[Sam Cree]

I really enjoyed this well written article, thanks for posting it. I'm not too convinced that hobbits are Calvinists, though. Aren't Calvinists protestants?

[Biblical Calvinist]

Sam, yes, all Calvinists are Protestant, however..I'm sure that Dr. Duncan was refering to the possibility that Tolkien was espousing an AUGUSTINIAN world view..

While Augustine is generally considered to be one of the chief architects of Western Civilization..he is also embraced by the Protestant Reformers as well as the Catholics as one of the greatest Theologians of the Church. (for instance, Luther was an Augustinian Monk.)

Dr. Duncan was probably refering to the fact that Calvinists are Predestinarian; as Augustine was also Predestinarian in his theology. (The Protestant Reformation was essentially an Augustinian Revival.)

And, since the World of Middle Earth appears to depend; at least on a very subtle level on a Providential Diety...I think that this is possibly why Dr. Duncan's brother's friend made the "tongue in cheek" statement that Hobbits are Calvinists.

[JenB]

Most of us are: however Augustine and several other early church fathers had definitely Calvinist tendencies, and I do know some Calvinists who still attend Catholic churches...

And yeah, there's a lot of stuff in LotR that makes sense from a Calvinist viewpoint... but I doubt Tolkien put them in that way!