Escape into Reality: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TOLKIEN

THE RETURN OF THE KING, the final installment of the LORD OF THE RINGS movie trilogy, opens today, and like its predecessors, it shows every sign of becoming a record-breaking success. The worldwide popularity of these movies, like the continuing popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien's original masterpiece, reminds us once again of the captivating power of a well-told story. And the response to this particular story is especially encouraging. It shows us that even in a world steeped in moral relativism people still hunger for tales of the absolutes: the triumph of good over evil.

Of course, when some people look at Tolkien's tale of wizards, hobbits, and elves, they believe that fans of his work are merely science fiction fans fleeing from reality. And that may be the case for some. But in his new book, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TOLKIEN, Ralph Wood argues that the LORD OF THE RINGS helps us to "escape into reality."

Wood points out that, far from being a shiny, happy escape fantasy, the LORD OF THE RINGS deals effectively and movingly with subjects like death, war, hopelessness, tyranny, temptation, and the sinfulness of human nature. In short, it clearly reflects the turbulent twentieth century that Tolkien experienced, a time not very different from our own. As Wood writes, "Far from encouraging us to turn away from such evils, Tolkien's book forces us to confront them. Rather than grinding our faces in these horrors, however, it suggests a cure for the ills of our age."

That's because Tolkien's work, though not explicitly Christian, is grounded in his Christian understanding of the world. Unlike the pagan epics from which Tolkien drew in writing his book -- or the modernist novels of many of his contemporaries -- the LORD OF THE RINGS conveys a profound sense of hope. For although the story shows evil as horrifyingly real and destructive, it also shows the power and strength of goodness. The heroic actions of small, ordinary creatures against an overwhelming threat echo the biblical themes of God's strength being made perfect in weakness and the last becoming first. As Tolkien wrote elsewhere, a crucial theme in his work is "the ennoblement (or sanctification) of the humble." At the same time, as characters struggle against their own personal temptations, they show the weakness and fallibility of the human heart and our need for guidance and grace.

As C. S. Lewis wrote in his review of the LORD OF THE RINGS, "As we read we find ourselves sharing [the characters'] burden; when we have finished, we return to our own life not relaxed but fortified." Lewis and Tolkien knew, and Ralph Wood reminds us in his book, that there is a kind of escapism that Christians ought to encourage -- that is, the escape from a narrow, earthbound view of our own circumstances. This kind of escapism helps us to look at the bigger picture and understand the eternal moral truths governing our lives.

So why not take a skeptical friend to the movie? Engage the issues afterwards over coffee. Tolkien's books, and now the movies, are giving people a whole new perspective on reality -- a perspective that prepares them for a better understanding of the God who is ultimate reality.

I'm not sure I understand

Adam and Eve's existence prior to The Fall was fundamentally different than ours today. They lived in a state called "natural happiness." Their human natures were perfectly ordered. They could not die. Their emotions were perfectly aligned with their intellects, unlike today, where as a result of the fall, our natures are damaged. Our emotions are frequently at war against our intellects.

Since they couldn't die, theoretically, they would have lived happily on earth forever. But mankind would not have had the possibility of entering Heaven and experiencing eternal bliss or supernatural happiness, a state of happiness immeasurably (infinitely?) greater than a state of natural happiness. But because death entered the world through Adam's sin, God, out of his infinite mercy and love for us, sent us a Redeemer whose death on a cross would open the gates of Heaven and make eternal, heavenly bliss possible for mankind.

Adam and Eve's original intended life was a closed loop, lacking the unique insights we gain through struggle, mortality and change. They would have been no more relevent than a painting or sculpture in the grand scheme without the challenges forced upon them by the fall. Caught like everyone in it, I can't imagine an existance of perpetual sameness and complacency devoid of the never-ceasing lessons of our reality's oft cruel yet instructional experiences. Those along with the occasional high spots of blissful happiness, the varied-ness, of mortal life make me suspect that an eternity of sameness, no matter how "holy", may be a hell in itself after living life as we do. Perhaps the idea that we blend together after death to become part of a larger whole compensates (as several religions suggest). I could accept that if I retained access to all that I was. I certainly wouldn't want to be forced to share the psyches of the Bundys, Dahmers and Hitlers of the world (though they would inversely be improved by forced proximity with purer souls). Who truly knows? As I said above, Tolkein was telling us to do what we can while we can for good and to never lose hope. If one dies in finality with no afterlife then you will have done your best to improve the conditions of those who continue. My intellect tells me that Christ is a fable but my heart clings to him regardless. He represents hope and the best part of us all without prejudice or judgement, love for its own sake. You won't find that in a madras or mosque.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Those along with the occasional high spots of blissful happiness, the varied-ness, of mortal life make me suspect that an eternity of sameness, no matter how "holy", may be a hell in itself after living life as we do.

Jesus tells us that eye has not seen and ear has not heard what awaits us in heaven. When it comes down to it, I trust Jesus' teaching more than my own speculations regarding eternity. After all, He is God. He should know.

Regardless, there is also Augustine's intuitive argument regarding the "God-shaped hole in our hearts." We yearn for absolute happiness in this world, yet we never attain it. God provides an object for all of our natural desires in this world. Isn't it a bit of a contradiction to suppose that there is nothing to satisfy the universal human longing for absolute happiness, either in this world or the next?

I understand it, but cannot accept it because it makes the creator appear foolish and wishy-washy. Does God change his plans?

No. God by definition is immovable. He cannot change His plans. However, it may appear to us that this is the case.

God gave us free will, which means that we are free to disobey Him. But if we can disobey Him, is He all powerful? Yes. This is logically possible if He can use our disobedience to accomplish His ends (i.e., the salvation of those so worthy). He can do this because He knows everything that will ever happen.

There's an expression that I think is apt. "God paints straight with crooked lines." This might help:

Providence in general, or foresight, is a function of the virtue of prudence, and may be defined as the practical reason, adapting means to an end. As applied to God, Providence is God Himself considered in that act by which in His wisdom He so orders all events within the universe that the end for which it was created may be realized. That end is that all creatures should manifest the glory of God, and in particular that man should glorify Him, recognizing in nature the work of His hand, serving Him in obedience and love, and thereby attaining to the full development of his nature and to eternal happiness in God...God preserves the universe in being; He acts in and with every creature in each and all its activities. In spite of sin, which is due to the wilful perversion of human liberty, acting with the concurrence, but contrary to the purpose and intention of God and in spite of evil which is the consequence of sin, He directs all, even evil and sin itself, to the final end for which the universe was created.
Providence
Catholic Encyclopedia

The following question arises. How can God allow evil to occur in order to accomplish His ends? First, God created beings capable of love, and in order to love one must be free to choose to do good rather than evil. Secondly, for God, unlike human beings, the ends can justify the means. In this world, everything is a means. There is no reachable, ultimate, earthly end for human beings. The proper object of human life is eternal life with God. But since we cannot possibly know how our actions will affect the salvation of all other people in toto, we cannot order our actions to this end. All we can do is to order our proximate actions to the good.

But God can know how our actions will affect the salvation of all other people. So He can allow evil to occur in order that greater good may come, that more people will ultimately be saved. This then doesn't violate the essential goodness of God's will since he doesn't directly will evil, only allowing it so that greater good may come.

This also touches on the difficult issue of Predestination

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