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Bombadil · 02-15-2002, 10:25 AM

Actually, Androndo, the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac was called Moriah, not Moria. (Both my KJV and NIV Bibles confirm this.) Tiny little ticky detail, but the pronunciation is what's completely different -- second syllable stressed in the Middle Eastern locale, first syllable stressed in the Dwarven hall. And, Abraham renamed the place after his experience with God -- called it Jehovahjireh or some such. Not much parallel to Khazad-dum in that.

I hope my posts don't make me sound like a party-pooper. I'm not anti-Christian at all -- in fact, I've been a Christian for 23 of my 38 years on this planet. I just don't feel the need to stretch the bounds of logic to find parallels to the Bible in a fine piece of secular literature. God is God and that's good enough for me. As I've said before, by using such criteria as I've seen here, I could find Biblical parallels in everything from Star Trek to Gone With The Wind. I could even find parallels that would, um, "prove," that Tolkien was influenced by Margaret Mitchell. That doesn't make it true.

It's like that fellow a few years back who wrote a best-seller on how there was some sort of code hidden in the text of the Bible that predicted every event in history. Some university mathematicians said that was because, in any book the size of the Bible, statistics dictated that such phrases would pop out everywhere. They proved it by doing PRECISELY the same thing with Melville's Moby **** . Such comparisons neither devalue the Bible nor show parallels between it and Melville's work. But they do show that someone has gotten a bit overzealous with his desire to prove the value of the Bible. The Bible has value, period; I don't need some bogus mathematical hijinx to make me consider it more valuable. The same can be said about Lord of the Rings. And, pardon the broken record, but I'm not criticizing those who say they find personal religious fulfillment in LOTR. More power to ya! What I criticize is the belief that Tolkien intentionally inserted some sort of Biblical religious message in LOTR that should be obvious to all.

Okay, I digressed! But it felt good.

02-15-2002, 10:25 AM	#82
Bombadil Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Old Forest Posts: 488	Actually, Androndo, the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac was called Moriah, not Moria. (Both my KJV and NIV Bibles confirm this.) Tiny little ticky detail, but the pronunciation is what's completely different -- second syllable stressed in the Middle Eastern locale, first syllable stressed in the Dwarven hall. And, Abraham renamed the place after his experience with God -- called it Jehovahjireh or some such. Not much parallel to Khazad-dum in that. I hope my posts don't make me sound like a party-pooper. I'm not anti-Christian at all -- in fact, I've been a Christian for 23 of my 38 years on this planet. I just don't feel the need to stretch the bounds of logic to find parallels to the Bible in a fine piece of secular literature. God is God and that's good enough for me. As I've said before, by using such criteria as I've seen here, I could find Biblical parallels in everything from Star Trek to Gone With The Wind. I could even find parallels that would, um, "prove," that Tolkien was influenced by Margaret Mitchell. That doesn't make it true. It's like that fellow a few years back who wrote a best-seller on how there was some sort of code hidden in the text of the Bible that predicted every event in history. Some university mathematicians said that was because, in any book the size of the Bible, statistics dictated that such phrases would pop out everywhere. They proved it by doing PRECISELY the same thing with Melville's Moby **** . Such comparisons neither devalue the Bible nor show parallels between it and Melville's work. But they do show that someone has gotten a bit overzealous with his desire to prove the value of the Bible. The Bible has value, period; I don't need some bogus mathematical hijinx to make me consider it more valuable. The same can be said about Lord of the Rings. And, pardon the broken record, but I'm not criticizing those who say they find personal religious fulfillment in LOTR. More power to ya! What I criticize is the belief that Tolkien intentionally inserted some sort of Biblical religious message in LOTR that should be obvious to all. Okay, I digressed! But it felt good. __________________ "'Eldest, that's what I am... Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn... He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.'"