Elessar as the 👑King returned?- seems Christian.

[Turgon]

Goroshimura... what I find interesting is that Isaac Newton, author of the 'Principia', one of the greatest reasoning scientists we've ever had, was a devout christian... as was Copernicus, the most famous christian advocate of the Heliocentric view of the solar system... as was Galileo (though this is a view the Greeks had some 2000 years before)... just goes to show that science and religion are not incompatable. (Such a shame the Church tried to put a stopper into the mouth of reason!!!)... but hey, I loved the Monty Python thing... 'and so that my liege is how we now the earth to be banana shaped...'
As for evolution - mmm... Darwin's writings on Evolution are some of the best works of science I've ever read, so I don't think I can agree with you there...
I've always viewed the Bible as a metaphor... the whole Satan and Jesus thing is something on going in the mind of man... the battle between good and evil is internal, not external... what do you think...?

 

[Goro Shimura]

Why Christians make Great scientists:

Christians believe that there is a Divine Lawgiver. They therefore expect to find Laws in all aspects of reality.

They believe that the universe was created for a purpose... that it has a beginning and an end. They believe that the One who created the universe is both the greatest of all artists and the greatest of all engineers.

So when Christians examine reality, they expect to find orderly and beutiful consistent principles that underly it's structure.

People that have this view are more likely to persist in the search for a satisfying answer to whatever is puzzling them-- because they know that there is an answer!!

I've always viewed the Bible as a metaphor... the whole Satan and Jesus thing is something on going in the mind of man... the battle between good and evil is internal, not external... what do you think...?

Hmm....

I once thought that way myself.

I believe that there is something broken in man that makes him very susceptible to temptations. Part of the struggle is due to man's nature... but there are higher powers that are engaged in a contest to influence man's behavior.

A great deal can be said about the internal aspects-- but I don't think a complete understanding of reality can occur without taking into account the external forces.

The problem with Jesus being merely a metaphore is that he was a genuine historical figure. If you are convinced that the Gospels contain eyewitness accounts of true historical events-- and the evidence is much stronger than what I would have prefered back when I was an agnostic!!-- then Jesus is real... and if Jesus is real (and if he actually said and did what the accounts say), then angels are real... and devils.

Suddenly you find yourself suddenly no longer living in a drab meaningless universe. The beauty of existence (and the seriousness of supernatural conflict) that is portrayed in LotR becomes something you can find outside of fiction.

It's the great irony of fantasy and escapism. We read these stories to get something... to fulfill some craving within us that maybe we don't quite understand. And here... all along right under our nose all along-- in the drawer of every hotel-- is a "fantasy" that actually stands a more than reasonable chance of actually being true!!

 

[HLGStrider]

Having never been an Atheist, I am not very good at reasoning with them. I mean never... because I don't think you could count a kid the age I was before I got saved as anything. Anyway...

Evolution is a theory, and I have not the scientific no how to disprove it, but it isn't the only theory so I have a right to not believe it and still believe the law of Gravitation, Entropy (which goes against evolution) and all those other things. I don't plan to be a scientist, so I doubt I will come across it much anyway.

Where was I?

Oh yes...
Those Greeks you mentioned believed in a God for the most part, just not the type that they were used to worshipping. They believed in a logical God and a just one, finding Zues a tad bit too human for their taste. Cicero (Who was Roman, but he's the only one who I can give a sure example of so forgive me with that) was always appealing to an unnamed God.

There are many examples of this. The Incas had a temple to an "unknown god". Anyone who thinks will either come to the conclusion that God is a logical, just being or come to conclusion that there isn't one. I don't know what makes the difference.

 

[Bucky]

Well, I WAS an atheist, & now I KNOW that Jesus is God come to Earth in the flesh as a man.

E-mail me if you want to hear my rather unusual story.......


It's too long for Tolkien mail.
Just check out my whatever they call that personal information thing.....
A profile?
Sorry, I'm a computer moron.


>>>>>>>>I was reading Mere Christianity, by CS Lewis, and he used that arguement and it made a whole lot of sense... and I use and too much... and and and... where was I?

That's about how I feel after one page of any of CS Lewis' Christian books.
A little too cerebral for me.

Btw, Diab:
You are Jewish & go to a Catholic school?
Interesting.

And, I never thought of the Elves as being inspired or representing the Jews.
Why?

I have, however thought that obviously Aragorn in terms of 'returning as king' brings to mind the 2nd coming of Jesus.

As for TLOR being a Christian parable, no.
Some inspiration, yes.

And Morgoth = Satan, obviously.

 

[HLGStrider]

I like Lewis... the Screw Tape Letters are funny... I hope I can remember to mail you.

 

[Bucky]

Actually, I recall reading some of that (Screwtape) & it was good.
I should pull it out again from my pile of (mostly) unread Christian literature.

'Mere Christianity' lost me quick.
So did 'The Problem With Pain', & that's a BIG cross in my life.....

Funny line by a friend of mine, real bible scholar with a teaching gift:
"The Bible sheds great light on the commentaries."

Get it?
It's usually said the other way around.

 

[HLGStrider]

Got it...

Not everybody speaks to everybody, I suppose. Never read Problem with Pain... Just "Great Divorce" "Mere Christianity" and "Screwtape Letters".

 

[Arwen Halfelven]

Agreement here

I totally agree with your assessment of Tolkien. I've heard too many people dismiss his religious background & say that the books are totally non-Christian & even actually pagan. There is a fine line in what one perceives as truth. Thank-you for a very succinct answer to all these postings.
Namarie!
Arwen Halfelven
"Elen sila lumenn'omentielvo!"