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Topic: Tolkien's writing has religious ring (Read 634 times)
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Angel Wood
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Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« on: January 04, 2005, 12:51:53 am »
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Quote:AMHERST, Mass. — Millions of people around the world have been swept up in the excitement and intrigue of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings since its debut in the 1950s and subsequent movie release in the last three years. And while many immerse themselves in the story — perhaps even learning the language of Elvish and reenacting the fantasy as a pastime — few would say we actually inhabit Middle-earth.
Peter Kreeft, author of the upcoming book, The Philosophy of Tolkien, begs to differ.
Cultural phenomena like The Lord of the Rings offer insights into the centrality of imagination for understanding the world. In science — often misperceived as a field based entirely on data and observation — imagination plays an integral role. Even Albert Einstein noted, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” |
Read the entire article here...
http://www.stnews.org/rlr_tolkiens_0105.html
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Flummoxed.
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2005, 03:44:08 pm »
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I read this article this morning, and found it very interesting. I mean, sure, lots of us would like LotR to have been true at some point in history, like the Illiad, or stories of the Bible. But the truth of it is, Tolkien did make it all up, and there's no getting around that.
On the other hand, though, I often find myself looking at LotR as a mythology. I know it's silly, but it's so cool to think of these things really happening; of Middle-Earth actually existing.
It doesn't, of course. But, as the writer of this article states, the morals and characters in Tolkien's story are believeable; they're real, just like we are, which makes us want to believe in the real-ness of the story and place, as well.
There's so much stuff I could say, but I think I'll stop now. Lol, thanks for posting the article. It's a good one.
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Artanis
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2005, 09:06:57 am »
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Quote from: Rose on January 07, 2005, 11:09:11 pm
Thanks so much for posting this article, Blue Angel. I just read it. My oldest son has occasionally pointed out something in LOTR and commented that it reminds him of a certain part of the Bible. I wonder if that is where Tolkien got some of his ideas?
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tolkien defenitely got some ideas from the bible, also from greek mythology.
it is as you have said before, tolkien is just great in showing what people are, he would have been a great psychologist, he has such a great insight of people.
and every character in the book stands for a human characteristic, it's great to think about that...
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Jess_B
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2005, 02:40:47 pm »
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Tolkien was a great writer... and he did seem to use the Bible for influencing his writing. I think it's cool that he and the guy that wrote the Cronicles of Narnia were both friends and both used the Bible for influence when writing their best known stories. 
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aluap
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2005, 08:14:13 pm »
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I am not a believer in the bible. My personal beliefs are that the bible is just as much a work of fiction as Lord of the Rings is. And the lessons in Tolkiens writings, the morals outlines mean more to me than anything in the bible ever could, although I do understand that he was influenced by his own religious beliefs. It has often been said that J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis both laced their novels with their personal religious beliefs, and that is very evident in both LotR and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are some subtle, and at times not so subtle religious undertones.
Part of my attraction to both of the afore mentioned books is the romanticism and etchings of mythology, and I hold those things dear, as I said, in more regard than the bible.
Thanks for posting this Blue Angel, it's nice to have this sort of discussion every now and again, especially amongst some of the insane threads we have here. 
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Angel Wood
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2005, 11:13:17 pm »
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Quote from: Tonks on January 08, 2005, 08:14:13 pm
I am not a believer in the bible. My personal beliefs are that the bible is just as much a work of fiction as Lord of the Rings is. And the lessons in Tolkiens writings, the morals outlines mean more to me than anything in the bible ever could, although I do understand that he was influenced by his own religious beliefs. It has often been said that J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis both laced their novels with their personal religious beliefs, and that is very evident in both LotR and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are some subtle, and at times not so subtle religious undertones.
Part of my attraction to both of the afore mentioned books is the romanticism and etchings of mythology, and I hold those things dear, as I said, in more regard than the bible.
Thanks for posting this Blue Angel, it's nice to have this sort of discussion every now and again, especially amongst some of the insane threads we have here.
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I'm so sorry to hear that you don't believe in the Bible, Tonks. You're missing out on a lot IMHO. C.S. Lewis was a skeptic and he struggled a lot with his faith, as you can read in his book, Mere Christianity.
Anyway, thanks Tonks. I'm glad you liked this thread. I was quite surprised that you patiently kept one thread going and did not close it down immediately. Too bad I wasn't here when that was going on...  I missed all the action. Keep it up, girl! Your work here seems pretty overwhelming from my side of the fence... 
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LegolasBuzzgirl
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2005, 06:37:27 am »
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Quote:On the other hand, though, I often find myself looking at LotR as a mythology. I know it's silly, but it's so cool to think of these things really happening; of Middle-Earth actually existing.
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That's because the writings so well done, that it's hard to seperate the strand of christianity and mythology from the purely imaginary aspects of the text. It's not silly at all- I'm sure most fans can relate some of the characters and events to their own lives in such a way that it changes from fantasism to realism. And I personally continually find myself asking 'so where are the hobbits?' when i read fantasy books now! 
Quote:| I am not a believer in the bible. My personal beliefs are that the bible is just as much a work of fiction as Lord of the Rings is. And the lessons in Tolkiens writings, the morals outlines mean more to me than anything in the bible ever could, although I do understand that he was influenced by his own religious beliefs. |
I actually feel like this, because religion isn't part of my life. I don't feel I've missed out on anything, but that I have the chance to descover it in my own time, and if I'd don't, so be it. Mind you, you have to admit that the Bible (although admittedly, I have only read what we've studied at school) has some pretty damned good fiction!
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Angel Wood
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2005, 12:10:24 am »
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Quote from: LegolasBuzzgirl on January 10, 2005, 06:37:27 am
I actually feel like this, because religion isn't part of my life. I don't feel I've missed out on anything, but that I have the chance to descover it in my own time, and if I'd don't, so be it. Mind you, you have to admit that the Bible (although admittedly, I have only read what we've studied at school) has some pretty damned good fiction!
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It's pretty good all right, but it's definitely not fiction, my dear.
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2005, 03:45:57 pm »
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Quote from: Blue Angel on January 11, 2005, 12:10:24 am
It's pretty good all right, but it's definitely not fiction, my dear.
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I agree, 100%!
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TotalGeek
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2005, 09:33:21 pm »
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When you watch the part on Tolkien in the lat EE it talks about how he got loads of his inpiration from the bible (Christian religion).
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Angel Wood
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2005, 09:46:44 pm »
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Quote from: TotalGeek on January 11, 2005, 09:33:21 pm
When you watch the part on Tolkien in the lat EE it talks about how he got loads of his inpiration from the bible (Christian religion).
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Oh really?? I didn't know that.
Aaargh! I need to get that DVD! 
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LegolasBuzzgirl
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Re:Tolkien's writing has religious ring
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2005, 06:11:06 am »
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I havn't got any EEs yet. I'm currently without cash, so I'm saving up for the box set of all three!
Quote:Quote from: Blue Angel on January 11, 2005, 05:10:24 AM
It's pretty good all right, but it's definitely not fiction, my dear.
I agree, 100%! |
I was using a previous quote from tonks to get my point across! Maybe it's fiction maybe not. I happen to feel they probably have some truths in them, but some are too far out to be real. I mean- stopping the sun in the sky? I know it's God's miracle if you're christian, but the tides would be weway messed up.
I'm not ragging on religion- I'm agnostic.
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