I think you have stated the truth and have obviously done your research. I agree with everything you said about the themes in LotR and other of Tolkien works. I saw a lot of it too, and though Tolkien said he never meant to put symbolism in his books, it's obvious to see that his books reflect his religion and life.

There was one paragraph, though, that I disagree with slightly.
This is a Christian theme. A serious scholar of Christianity (of which there remains few) knows that power corrupts. Power over an individual is bad. Freedom is good. That is the whole moral theme of the Lord of the Rings.
I don't believe that corruption of power is necessarily a Christian theme. Nor that you have to be a serious scholar of Christianity to know that power corrupts. Nor do I believe that you have to have a Christian faith, or any faith at all to realize that power corrupts. Take, for example, this quote by Lord Acton in 1887. "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton states partly because of the events of the 17th century (English and French Revolutions, if you don't know). Every absolute monarch went corrupt and many people noticed that giving absolute power to anyone was a bad idea. Many people fought against it, causing revolutions and overthrowing the government. See my point? Many people today still realize this, and I do believe that they are not all scholarly Christians.

Richard, I agree with you that Lord of the Rings is not nessicariliy a Christian book. It is fantasy in all it ways. Even if was written by a Christian, who ever said that the books were Christian? They were never meant to convert anyone, or to preach to them. And like most fiction books, they are meant as purely enjoyment by the reader. It's meant to be an escape, not an allegory of life or anything. It's just an Escapism book. And a good one.

But there are similarities between Tolkiens work and the Bible. Maybe not so much in LotR, but after reading the first 70 pgs. of the Silmarillion, you have to begin to notice the distinct similarities between the two. As I've said before, this is not because he wanted them there, it's because when one rights, their life, religion and beliefs are reflected in it.

Now that I think about it, the Bible is a well written book. Being brought up Christian has it's disadvantages. Most Christians don't look at the Bible not as a well written story, but a book or laws, which it isn't. But I won't get on to that. (Believe me, I could go on for a while if I wanted.)

One last thing. Richard, if you went to a Catholic school, what was it that turned you Atheist?

~Beans. (a Christian Canadian who hates the injustice of her school and it's system, despite the fact that it's a Christian school, and if she had a choice, she would be either reading, writing or discussing Tolkien like she's doing now.)