Melkor; Evil by Will or Evil by Nature?

[Lord Gothmog]

Kalessin,

When you say that 'At no point is it stated or even intimated that "the ability to begin the evil came from Eru". ' This is true but it is also true that it is now stated or intimated where this ability comes from. therefore we have this interesting little thread where we all put forth our opinions based on how we read the work.

You could, I suppose, argue that this in effect means Good is more powerful, but it seems to me a leap of interpretation.

It is not a "Leap of Interpretation" but simply My interpretation. I may be right or wrong in how I view what I read, but the views I have expressed here are only mine.

I guess I am wary of attempting to place a comprehensive rationalisation (especially a somewhat modern one) over what is an unfinished mythos. To look for a neat and universal causal framework when the author himself acknowledges "contradiction" as a central theme. And the idea that "Christianity and many other religions share" a Godhead in which light and dark coexist is highly contentious - I would expect it to be challenged by those to whom faith is more central. As moral, or philosophical, paradigms, "Pride goeth before a fall" and 'the dominance of Yin thereby becoming Yang' are not at all related, and are rooted in explicitly different worldviews. I suppose I'm just hesitant to attempt to combine these, along with Tolkien's possible themes, or his concept of divinity, into a very modern and inclusive interpretation.

It seems that I was not as clear in my writing as I had thought. I never claimed that Christianity, or in deed any particular religion had a Godhead in which Light and dark co-exist. I was refering to the Truths striped of all religious conotations that Tolkien used as the basis of his charaterisatons. That of Goodness, Mercy and others. It is these that are shared to some extent by defferent religions, the godhead of each can be and will be different. Christianity claims a perfect God, I cannot dispute this as I have never met him, other religions have their own views on how their god is but many teach the same basic Truths.
I used the Pride quote as equal to the Yin Yang only in respect to the case of "The Greatest in their begining also Falling, as in both cases the being were called the Greatest of his people only to become the worst. It was not intended to claim that these statements were equivilent in any other cases. I am sorry if I gave the impression that I was trying to prove otherwise. This does not have a problem with the differing World views of east and west, it shows that in certain cases there is more similarity than is at first seen. I hope that I have cleared up any missconceptions from my privious post.

I know that you concider this to be a very modern view, however, as I am a somewhat modern person, this has to be as I have difficulty holding other views than my own. We are all the sum of our experiences and we bring this to our reading of Tolkien's work. The very fact that we can all find so much in such a few books shows the quality of the work and the lack of limitations placed on that work by the Author. We should all take a moment to concider that and give thanks that it is so.