The Lord of the Rings and Catholicism w/Joseph Pearce | Chris Stefanick Show

You’ve almost definitely heard of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. It’s pretty much the greatest fantasy epic in the history of Western Literature.
But did you know it’s also super Catholic?
Joseph Pearce, one of the top Catholic intellectuals in the world and a Tolkien scholar, is here to show us the deep Catholic meaning woven into this popular series.
Join our awesome conversation to learn about:
-The religious symbolism in Lord of the Rings
-How Tolkien’s faith influenced his style
-Why Catholics should read fantasy
-And more!
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[@thepipersmantel]

I'm not a Catholic, but I have a lot of respect for Tolkien's work.

[@nosuchthing8]

As a catholic I didn't really know Tolkien placed catholic themes in it.

[@OcapeOcape-rp3hn]

God bless you always 🙏✝️

[@ursusthewhite9824]

"The Ring was meant to be found, but not by its maker." Behold the Hand of God!

[@MaryH-ys7ge]

I owe my appreciation of LOTR to Joseph Pearce. Just finished reading his Frodo’s Journey, so sad when it ended. Must reread!

[@bethanyjohnson8001]

I was so happy when he came to my university and taught a brief class on G.K. Chesterton! It was FANTASTIC!

[@eleveneleven572]

Great insight into Tolkien's references to his Catholic faith.

[@lumpichu]

I read Silmarillion first of the books, it was in my teens. I absolutely devoured it, it wasn't inaccessible to me. Yes I didn't get it very well and I was getting lost in the characters and stuff the same way I still do in Scripture (some weakness of my brain I think, I always struggle with this), but it was an excellent start to me. I especially loved the Scripture vibe. I read the Hobbit last.

[@charlmuniz6456]

WOW...this was awesome! Love The Lord of the Rings even more now!

[@kevinholweck9830]

So thankful for this program 🙏 so need this in my life .

[@fortnitebotpetti7293]

Loved this conversation. Thank you so much.

[@barbararey-constantin5679]

I am very grateful for all of the insights into seeing how LOTR and The Hobbit are so deeply Catholic. Thank you very much.

[@overtheGarage-ue8lh]

Read TLOTR the first time when I was in middle school. A real tough time for me. I cried when I finished it the first time I was so sorry that it had to end. I stopped counting after the 8th reading. It's been years since but now we have the movies. I always said there was a Catholic flavor to it. Interesting that the Ukrainians refer to the Russians as Orcs.

[@lumpichu]

Not too surprising, although Tolkien himself didn't mean to associate Mordor with Russia, it was (and is) often interpreted that way, particularly because of its placement in the east. The books were never published in our country until the fall of communism, especially because it was easy to see such link there.

[@joanhaselman444]

I read the Lord of the Rings for the first time when I was 19 years old. Three years later, I became a Catholic, then I read the whole series once a year for several years. I am so grateful to J.R.R. Tolkien for writing this. I am going to read Pearce's books about the Lord of the Rings. I am now 74 years old and still Catholic, I am so grateful to Jesus for His Mercy.

[@Metanoia000]

Russians and Ukrainians are ethnically one in the same

[@canonwright8397]

My favorite chariter is Treebeard! All my life, I thought I was the only one. 🧙‍♂

[@decluesviews2740]

I am looking forward to this conversation!

[@CZac2k12]

I love the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. I recommend that everyone watches these films.

[@joanhaselman444]

The Books are better!

[@Metanoia000]

They’re great but they leave out some of the most important characters

[@dominicphillip5816]

I’ve got to read LoTR.

[@mizukarate]

I agree you don't have to finish any book. Enjoy it and get something out of it.

[@neilanadams5173]

Tolkien, man!

[@talitakumi8679]

How would you evaluate the lines at the very beginning of Tolkien's book: I can't remember exactly but it goes sth like "three rings to bind them, three rings to ..." Sounds a bit like a curse, doesn't it? Thank you for your comment.

[@loreman7267]

Go and read the original quote.

[@talitakumi8679]

@@loreman7267 unfortunately I do not have a book any more, and the English text is hard to find here in Croatia (I read it somewhere in 1972.) Lost some exams at university at that time because I could not stop reading! I was just wondering as they still echo as some kind of spell. But never mind!

[@loreman7267]

@@talitakumi8679 Three rings for the elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

[@talitakumi8679]

@@loreman7267 Thanks a lot indeed. I must have remembered wrongly. After all, I read it abt 50 yrs ago! So kind of you to write it all down!

[@overtheGarage-ue8lh]

I wonder who or what Tom Bombidil represents in Catholicism. Maybe the mysteries?

[@overtheGarage-ue8lh]

Everybody speculates about Tom. You have to wonder if is a riddle that can't be solved. The ring had no power over Tom. His song released one of the hobits from a tree in Mirkwood. I'm sure the 9 and evil wizards alike would give him wide berth. The only Catholic "slot" I can think of might be a Saint, yes maybe one of the mysteries it's hard to say. There are things we will never understand and maybe Tom is a metaphor for that. In the end, it's curiously comfortable that Tom is there.

