Peter Kreeft: Christian Themes in 'Lord of the Rings' - Biola University Chapel

[@pgringel]

I love this man's simplicity and brilliance.

[@Chiller326]

I'm an atheist. I took several classes in Boston College"s night school program with this man. He is a genius and one of the finest people I've ever met. Should I be wrong and God exists in this world, he is the first I would trust to represent the wisdom and kindness of humanity.

[@b.r.holmes6365]

Contemplate the Shroud of Turin. God bless

[@servantofmylord]

If you read the Silmarillion you will see that LOTR is the redemption aspect of the creation story. There is God, there are the angels and there is the fallen angels who then hate the mortal creations of God, of which the Elves were first, then dwarves, hobbits and men. Orcs are a corrupted version of the elves who decided to follow Sauron. The destruction of the ring is the redemption of the races of middle earth who ALLOWED EVIL TO ENDURE. You really HAVE to read the Silmarillon in order to really understand LOTR and the Hobbit.

[@kelly4187]

For years, publishers rejected Tolkien because he insisted on the Silmarillion being published alongside. He insisted that it must be read in tandem. I also whole heartedly encourage people to read the Silmarillion. It's as wonderful as @EmmausRoad makes out. When I first read it, LOTR finally made sense.

[@constanceburica1229]

Dr. Kreeft is a Catholic genius!!

[@francisaugustine7100]

J.R.R. Tolkien too.

[@BlancheBlanch]

Dr. Kreeft is such a man of wisdom and simplicity.

[@famousamos]

Love this.

[@jegraham440]

Tolkien was meticulous in the way he accounted for the passage of time in the entire saga. I believe that he was working backward to make sure that he could use the date March 25 for the fall of the Dark Lord and the beginning of the age of Man. MARCH 25TH in the Catholic Church is the feast of the Incarnation--the day that Jesus became man so that we may be saved--and the vehicle of that salvation was achieved by the assent of a simple and humble maiden--the human equivalent of Frodo.

[@jackcozad6345]

Indeed, that hardly seems like a coincidence! I noticed that King Theoden and the Lord of the Nazgul both died on March 15 (the Ides of March), which is a day commonly associated with bad luck or ill fortune, also the day in history when Julius Caesar was assassinated. But more interesting than that, apparently in the Roman Empire the Ides of March was a deadline for settling debts. Theoden and his Riders of Rohan are riding to the defense of Gondor, their old ally. The Red Arrow was presented, and Theoden settles his debt to Gondor. And of course, the Lord of the Nazgul gets destroyed after terrorizing Middle Earth for thousands of years.

[@brycew2]

The power of friendship!

[@servantofmylord]

God speaks to us in many ways. I have seen the message of Christ in movies, music and books. This is why Satan desires to commandeer these mediums, because God has long used the telling of stories to reveal Himself to us. Jesus used stories to communicate ideas to his disciples. You must use the gift of discernment given by the Holy Spirit to tell glean the messages given.

[@Landis_Grant]

Looking for Christian themes in JRR Tolkien’s witchcraft works is like looking for Christian values in a strip club.

[@aceapollos]

Enlightening.

[@francoisdlcrx]

amazing.. just amazing!

[@m.b.crawford5464]

I think many people read LOTR without wanting to acknowledge the Christian symbolism embedded within its setting and plot. The plot, characters, and setting are good enough to stand on their own without this in-depth analysis; however, if you want to see middle-earth the way Tolkien understood it, you have to learn about the Christian worldview. Kreeft's elucidation is as good as I've seen.

