Well, I can see this is going around in circles. I know I'm not the first to say it, but we're debating what the question is, rather than possible answers. Well, you want to debate questions, let us debate questions.
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Originally Posted by Fordim
OK, here's one for you all to consider:
Is Eru God? Please note that the question isn't, "Is Eru the god of Middle-Earth?" (he pretty clearly is) but, is Eru the Elvish name for God (Jehovah)?
There's a lot hanging on this question: if you believe that Eru is God, then you are saying that the moral "rules" of M-E are Christian. If you believe that Eru is not God, then those "rules" are something else.
I did a search for threads on this topic but kept getting messages that the search terms I used (Eru, God, is eru god, what is eru) are "too common": so obviously there's a lot of material out there already. If you know of a thread post it here please so we can all review it.
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In this post, I see six possible questions.
- Is Eru God?
I'll answer this last.
- Is Eru the god of Middle-Earth?
Obviously yes.
- Is Eru the Elvish name for God?
Considering that Tolkien translated prayers into Elvish and used Eru for God points to the fact that Eru means God.
- Is Eru the Elvish name for God (Jehovah)?
This may look like the same question, but is entirely different. Eru might very well mean God in Elvish, but that doesn't point to it meaning God(Jehovah) exclusively. Iluvatar is truly God in M-E, and so will be called Eru.
Think about our own world today: Allah vs. Jehovah(I'm using Jehovah to avoid confusion.). Muslims call Allah God. Christians call Jehovah God. The names might be the same, so does that make them the same? I'd say no, because there are fundamental differences between them.
Likewise in Iluvatar vs. Jehovah. Iluvatar is Eru(which means God), in which case Jehovah could also be called Eru. But that does not make Iluvatar and Jehovah the same. It simply means that Tolkien translated God into Elvish rather than translating Jehovah.
- Do you believe that Eru is God and so Christian morals are in M-E.
This question is flawed in my opinion. (And I know it is not directly asked, but it was implied.) By what I said above, Eru(Iluvatar) does not mean God(Jehovah), but I still hold that Christian morals are in M-E. But that violates the nature of the question.
- Do you believe that Eru is not God and so Christian morals are not in M-E?
Pretty much the same as above.
Now. To answer the first question: "Is Eru God?". God translates to Eru, so in that sense, yes. But I do not believe that Jehovah would translate to Iluvatar? Absolutely Not!