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Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man
But I don't think that we can deny what Gandalf is saying here about the inevitability of the Ring ultimately prevailing (with mortals at least) given sufficient time.
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I suppose Tolkien would take the Christian position - we're all 'sinners' & cannot 'save' ourselves - so our failure is guaranteed - unless 'God' intervenes. But that still leaves the question of whether Evil could win out over us if we weren't so 'flawed'. If it could then we have a universe where evil is a power in its own right, potentially strong enough to defeat good in a straight battle (=Manichaeanism). If evil can only defeat us because of our 'fallen' nature, then its our fallen nature itself which brings about our defeat (=Boethianism).
(yes, I know I'm opversimplifying the philosophical complexities there!)