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Originally Posted by duck  Quote:
Originally Posted by Abel Quote:
Originally Posted by duck And all of this means, what? The bible is just a book. Abel, you are an impressive scholar of this book, but I am also an impressive scholar of the works of JRR Tolkien. | That's great duck, but how does the writings of JRR Tolkien help you to have a better life? How does his writings release one from alcoholism? How does his writings help put a broken marriage back together? How do his writings change a person from a self-centered, prideful, arrogant man into a loving, caring, compassionate individual? Can his writings bring a peace of security in this topsy-turvy world? My Bible can!
The Bible is more than a book. It is God's love letter to me. It is alive and powerful. When the principles of God's Word are applied to one's life, incredible transformations take place.
BTW, JRR Tolkien was a devout Christian who was instrumental in the conversion of S.C.Lewis from atheism to Christianity. | The allegories are much the same.
What I'm saying is that Tolkien's writings have had a more profound impact on my life than the bible ever did. To me, it is just another book.
And, yes, Tolkien was a devout Catholic his entire life. Yes, he and C S Lewis were very close friends, and yes, he was instrumental in Lewis' becoming a very devout anglican in his later years. |
I thought you might find this article and quote from JRR Tolkien of interest since his writings have had such an impact on your life. Taken from site
www.kirjasto.sci.fi/tolkien. :
Although critics have seen in The Lord of the Rings allegoric allusions to World War II, Tolkien repeatedly rejected all this kind of explanations. "'The Lord of the Rings' is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision," Tolkien wrote in a letter in 1953 to Robert Murray, a Jesuit priest. "That is why I have not put in, or have cut out practically all references to anything like 'religion,' to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and symbolism." (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 1981)
Don't feel sorry for me either. In a world that is rapidly disintegrating, I am held safe in unchanging hands. It is right where I want to be.