Tolkien and Christianity

[Child of the 7th Age]

I am wrestling with several questions and would appreciate insights from others in helping to think this through.

Everyone knows Tolkien was a devout Catholic, and was heavily influenced by Christian ideas and beliefs. Tolkien's concept of good and evil; the figures of Morgoth and Sauron; themes like Creation, free will, the operation of grace; and the necessity of sacrifice--all these can be traced back to Christian roots. According to sympathetic critics like Patrick Curry and Joseph Pearce, Tolkien can not be appreciated without understanding the spiritual values and religious sensibilities that underly his works.

Where does all this leave those of us who may hold deep religious beliefs, but who are not Catholics and/or Christians? Or what about those readers for whom formal religious beliefs of any type are of less importance?

Is it possible to understand Tolkien's writings in an emotional sense without participating in his own particular set of assumptions about history, redemption, and providence?

Finally, do some well-meaning readers go "too far" in drawing Christian/religous analogies so that the diversity of Tolkien's world is lost in the desire to look for an overarching framework or point of view?


With questions like these, I think it's only fair I tell you a little about myself. We are an observent Jewish family. Not surprisingly, I have found that some themes labelled "Christian" in Tolkien actually have roots in the Jewish tradition. I also have a gut feeling that, when talking about issues like guilt or redemption or evil, my own emotional responses may sometimes be different than others who were born in the tradition which Tolkien himself espoused.

Please answer this thread gently as I do not wish to incite people throwing bricks at each other. (After all, I'm a hobbit!) But I am genuinely grappling with this. sharon, the 7th age hobbit [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]