Posted by Goodgulf on January 05, 19100 at 09:20:42
In Reply to: Re: Nature of Evil posted by DAVID on January 05, 19100 at 00:40:00:
: Good points. I agree w/ you when you say that it's wrong to directly compare Tolkien's works w/ pure Christianity. I still believe that Christianity had a foundational impact on Tolkien and his writings but, again you're right, it's wrong to draw too close a parallel between the two. : I may have misunderstood you but evil and it's connection w/ God is best represented by the example of a fruit tree. The tree produces a specific fruit. This fruit may fall to the ground and become rotten. The tree did not produce rotten fruit, it got that way on it's own. But, nevertheless, this same rotten fruit can decompose to a point that the seeds w/in it find their way to the ground and thus germinate and spread the seed of the tree that spawned it. Even when this rotten fruit ultimately furthers the best interest of the tree, the tree can never be held responsible for producing the "rotten fruit". But, in the end, even the "rotten" fruit serves the ultimate purposes of the tree.
I agree with your fruit tree analogy. And yet, why would God feel the need to destroy man in a flood if we were all fulfilling our ultimate purpose? It says that God "repented" of having made man. At this point Tolkien's theology and the theology of the Bible seem to be miles apart, though Middle-Earth (in fairness) exists in pre-flood time. Of course this is exactly the difference that many people point out betweeen the view of God in the Old Testament and the God of Love in the New Testament. I personally find the differences to be superficial, and certainly David when writing the Psalms saw God as a savior and friend, not a God of wrath - at least not toward those who obeyed Him. This could lead into a long discussion about the Nature of God which may be inappropriate in this forum, though I find it fascinating. But I think we find more New Testament than Old Testament in Tolkien's view of redemption in Middle-Earth, or at least he can "look back" with a Christian perspective as did the writer of Beowulf.
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