I would also like to thank you Estel!!! I believe that you have vocalized what a good amount of the rest of us were trying to get across but did not exercise the eloquence that you displayed! In no way do Christians feel superior to any other readers in their enjoyment of LOTR. It's just that one might say that we have a strong appreciation and admiration of Tolkien's faith and the fact that it was very important in his life. Again, though he had no motive other than writing a story, his love of God and following of Him, one might say, subconciously "infiltrated" many of the priniciples of his story, whether it be dealing with temptation, the overcoming of self, or the realization (as Gandalf put it) that are other forces at work than just the powers of evil, some of which may surprise us. I would like to publicly apologize to everyone if it seemed as if I was on a high horse in any of my statements. Estel beautifully stated the bulk of what I was trying to get across in a way far beyond my own eloquential skill. Also, obviously not EVERY Christian is going to have some profound, deep experience when reading LOTR; they have to have a "passion" for that kind of reading and story in the first place. Whether or not you guys realize it, I have met people that are even uncomfortable with The Chronicles of Narnia! These were INTENDED to be an allegory. In other words, even for a Christian to be truly blessed in reading LOTR and other works, he himself must have an open mind to how God can work through the lives of people that put their faith in Him (such as Tolkien did). Again, most Christians agree that of course Tolkien didn't want an allegory; he said it himself! And that's not what we're trying to turn it into at all. But we are trying to maybe show that some of the principles in the books very well may have been connected with his fervent faith in Christ(overcoming temptation, overcoming self, having faith in what we cannot understand or see, etc.) We're not saying "Tolkien did this and Tolkien did that." We're just trying to point out that he was a man of great faith in Christ, and that this aspect of his life probably greatly contributed to some of the foundational PRINCIPLES of LOTR, not saying that his characters represent this or that, because he didn't want that. Sometimes it's "fun" to see possible character parallels, but we know that of course that not what they really are. However, again, the principles that are foundational in the tales were like those of the principles of his faith in Christ. Tolkien said that everything, in one way or another, has elements of truth in it. The principles in the books are things that we as real people deal with, and recognized that the principles came from Scripture. As Estel quoted earlier, he said also that the Gospels were the GREATEST culmination of fairy stories in that legend and history were combined in Christ. The supernatural wonders that are in many works of fantasy were placed with reality in our world in Christ himself and in his mission to save mankind. Again, I apologize if I appeared pig-headed in any of my previous statements. In pointing out the significance of the principles in LOTR in relation to Tolkien's faith, I was really only hoping that people might see the bookds possibly from a differnt angle in that the books' principles refelcted Tolkien's faith. I was only trying to benefit people, rather than cause further division, and I apologize publicly if it appeared that I was doing so.
I pray that this discussion will have possibly met some type of stalemate or ending point. May God bless you for it! And also, may everyone of you continue to benefit in various ways, big and small from Tolkien's writings! I only hope that our looking at his faith in Christ will perhaps develop a deeper respect in you for him as a person, or maybe even allow you to enjoy the books in a new way; and if not, thank you all for contributing your thought and ideas on the matter. I pray that we all remain "friends" in a sense because we all greatly admire and respect this man and the milestone that he's created for us to benefit from. Estel, thank you again for "shedding some light" on this issue. You display a great skill of eloquence and and peacemaking! May God bless you for it!!! God bless you all, Man of Westernesse
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