[Bill Ferny]

I don’t recall ever seeing anything that says that all things are good.

“God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.” Gen 1:31.

I don’t think this is as off topic as it can be interpreted. There are plenty of threads dealing with Tolkien and religion, Tolkien and the bible, and Tolkien and Christianity. Christian optimism always existed in the Christian Church, but was developed to its fullest extent by the medieval scholastics. The notion that all things are created good and are part of an economy of salvation, a linear path of history, did much to usher in the scientific and technological age. Catholicism has always stubbornly held onto this notion, putting her at odds with the “sinners in the hands of an angry god” crowd. As a Catholic, Tolkien would have been thoroughly indoctrinated by the notion that God created all things good, and despite the fallen condition of man, man remains fundamentally good and on a path toward divination. Such optimism is the corner stone of Lord of the Rings… apparently insignificant people doing extraordinary things, characters finding within themselves the strength and courage to overcome incredible odds. Evil in Middle Earth is explained along the same lines, albeit in the negative sense: the fall of good creatures into evil (i.e. Melkor and Sauron) and corrupting a good creation by the misuse of sub-creative powers. The "Morgoth Element" is an unfortunate condition, but not the true nature of reality.

For all these negative influences, I’m sure I can come up with just as many 20th century people who have had a positive influence. It’s a circular argument, and depends on your worldview. On the practical level, optimism has certainly made me a more congenial person. At the same time, the world is what it is. Any attempts to apply an elixir that somehow purifies the world and makes it into a perfect utopia is a waste of time, be it education, social justice, or some rule of law. Not even Jesus Christ claimed to do that (not yet, at least). Once again, though, my optimism tells me we are part of a greater design and destined for greater things. All I can do is attempt to teach my children those simple things that will give them a chance to be good people and maybe change the world in a positive way.

Pessimists do have an important role to play, especially in identifying the ills that need to be righted. However, even pessimists attest to the optimistic view that all things are fundamentally good. If everything was basically base, rude, evil, and irreparably corrupted, why identifying the ills in the first place?

I would answer that a truly generous impulse is doing good because good is something that has value in and of itself.

I wholeheartedly agree. I often lament the loss of “generosity” as a social virtue in our modern world.