August 18, 2002

A Namby-pamby, Pacifist Jesus?
Everett V.

Annatar, your assertion that "Jesus preached a non-violence (sic) solution to all situations" belies a certain ignorance of Scripture. For instance, John 2: 13-16 reads "Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, 'Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace.'"

Matthew 10: 34 reads "Do not think I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword."

Certainly Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but the peace he offers is not the peace of an uneasy compromise with an evil, insidious foe. It is a lasting peace that results from the vanquishing of this foe, namely Satan, by surrendering our lives to Him and to His service, entering into the Spiritual war that rages constantly around us.

To this end, He has sent us His Holy Spirit to strengthen us and to make us aware of the turmoil around us, to prompt us and guide us in the course we are to take.

This is role Gandalf plays in LOTR. He is the mover of events, prompting people to attempt great things for the sake of Middle Earth, giving the weak strength, and informing people of the dangers surrounding them.

So, Annatar, you are right to say that Gandalf is not primarily a Christ-figure, but your reasoning is based upon a false, though far too popular impression, of Jesus.

Finally, a point on allegory, applicability and Christianity. The purpose of an allegory is to use a story to highlight a truth or perceived truth; whereas a story with applicability uses truth as a foundation for the story. Tolkien was an extremely devout Catholic, and while LOTR is not a Christian allegory, Christian characters and Christian truths are the foundation for the stroy. It is therefore legitimate to examine the story and attempt to determine the aspects of Christianity present within the story, not in order to glean any sort of message from the story, but to discover the foundations of the story and, if we so choose, apply them to our own lives.