[@csdr0]

The One Ring does not give Sauron unlimited power. Even with that One Ring he was beaten by the combined forces of the Elves, and Numenorians in the War of the Rings in the 2nd age. The Elves and Men defeated and drove Sauron back to Mordor with only one bodyguard with him, the only person remaining in his big army that invaded Eriador. Further, in the War of the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, still in the 2nd Age, Sauron was slain by Gil-galad, Elendil and Isildur who took the One Ring from his finger while he was down. So he can be beaten even if he is wearing the One Ring. The reason why he appears to be so strong during the LOTR age is due to the weakening of men (division and petty differences among men and the dwindling population due to war and femine) and Elves (who are leaving Middle Earth to go to Aman) and the strength of his allies (Easterlings of Rhun, the Corsairs and the Haradian of the South and the big number of orcs and Saruman the White).

[@spikesya]

Yeah but that doesn't change this guy's point. Sauron is playing God yet is absolutely not worthy of the power he seeks.

[@fuzzyhair321]

@@spikesya tis but a child to morgoth the black

[@timothyscheidler6365]

But no one could destroy the Ring.

[@johnnyhaigs243]

Could you imagine if Dr. Peter's surname was a past-tense verb?

[@JohnO316]

God is in the Similarition.

[@cuchulain55]

+John O yes Eru Iluvatar The ONE.

[@faithdefender5186]

John he was called Eru. Sauron would of been the anti christ. His master was melkor.

[@westonandhunter8455]

@@faithdefender5186 wait o though morgoth was his master

[@clumzyunicorn8804]

@@westonandhunter8455 he is. Melkor was his name as an Ainu.

[@thesweenster3843]

This video is awesome and it makes me appreciate Tolkien’s work even more. In the end, Sauron was defeated simply because he was overconfident and put too much of his power and essence into the Ring, causing him to deeply rely on it for his power. Thats why he was defeated when it was severed from his finger, and eventually destroyed 3000 years later. In a way reminds me of how in real life we often find ourselves putting too much faith into things like money and our own selfish needs, which will only lead us to our own demise.

[@invernessfan3017]

Interesting video.

[@VVeltanschauung187]

One word: Platonism, the very origin of philosophy itself

[@nathanking9630]

Does anyone know what Epics he is talking about when he refers to Tolkien's influences?

[@brittoncain5090]

Nathan King Tolkien studied Beowulf, if I remember correctly, so he's probably talking about that.

[@10loperw]

Possibly also, The Prose Edda and The Poetic Edda.

[@jasonsanders8091]

He was very fond of the national epic of Finland.

[@jasonsanders8091]

The Kalevala it's called. Also the Viking sagas, and Gawaine and the Green knight. He edited a version of it in fact.

[@David-lu4gq]

I wonder how many Protestants will stop calling this Christian when they learn JRR Tolkin was Catholic.

[@David-lu4gq]

***** Fair enough.

[@David-lu4gq]

***** Very true, yet then again, the unity is only as strong as the doctrines on which the over 40,000 Protestant sects are based on, and due to many not exactly liking Catholics, then it is shakey at best. But in these troubled times, you are absolutley correct in your statment.

[@jimcopeland4011]

as a fellow nondenominational protestant, I concur with Jason. The divide between denominations is frivolous at best and divisive at worst. In this day and age we need to come together as believers in Christ.

[@David-lu4gq]

***** Couldn't have said it better myself sir. We will always disagree on certain topics, yet there is no harm in showing respect to those witha different view (To be fair, though, sometimes that isn't possible). If we got along, we truly could do great things. My own country was ravaged by 30 years of sectarian war between P's and C's, although their faith wasn't the main reason behind the thousands dead, but I digress, yes, if we can work together, espically with what is happening in the world today, great things could be achieved.

[@blesspascal6016]

LOL

[@danfinnigan8200]

Deep...

[@timothyscheidler6365]

Frodo is also a type for natural virtue. That's why he couldn't succeed in destroying the Ring.

[@charlesnunno8377]

His "eye" AND a "hand with four fingers on it." We see an "eye" and a "hand" and a "shadow." We see bits and pieces of him to be precise. We do see him. Just not Face to Face.

[@hideyoshilacan66]

Can someone give him water?

