GTaudiophile
Lifer
I've heard from many people that Tolkien was a Christian and that his books not-surprisingly contain Christian parallels. Just what do you all think those parallels are?
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LOTR: Just what are the Christian Parallels?
- Thread starter GTaudiophile
- Start date
Gollum is Jesus.
GTaudiophile
Lifer
I would argue that Frodo is, with the burden and all. Gollum represets a "sinner" he wants to save.
JRR consistently said in interviews that he never meant this work as a Christian allegory. That being said, there are overarching themes that resonate with the Christian story that also fit into other stories of good vs. evil. The idea of a burden that must be lifted, the idea that a sacrifice must happen for the burden to be lifted, wars of good vs. evil where the outcome is not decided by skill but by some "other power," - all of these are overarching ideas that are consistent both with Christianity and with other beliefs as well. cf. William James' The Varieties of Religious Experiences
If you really want a good fictional christian allegory, go with the Chronicles of Narania of Pilgrim's Progress
If you really want a good fictional christian allegory, go with the Chronicles of Narania of Pilgrim's Progress
Please don't take what I say seriously😉
NightRaven
Banned
But he looks like Jesus... Figure that one out...
MegaloManiaK
Golden Member
Gollum looks like Ghandi to me.
JackBurton
Lifer
I'm glad you mentioned this. Christianity and LOTR are VERY similar. Both are based on fiction. The Christians are also coming out with their own movie later this summer called LOTM, Lord of the Morons.
matt426malm
Golden Member
Both are just stories.
matt426malm
Golden Member
beat me to it 🙁
Insightful...a real good addition to this thread.
I think I speak for everyone here when I say: thank you. Your amazing post has left us all breathless in expectation of more words from your magical fingers.
/edit: I love how GTaudiophile asks a content related analysis question - a good one at that - and people can only come up with responses that offer no meaninful contribution to his question. Christianity's truth is irrelevant in this thread - Tolkien was a Christian, and therefore his works can be read as coming from his Christian background. Christianity in this case is a tool for analysis, not a moral tool or something to be verified.
I would think that people in this forum who really enjoy the movies and the books would have some questions about Christianity, especially Tolkien's beliefs, considering that the themes he included in his works came from his faith. Maybe there is something in these movies, something that comes from his faith, that is appealing? Maybe they are just entertaining stories. Either way, the books are worthy of analysis and not ridicule, and any space you take up flaming Christianity, when the point of this thread has nothing to do with Christianity as truth, is wasted space. Leave the arguements about the truth/myth of Christ elsewhere.
GTaudiophile
Lifer
Sigh. Immature ATOTers as usual!
JackBurton
Lifer
Ok, so if you are saying that the person writing the book believed in sky fairies, I can't say both his book and his belief are fictional? I mean, they do have that in common. Does that comment sound like an attack on sky fairies?
matt426malm
Golden Member
I don't know about Christians but I got a good parallel with Catholicism. Both involve small people taking a lot of abuse.
Lord of the Morons that was very lame.
Lord of the Morons that was very lame.
<sniff>
Another opportunity to rip on Christianity? Omg... where?
I don't see any direct parallels from LotR and Christianity. As bigben said, this one isn't allegorical. With Tolkien though, it pays to look, so it's definitely a valid question.
You can say it, but it wouldn't logically coincide with fact. His "belief" isn't fictional... it's a very real belief in something that you believe to be fictional, and your belief in the "fictionality" of sky faries is what is driving you to make the correlation. Therefore, it's an attack on sky fairies as an entity, just as your assumption that Christianity was fictional drove you to attack it.
Another opportunity to rip on Christianity? Omg... where?
I don't see any direct parallels from LotR and Christianity. As bigben said, this one isn't allegorical. With Tolkien though, it pays to look, so it's definitely a valid question.
You can say it, but it wouldn't logically coincide with fact. His "belief" isn't fictional... it's a very real belief in something that you believe to be fictional, and your belief in the "fictionality" of sky faries is what is driving you to make the correlation. Therefore, it's an attack on sky fairies as an entity, just as your assumption that Christianity was fictional drove you to attack it.
My point is that any judgement on the truth or untruth of christianity is irrelevant.
Obviously Tolkein's work is fictional. That Christ may or may not be fictional distracts from any real analysis of the book and gives the assumption that Tolkein wrote this work as a fiction specifically because he knew he believed in a fictional God and wanted to represent his fictional belief through a new medium. This kind of statement is laughable and proves nothing
You are inviting an external analysis of Christianity and LOTR - its the same thing as me saying "LOTR and the Bible are both long" - thereby inferring that Tolkein made the LOTR trilogy long just to mirror the Bible. That is simply an impossible inference.
Try internal analysis - it is much harder. What contents of the story are similar/dissimilar to the "fairy tale" story that Tolkein held so dear? Where might one influence the other? It involves actual analysis rather than rash judgement
Obviously Tolkein's work is fictional. That Christ may or may not be fictional distracts from any real analysis of the book and gives the assumption that Tolkein wrote this work as a fiction specifically because he knew he believed in a fictional God and wanted to represent his fictional belief through a new medium. This kind of statement is laughable and proves nothing
You are inviting an external analysis of Christianity and LOTR - its the same thing as me saying "LOTR and the Bible are both long" - thereby inferring that Tolkein made the LOTR trilogy long just to mirror the Bible. That is simply an impossible inference.
Try internal analysis - it is much harder. What contents of the story are similar/dissimilar to the "fairy tale" story that Tolkein held so dear? Where might one influence the other? It involves actual analysis rather than rash judgement
JackBurton
Lifer
This is worst arguement I've ever heard. So if I believe in pink flying elephants you are going to take me seriously, and ligitimize my belief because I think it's real? Give me a break. If you want to waste your time trying to find a correlation between pink flying elephants and LOTR, have at it. The fact of the matter is that the creator of the thread poses a question, what are the parallels between two fictional stories; however, the twist comes in when most of these wackos in ATOT think ONE story is real. No one directly said they believe in Christianity, but I doubt anyone here would take offense if I insulted the ToothFairy. 😉
WinkOsmosis
Banned
Everything parallels something else if you think about it hard enough.