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Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil
It is only fiction. Yes, it is fiction, but surely it is more than only.
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I don't disagree with you as regards that statement. But I don't think that's what we're arguing over. Its about whether LotR is a specifically Christian work, whether the 'more than only' is a specifically Christian/Biblical 'more than only'. So far lots of people have argued that it is, but no-one has given actual examples of how. To say well it contains elements of myth & Tolkien considered the Christian story the purest myth therefore anything that contains mythic elements contains Christian elements is hardly evidence. To claim it has a spiritual aspect & that for Tolkien Christianity was the source of sprituality therefore it is a Christian work is hardly evidence either.
What, exactly, are these specifically Christian aspects of the story? Are they really there, or was Tolkien simply interpreting 'universal' symbols in his own work from a Christian perspective? Even when he attempts to create a Virgin Mary figure, as he does with Varda, the result could as easily be applied to Isis as Queen of Heaven (not surprising considering much Marian iconography was derived from Isis).
He claimed he made little up. Possibly he did not fully understand what he wrote & interpreted it according to his own lights. Many mystics had the same experience. Julian of Norwich experienced a series of visions during a near fatal illness & spent the next twenty years trying to understand them, &, more importantly, ensure that her interpretations were strictly orthodox...