[@VVeltanschauung187]

cute pfp

[@mariabaptista5705]

My English it's terrible, I can't understand 😭

[@PatMcAnn]

Wait, wut? Frodo dies?!? Im only on page 703... dang it.

[@baruchevenezra7279]

Not true, personals God's are known I'm India. The Trinity was known in Egypt and India.

[@manuelpompa-u5e]

you refer to all kinds of man-made works, but fail to present the word of God, or preach the gospel, which is that salvation is by faith through grace (from God the Father) in Jesus Christ alone. you are a false teacher.

[@frans2111]

Sauron is not evil. So isn't the Ring.

[@Astroviking_]

He is evil because he was corrupted by Morgoth, enemy of the world, Now Sauron was like an angel fascinated by order, and he saw Melkor as someone able and capable of imposing order, so he started to admire Melkor because Melkor wanted to rule everything in order, but pursuing order Sauron who’s real name was Mairon before he was corrupted and became Sauron lost track of what he really wanted and became evil, doing evil things to achieve what he wanted, and he even changed back to as he used to be when The armies of the Valar came to middle earth and defeated Morgoth, so Sauron repent from his evil ways honestly but he was left free by the Valar on middle earth and he Mairon seen that the world was still in chaos he went back to his evil ways and became Sauron again now like Morgoth even tho not even close as strong in power but he became the evil lord of middle earth since Morgoth was captured by the Valar in Valinor, and so on… Sauron became evil but he was not created evil, because everything that Eru Iluvatar created was not evil it was corrupted!

[@islandonlinenews]

The pope is like that evil wizard that fights Gandalf.

[@BrightLord1823]

A false prophet which is exactly what sauroman, (the wizard gandalf fights) is

[@ElViveHoy777]

Omg!!!!!....Now we are comparing a movie to The word of God..? It's amazing to see how these people are so lost and the guidance of the Holy Spirit is totaly un-existant in this video. Why we need to find answers in a movie.....What kind of Gospell are these Christians preaching?. I really wonder what Jesus thinks of all of this...and if this kind of "conferences" are being given in churches then imagine the spiritual condition of the members.... I'm Blown away....and the guy here talking compears the. " power of God" to magic....Jesus....

[@septimus07]

I think you miss the point. Originally, the Lord of the Rings is a novel. Dr. Kreeft is discussing the Christian influence and themes that can be found in the books.

[@jimcopeland4011]

I think you need to look in the mirror when you spell "compare" like "compear" and simultaneously use God's name in vain in the same sentence. Take the time to think about what he is saying and try again, please. :)

[@emillethornicroft3628]

the author of lord of the to have was a strong Christian and he based the book off his belief

[@WAGMILLC]

Firstly, LOTR was written to communicate the truths of the gospel to people through fiction. Second, if my corpus callosum was severed, then I got a lobotomy, I still wouldn't be as stupid as you.

[@mageetu]

Your unkindness helps nothing.

[@ArizonaWillful]

I love Kreeft's books but cannot stand his voice. Sorry.

[@haroldhart2688]

NOT GOOD PAGAN FRIDAY BUT PASSOVER LIKE JESUS TOLD US TO DO

[@christophersnedeker2065]

We celebrate Passover by Easter.

[@SnowElf_96]

If Tolkien was such a devote Catholic isn't Lord of the Rings heretical?

[@chrisr8916]

Explain how is it heretical?

[@jondoes8222]

@@chrisr8916 I wish we lived in a world like Middle Earth

[@Renovartio]

Do you know nothing about catholics?

[@jm6456]

@@Renovartio I don't, would you please educate me? Not catholic or anything, just wanna know what other denominations view on fantasy writing and such. Feel a bit bad about enjoying fantasy and have been afraid to write any myself due to fear of it being bad.

[@thomasjorge4734]

Christ is presented as: Priest (Frodo), Prophet (Gandalf) and King (Aragon).