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Old 06-08-2018, 04:57 PM   #23
Legate of Amon Lanc
A Voice That Gainsayeth
 
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Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.Legate of Amon Lanc is spying on the Black Gate.
I think there's one thing that should be pointed out. I think all the other references to Tolkien's belief in the Gospels, or his generic Christian faith, do in no way contribute as arguments for or against his belief in regards to creation.

Like it's been brought up several times above, professing Christian faith, or even less, believing in some sort of divine providence (or writing about world governed by Valar or Eru's will etc), does not need to have anything to do with understanding the creation of our world. Like I have said above: one can be a Christian or believe in God creating the world, but at the same time not believe in literal interpretation of Genesis. The Genesis is, first and foremost, a statement: it is a proclamation of faith, saying that creation was not an accident, it has a purpose, etc etc. The details of how exactly it happened - biologically, physically - are not its chief concern (if it had been, it would have spent more time elaborating on it - instead, every verse rather just repeats and underlines the fact that it was God's word that is, according to this account, the source of everything).

The same, what Tolkien said about Gospels, if he believed them to be true, says nothing about taking the rest of the biblical writings literally.

I am just saying all this evidence is not really relevant, as it cannot be used as an argument for or against anything. It only says that Tolkien was a Christian, but we already know that. What is relevant for the question of his view of creation and evolution is the evidence that directly refers Genesis, evolutionary theories, pterodactyls, etc.
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"Should the story say 'he ate bread,' the dramatic producer can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own." -On Fairy-Stories
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