Political Crossfire Forums

[sladeh]

Tolkien and Lewis

When I was a child, Aslan's sacrifice on the stone table sparked an emotional response, and a spiritual connection to Jesus that the Gospels were never able to inspire in me. Only through the insight of C.S. Lewis was I able to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what Jesus did for me at Golgotha.

I had a similar experience later in life when I read Tolkien's Silmarillion. His account of Creation spoke to me on a very deep level, and gave me a greater appreciation and insight into the creation account.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth.

Thank God for these two men!

[psholtz]

sladeh wrote: Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth
I'm sure that these two men were inspired by God to write what they did.. That said, I'm not sure either of these men was in direct communication w/ the Godhead itself, but surely their works are interesting..

If these books help you come into a better understanding of God and religion, then so much the better..

As far as writers who *probably* were in direct communication w/ the Godhead, and who wrote very inspirational works, I would classify Shakespeare (among others). Almost every one of his plays is an extensive commentary on some aspect of the Christian faith.. For instance, Hamlet is (among many other things) essentially just a long, running commentary/analysis on the "Original Crime" (so to speak), Cain and Abel: one brother (King Claudius) kills the other brother (King Hamlet), and then he has to face the consequences of his murderous crime.

Almost every other Shakespearan play takes some poignant aspect of the Christian faith, and then proceeds to rigorously examine, analyze and understand it from top to bottom, left to right, front to back..

[connermt]

sladeh wrote: Tolkien and Lewis

When I was a child, Aslan's sacrifice on the stone table sparked an emotional response, and a spiritual connection to Jesus that the Gospels were never able to inspire in me. Only through the insight of C.S. Lewis was I able to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what Jesus did for me at Golgotha.

I had a similar experience later in life when I read Tolkien's Silmarillion. His account of Creation spoke to me on a very deep level, and gave me a greater appreciation and insight into the creation account.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth.

Thank God for these two men!

I will ask, but someone from my church said (if I remember right) that they have a book shwoing the relationships between the Bible & CS Lewis & in this book CS Lewis is quoted as saying something to the effect that he wrote TCoN in direct correlation to the Bible's GOD vs DEVIL & GOOD vs EVIL story.

[Shady]

J.R.R Tolkien's work has very strong Christian connotations too. What with the rebirth of Gandalf, Good vs Evil, etc.

[Darth Tiberius]

sladeh wrote: Tolkien and Lewis

When I was a child, Aslan's sacrifice on the stone table sparked an emotional response, and a spiritual connection to Jesus that the Gospels were never able to inspire in me. Only through the insight of C.S. Lewis was I able to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what Jesus did for me at Golgotha.

I had a similar experience later in life when I read Tolkien's Silmarillion. His account of Creation spoke to me on a very deep level, and gave me a greater appreciation and insight into the creation account.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth.

Thank God for these two men!

I'm still a fan of Lewis and Tolkien even though I'm an athiest. It doesn't have to be so religiously connected. It can be just a good fanatasy story.

[Gilbert1908]

Darth Tiberius wrote: sladeh wrote: Tolkien and Lewis

When I was a child, Aslan's sacrifice on the stone table sparked an emotional response, and a spiritual connection to Jesus that the Gospels were never able to inspire in me. Only through the insight of C.S. Lewis was I able to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what Jesus did for me at Golgotha.

I had a similar experience later in life when I read Tolkien's Silmarillion. His account of Creation spoke to me on a very deep level, and gave me a greater appreciation and insight into the creation account.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth.

Thank God for these two men!

I'm still a fan of Lewis and Tolkien even though I'm an athiest. It doesn't have to be so religiously connected. It can be just a good fanatasy story.

Of course you are right about this, that is what makes both of them unversally appealing.

But it ignores the intention of both men who wrote the stories purposely to make the connection you choose to ignore. It is especailly true of Lewis whose Aslan is so obviously a Christ figure one almost has to be a child to miss it.

But the enjoyment of the stories can be had on whatever level the reader choses.

[Darth Tiberius]

Gilbert1908 wrote: Darth Tiberius wrote: sladeh wrote: Tolkien and Lewis

When I was a child, Aslan's sacrifice on the stone table sparked an emotional response, and a spiritual connection to Jesus that the Gospels were never able to inspire in me. Only through the insight of C.S. Lewis was I able to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what Jesus did for me at Golgotha.

I had a similar experience later in life when I read Tolkien's Silmarillion. His account of Creation spoke to me on a very deep level, and gave me a greater appreciation and insight into the creation account.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth.

Thank God for these two men!

I'm still a fan of Lewis and Tolkien even though I'm an athiest. It doesn't have to be so religiously connected. It can be just a good fanatasy story.

Of course you are right about this, that is what makes both of them unversally appealing.

But it ignores the intention of both men who wrote the stories purposely to make the connection you choose to ignore. It is especailly true of Lewis whose Aslan is so obviously a Christ figure one almost has to be a child to miss it.

But the enjoyment of the stories can be had on whatever level the reader choses.

I saw the bible parallells in all 7 books by Lewis since I was little.

[sladeh]

psholtz wrote: sladeh wrote: Is it unthinkable that God may have "inspired" these two men to retell the ancient stories from the Bible in the epic style of lore from our past? These two men brought the art of storytelling back into the world and were able to "smuggle" the message to a world dying from cynisism, rationalism, humanism and so forth
I'm sure that these two men were inspired by God to write what they did.. That said, I'm not sure either of these men was in direct communication w/ the Godhead itself, but surely their works are interesting..

If these books help you come into a better understanding of God and religion, then so much the better..

As far as writers who *probably* were in direct communication w/ the Godhead, and who wrote very inspirational works, I would classify Shakespeare (among others). Almost every one of his plays is an extensive commentary on some aspect of the Christian faith.. For instance, Hamlet is (among many other things) essentially just a long, running commentary/analysis on the "Original Crime" (so to speak), Cain and Abel: one brother (King Claudius) kills the other brother (King Hamlet), and then he has to face the consequences of his murderous crime.

Almost every other Shakespearan play takes some poignant aspect of the Christian faith, and then proceeds to rigorously examine, analyze and understand it from top to bottom, left to right, front to back..

Have you read "The Silmarillion" by Tolkien? Please do so, if you haven't. I think it's his best work - and lends to a better understanding of "Lord of the Rings".

I'm trying to think of a few other similarities between Hamlet and the "Original Crime" - Not much comes to mind. Could you point out a few more parallels between them for me? Thanks.