I'm slogging through page 4 right now, but I want to answer Estel the Descender's March 15 post since he brought up something I've been thinking about anyway (because of this discussion). And of course it would be handy to keep this thread within the 5 day parameter. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
The Bible as a snapshot of God as compared to Tolkien's writings being a snapshot of Middle Earth. I can imagine this has been tackled already, but I must say this: the Bible is a conglomeration of many different types of literature featuring one particular culture's beliefs about itself.
The Pentateuch (Genesis - Deuteronomy) is known as a suzerain treaty, typical of the era when it was written. It is a document of law agreed upon between a ruler and his subjects, including 1. identification of the ruler and his lineage and right to rule, 2. the history of the people and ruler that have brought them to this historic point, 3. the laws binding both parties, 4. blessings and curses in terms of the laws, 5. an oath sworn by both ruler and people to be bound by the treaty.
Thus, the first five books of the bible, for example, have a human context. They did not drop out of the sky via Moses' featherpen.
The same goes for all the other sections that make up what we call the Bible.
Therefore, the comparison between Tolkien's work and the Bible should be: the Bible is snapshots of Hebrew beliefs about themselves and their god while Tolkien's writings are snapshots of Middle Earth. I'm not even sure 'snapshot' is an adequate word. More on this later.
[ May 14, 2002: Message edited by: littlemanpoet ]
|