[@AS-fu1kd]

Tom to me is those few and far between people that seem joyfully unaffected by the world. He is the master of his domain, and sings a fruitful song. He’s either a high magical force in middle earth or an incarnation of Illuvatar himself, as he says he was the first ever in middle earth, before the trees.

[@overtheGarage-ue8lh]

@Evelyn Keruboyes, or the Bible verse comes to mind about paying the same wages to field workers that spend different time out in the field. Someone complains and the response is my ways are sometimes beyond human understanding. Kind of like the enigma of Tom. Tom often talked in riddles and song. So much there.

[@nosuchthing8]

​@@overtheGarage-ue8lh Tom might be something Tolkien created that doesn't for into any of our preconceived notions.

[@overtheGarage-ue8lh]

@@nosuchthing8 A riddle as it were.

[@cabellero1120]

As a Catholic, myself I do not see a connection to these stories The LOTR is about a Something ( the ring) True Faith is about a Someone ( Jesus)

[@cabellero1120]

@Evelyn Kerubo I suppose. The one ring is metaphorical for man's greed, lust for power, control, unbridled ambition. I do not understand how almost Everyone else is tempted by the ring, but Aragorn, alone seems to be immune to it... Surely, there is a good and evil aspect to it Lothlorien, for example, The place of Light and Purity, yet imperfect, broken men may enter? Rivendell? Surely, The fellowship would have wanted to remain there as a refuge from the warring factions.. I'm not saying that it's not an epic story. There are Christian elements, I suppose.

[@cabellero1120]

@Evelyn Kerubo I suppose. There are many stories within the story. The many kings..Theoden, Denethor as well as Boromir, Faramir, Eowyn..and so forth. The Hobbit was a simple story about a small creature who lived in a modest farming village who liked to read and smoke his pipe. He was called on an adventure to help recover stolen treasure and fight a dragon. The LOTR is more elaborate, A longer story. Many different stories within the framework.

[@nosuchthing8]

Galadriel reminds me of Mary on some spots. How she helps people out, like Frodo.

[@cabellero1120]

oy vey!

[@cabellero1120]

I do not believe that there's much correlation to Catholicism. The LOTR is Filled with Pre Christian Pagan ideology! It's an epic story of good and evil, so are many other projects. These films are mostly pagan.

[@cabellero1120]

@Evelyn Kerubo There is a lot of Celtic imagery in these films, books. Deeply Catholic? perhaps. It's a story about good and evil, man's struggle against himself, political power, ambition, avarice and ultimate redemption.. So are many other films, projects.. The Batman comes to mind. Many superhero films. Even Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

[@teresaa96289]

There are themes that are universal throughout humanity. Good vs evil (the natural law). Courage, bravery, love, self-sacrifice are human traits that have existed throughout history because God put them there. Catholics therefore praise what is good and true in other cultures because they are from God who created those virtues. Those did not originate from Paganism. They existed from mankind's very existence. But those pagan cultures also had very evil practices such as forced human sacrifice and is rejected by Tolkien and his faith. Just because he takes what is beautiful in other cultures does not validate the truth of the whole. The fullness consists in Christ and his Body, the Church, which Tolkien professed and lived.

[@jaga887]

You mean books? lol "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision". This is made clear when seen in the context of the Silmarillion, but is also seen in the lord of the rings alone. Its true that it does take inspiration in pagan northern European mythology, part of his desire for a writing such as the lord of the rings was to provide a mythology for England which had been lost, due to several factors including the invasion of William the conqueror and the reformation. It would be impossible to do this without taking inspiration from other Germanic mythologies which are inevitably pagan. Tolkien’s focus was the sanctification of mythology, and moving it from a place of pagan origin towards an understanding of Christian virtue, focusing on the the elements of truth in it. Tolkien took, inspiration from this folklore, but 'filled with pre Christian pagan ideology'? lol. Tolkien opts for subtler approach with the religious themes in the lord of the rings, which might be difficult for some people understand.

[@cabellero1120]

LOTR is allegory and metaphor little more than that.

[@grossepointemichigan]

Tolkien hated allegory. He was big on applicability, but not allegory.

[@execututor9954]

"The only guy who has ever read Jane Austen"? I fail to see the humor. Just sounds provincial.

[@007EnglishAcademy]

Another shocking ''blind leading the blind'' discussion on Catholicism in LotR by ignorant people ''another key beautiful theme that's that's really Catholic is that that spiritual theme of attachment you know all the great Mystics of the church uh it the spiritual life's all about Detachment not in a way where we become like Buddha and don't care but..'' no religion teaches the dangers of attachment like Buddhism does and to say Buddha does not care is a profoundly ignorant statement. Nobody does compassion like Buddha and Buddhism and no one teaches self-negation (it is a formal explicit teaching in Buddhism that includes a negation of all phenomena even its self) like Buddhism - there are literally whole books devoted to the subject. Christianity does not scratch the surface.

[@el4276]

hello what would be your response to the claim God commands his chosen people to kill children and babies of a rival race Numbers 31:17 is the verse they use

[@michaelogrady232]

They were Canaanites. They put their living children on fiery altars while they sodomized a goat. Now you want to wipe them out, too.

[@daggarflynn9637]

Gimme a break.

[@eleveneleven572]

Great insight into Tolkien's references to his Catholic faith.