Is Eru God?

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Roa_Aoife

He would have no need for humans either. As to why both were created, I have no idea. Why should Eru bother creating anything at all? Why create the Music? Why should God create humans who would only turn away from Him time and again? That's deep theology, and not a question anyone could really answer here with out getting waaaaaay off topic.

Actually, I must strongly disagree with this one particularity, although, Roa Aoife, you and I line up pretty much on everything else. There is a reason trumpeted loudly throughout the Bible why God created it all. He wanted creatures to love and to be loved by. Everything, absolutely everything originates and hinges on this most central aspect of who God is, according to the Hebrew and Christian traditions. This is NOT way off topic because precisely the same motivation is to found in Eru. Why else does anyone create anything? For the sheer love (and joy) of seeing the thing do what it was meant to do, which in the case of God/Eru, was delight in all that is/was/shall be.

Originally Posted by alatar

But my point was that in Arda, Manwe is King.

I think it would be more appropriate to say that Manwe is Viceroy in Arda, and Elbereth/Varda Viceroyess (if there's such a word).