Glimpses of Truth in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

CBN News ^ | December 20, 2002 | Charles Colson

[NYer]

The good news is that the connection between Tolkien's faith and Lord of the Rings wasn't lost on director Peter Jackson and his co-writerPhilippa Boyens.

CBN.com – Today, millions of people will go to see The Two Towers, the second installment in the trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. If they pay close attention, they'll see more than an epic adventure. They'll also get a glimpse of Christian truth.

It's well known that Tolkien rejected allegorical interpretations of Lord of the Rings-the notion, for example, that the ring represented the atom bomb. But Tolkien's Christian faith was a different matter. And it's no surprise that his faith found its way into the story.

Tolkien wrote to a friend that Lord of the Rings is a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision." When, in both the book and the film, Gandalf calls himself a "servant of the Secret Fire," that fire, Tolkien told a friend, is the Holy Spirit.

The good news is that the connection between Tolkien's faith and Lord of the Rings wasn't lost on director Peter Jackson and his co-writerPhilippa Boyens. They told columnist Terry Mattingly that while they didn't set out to make a religious film, they understood the role that Tolkien's beliefs played in his life and work.

And knowing what he believed, they decided to honor the things "that were important to Tolkien." Thus, they said, "some of the messages and some of the themes" in the films "are based on his beliefs." Principal among these beliefs is the Christian idea that, as Solzhenitsyn once put it, "the line between good and evil runs through every human heart," and it oscillates back and forth.

The cinematic version of Lord of the Rings is more than a story about good versus evil. It's a story that, as Mattingly puts it, offers modern audiences "another chance to understand the timeless roots of sin." Characters wrestle with the evil within them. Even when they seek to do good they must guard against the possibility of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way.

Director Peter Jackson told Mattingly that "Tolkien's themes really resonate today." That's right, and they're going to keep on resonating. As he put it, "I don't think humans are capable of actually pulling themselves out of these basic ruts."

Exactly-that's why two thousand years ago the Son of God, whom Tolkien worshipped, became one of us. He knew that only by living and dying as one of us could the problem of human evil, the "rut" Jackson spoke of, be overcome.

In some ways, Lord of the Rings, both the film and the book, is what the Church fathers called preparatio evangelica, preparation for the Gospel. It's a story where the characters, while not possessing the fullness of Christian revelation, can nonetheless glimpse this truth. Understanding their world and their thoughts prepares us to understand the fullness of Christian revelation.

So, three cheers to Boyens and Jackson for honoring what was important to Tolkien.

Go ahead and invite a friend to the movies and then out for coffee and conversation. Let's be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the interest in Tolkien's world, a world that helps us-and our neighbors-better understand why the Word became flesh.

[Karsus]

I just have to wonder about some one who tries to equate LotR to Islam. Perhaps he just picked the number out of thin air, it has been know to happen.

[per loin]

Out of thin air? He was a scholar of Anglo-Saxon, steeped in the language of myth, in the great culture of the north, and in European history. He was aware of the long struggle against the dark forces, and aghast at Germany's treason against the north in its acceptance of Hitler, a perversion of that great northern culture of individualism.

[Karsus]

I am aware of all that. But that does not mean that his use of the number 19 means anything...

[newcats]

We try and stay away from hollywierd at all costs
Are you so niave to think that renting a movie doesn't send money to "hollywierd"?

[newcats]

We try and stay away from hollywierd at all costs
Are you so niave to think that renting a movie doesn't send money to "hollywierd"?

[MoGalahad]

Ah, I now see your point but it was not clear from your previous post. Thanks for clarifying.

[My2Cents]

ones life is a constant battle and we must see through the fog and select the right direction or face pains and suffering of an unbearable nature.

Well put. Especially in the world today, this needs to be understood.

[My2Cents]

One of the legends about Mohammad is that he never cast a shadow.

Wouldn't that make ol' Mohammad a blood-sucking vampire?

[My2Cents]

Thank you so much for the link to the 9-11 tribute art!

[Porterville]

I thought the Ring represented the most degenrate porn in South Park, and that it would turn all who saw it into the lowsome creature Butters.

[Porterville]

No, the Ring represents five midget porn in South Park.

[per loin]

I believe that our most eminent modern authority on vampires, Buffy, has dispelled that myth about shadowless vampires. Please keep up with the scholarship.

[Porterville]

Makes him a figment.

[My2Cents]

Thanks for the tip. I'd like to spend some time studying under Buffy, if you know what I mean....

[per loin]

Mandatory photo of the teacher:

[VOA]

I just have to wonder about some one who tries to equate LotR to Islam. Perhaps he just
picked the number out of thin air, it has been know to happen.

Doesn't matter if Tolkien even had Islam in mind when he wrote his book.

It just happens that this tale of goodness needing to get mean enough to repel
evil couldn't have come to the screen at a more propitious time.

You'd think Peter Jackson had been drafted like Frank Capra was to do the
"Why We Fight" series early during WWII.

Of course, if Jackson had made a film epic about the Turks being repelled
from the gates of Vienna on September 11, 1683, he'd now be reviled as the biggest
bigot of all time by the film community.
Well, maybe just about 99 and forty-four-one-hundredths percent of them.

[per loin]

You'd think Peter Jackson had been drafted like Frank Capra was to do the "Why We Fight" series early during WWII.

Perhaps, in the war against evil, draft notices come from a higher authority.

[VOA]

Perhaps, in the war against evil, draft notices come from a higher authority.

Well, before some Frank Capra authority jumps on me...
I don't know if Capra got into the service by draft or by volunteering.

But what I do remember is that he was given the task to make films that might
explain to a generally isolationist/pacifist US population about why they
should be concerned about what was happening across the seas.

I've only seen short clips of the films. The ones that poked fun at Mussolini
by running new footage were pretty funny (and good at deflating a dictator who's
only good quality was making the trains run on time).

[My2Cents]

Perhaps, in the war against evil, draft notices come from a higher authority.

Amen!

[My2Cents]

He also drained the swamps, did he not? A truly efficient bureaucrat.