The Lordship of Christ in The Lord of the Rings: A Lecture by Dr. Peter Kreeft

[@josemiguelmarquescampo4902]

Thanks so very much for sharing! J.R.R. Tolkien is a most sublime Catholic genius... and Dr. Peter Kreeft is a most talented speaker.

[@amhenotepakkardius5504]

The best literary lecture I have heard in years!

[@timotheedavi6578]

Peter Kreeft is as masterful a lecturer as ever. In this lecture, he presents a wonderful rhetorical and argumentative case for the all-pervasive Christian nature of The Lord of the Rings. If you enjoy LOTR, you ought to give this a listen.

[@TheRussianBlue]

Thank you for sharing his wonderful lectures with us - I pray more people will come to discover his talks!

[@m.h.744]

20:07 two kinds of magic: 1) awe (LOTR: the elves, beauty; comes from god) , 2) faustian-promethian (techne, power, conquest of nature, the rings of power; comes from men)

[@mahavpm]

Worth listening to a few times!

[@Grace17893]

God bless you man

[@vladimirsolovyov666]

To be fair the critics probably read way more books than the public, and so have a better understanding of literature. Harry Potter is also very popular with the public. I mean come on.

[@christophersnedeker2065]

I would say the opposite about Prometheus, Prometheus does what he does out of compassion to humanity and stand's up for humanity and his principals even in the face of eternal torment by Zues, I think that's a Christian or at least Christan esc theme. I think it illustrates the truth of Corinthians 13, Prometheus chose love even when he had no hope. I see a similar theme in the Norse Ragnarok. The good gods and forces of chaos cancel each other out in the end. But even in the face of this the gods and heros of Valhalla fight on and give their lives. They acknowledge the rightousness of standing up against evil even if total victory is impossible. That is the point where they and christianity differ. In a sense they're Christs without the resurrection. But they bare their crosses anyway.

[@ishmaelforester9825]

That is the nobility in the heathen, as it were, Professor Tolkien admired. Without honour even the cosmos is 'nithing.' The point of Christianity and the triune God is a supreme resolution. He really wins the day forever.

[@christophersnedeker]

​@@ishmaelforester9825 hi (I'm commenting on a new account) I actually think the parallels go deeper. In ragnarok, Thor defeats the midgard serpent, as Christ's enemy is called a serpent, this results in both Christ's and Thor's deaths and the hammer is very nearly cruciform in shape. And with Prometheus both are creators and lovers of man, and Zues sends an eagle to tear Prometheus's side and Christ's side was peirced by the spear spear of a man who marched under the eagles of Zues.

[@christophersnedeker2065]

I heard some other youtuber claim lord of the rings is "satanic" because it has magic and Norse pagan influence.

[@chrisy_]

Well magic is in LOTR is different from Harry Potter. Harry Potter has spells where you say something and some sort of blast comes out of a wand, whereas in LOTR magic is not a spell though its something that is basic and only some people can use it (elves, wizards etc.) Plus I heard somewhere that J.K Rowling invited the devil to help her write a book, so she got oppressed and the devil had made up the story of Harry Potter, whereas LOTR is based on catholicism :p

[@Raiseflag_Surrender]

I saw and heard such claims. Yes, and I met people who think Tolkien was a pagan or read fanfiction where Eru is evil and Melkor and Sauron are good (which is basically satanism). That however does not make Tolkien pagan or his works satanic. Magic can also exist in fairy-tales. Father Christmas is a magical figure yet only a few people would call him satanic. Faeries in childish tales also use magic (like fairy godmother in Cinderella) and are pagan-influenced figures in folklore. Yet their magic does not hurt people. Tolkien's use of the word magic is also a different thing altogether. "Magic" is how people describe the deeds of Istari, the wizards. But wizards are actually the Maiar, the angels. Gandalf describes his first encounter with Balrog, the demon of the ancient world to the Fellowship as a battle of wills: "Gimli took his arm and helped him down to a seat on the step. `What happened away up there at the door? ' he asked. `Did you meet the beater of the drums? ' 'I do not know,' answered Gandalf. `But I found myself suddenly faced by something that I have not met before. I could think of nothing to do but to try and put a shutting-spell on the door. I know many; but to do things of that kind rightly requires time, and even then the door can be broken by strength. `As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said; they seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was ghâsh; that is "fire". Then something came into the chamber - I felt it through the door, and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent. It laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell. 'What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge. The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command. That proved too great a strain. The door burst in pieces. Something dark as a cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down the stairs. All the wall gave way, and the roof of the chamber as well, I think." (J.R.R. Tolkien The Fellowship of the Ring chapter 5 the Bridge of Khazad Doom) And, as you may see, when pressed, Gandalf doesn't use magic. He "had to speak a word of Command". He had to use angelic power to Command the door to be shut. The word of Command comes from God. Afterwards he reveals himself as a Maia, an servant of "Secret Fire" which in Simarillion is called "the Flame Imperishable" and is most likely... the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity. "You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. `I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.'" That is plain saying "Dark magic will not help you, demon of the underworld" for "I am a servant of Holy Spirit, an angelic being". If that is not Christianity I don't know what is. But one has to read Silmarillion to understand all that.

[@golem4892]

@@Raiseflag_Surrender pretty much spot on. Harry Potter is certainly on the satanic side, where as Lord of the Rings is very much a catholic story. You put it much better than I, so I'll leave it at my agreement 🤝

[@andrewsims4123]

I gave up on this, I cowardly man having a laugh at people not present to defend themselves. I was led to believe this was about lord of the rings.

[@margaretmiros1672]

Hopelessly biased lecturerr Have heard better.

[@NorwoodingSkullMask]

It's biased to point out the meaning of the book?

[@brandonmason3311]

What exactly are you talking about?

[@timotheedavi6578]

A courageous man boldly challenging said people to later defend their irrational and vicious thinking, as well as their smug behavior. It is also a lecture about Lord of the Rings, showing its metaphysical foundations with ample proofs from Tolkien's letters and main works. All of that by an incredibly educated man who could, from memory, recount the metaphysics of Plato, Thomas, Nietzsche, or Heidegger. In sum, you could not be further from the truth. Give the video another try.

[@ghrohrs2025]

There's not much perfectly suited to your stubborn arrogance. You should expect to experience much more ahead because your brutal intolerance will make you unable to connect to anything above and beyond yourself.