The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful and thought-provoking
Review: I have read a number of books that explore the themes of The Lord of the Rings. Some of these books have attempted to deal with alleged Christian themes in the story. Some of those books are ridiculously shallow and superficial. Others are quite insightful. Ralph Wood's book falls into the latter category - a very helpful and thoughtful exploration of the issues. [NOTE: The 1 star review by the person from NYC who could only manage to make it through the first chapters tells us more about the reviewer than the book].

Wood chooses to approach the material in a different way. His book is divided into five chapters, each of which centers on a major element in the Christian worldview: Creation, Evil, the Moral Life, the Redeemed Life, and final Consummation.

Using material drawn from the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion, and other less well-known stories, Wood examines the way that Tolkien handles these themes in the mythology of Middle-earth.

Contrary to what another reviewer below claims, Wood does not overstate his case, nor does he ignore passages in Tolkien's stories that might seem to contradict his thesis (this is particularly true in his handling of the virtue of hope).

The last chapter is especially interesting because it examines a little-known story buried in the multi-volume "History of Middle Earth" series (the specific volume is titled Morgoth's Ring) edited by Christopher Tolkien. This work entitled "The Debate of Finrod and Andreth" is set in the form of a debate between an elf and a human, and it contains a fascinating prophecy of the future incaration of Iluvatar (the one God of the Tolkien mythology) and the final eradication of evil and the renewal of all creation.

Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: I highly recommend this book to any Christian interested in Tolkien. The book is easy to read and contains many references that will surely crack those Tolkien editions open again.

Another reviewer criticized Wood's work as overreaching, but i believe the criticism to be misplaced. The history of Tolkien is one of presenting the Gospel at every turn, from drawing C.S. Lewis to Christianity to producing an overtly Christian literature. It's true that he was fascinated by paganism, but so was Chesterton, who was an influence upon Tolkien as well as a Christian apologist. It should not come as a surprise that Tolkien's work begins with a creation myth story and contain fallen angels, good angels, and a battle for the redemption of humanity that can only compare with Milton's Paradise series (in fact, i'd argue, rising above it). It is far more difficult to claim the epic to be thoroughly pagan than to claim it thoroughly Christian. The critic is the one overreaching.

Dr. Wood's examination is revealing, and i believe one could probe even deeper to uncover even more Christian themes that this volume could not cover. Why does Frodo, a normal powerless hobbit, shine and regain such strength when he bravely confronts Smeagol as he is about to arrive at Mt. Doom if there is no underlining spiritual message? Why does mere bread revitalize when it is thin and tasteless? Lord of the Rings is incredibly and obviously buried in Christian doctrine, though one has to be familiar with the themes to recognize them.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent study in the Christian principles of Middle-Earth
Review: I've found The Gospel According to Tolkien to be the most comprehensive exploration and study on the spiritual themes of Middle-Earth that is available today. Ralph C. Wood shows his true understanding of Tolkien's works, extending beyond just the trilogy of books itself.

No one can deny that, while eschewing blatant allegory (ala C.S. Lewis), Tolkien inserted numerous Christian themes and principles into his wonderful 1,000 + literary work. Wood works his way through the beginning of Middle-Earth (not going back to the Shire; I'm talking the very beginning, when Eru first began the Symphony of Creation) to discuss the Music of the Ainur that sang into being Arda, the world within. No one can deny that a supernatural Father of All ("Eru" literally translated "The One" in Elvish) creating a world with the music of his divine minions is too far off from the mainstream Judeo-Christian story of Biblical Creation. But this is just the beginning. Wood next explores the disfigurement of celestial accord found in the original Dark Lord Morgoth, whose workings wrought great woe in Middle-Earth's founding years. Wood then looks at how evil is countered throughout the ages of Middle-Earth, followed by Tolkien's redeeming principles of life, and finally the lost tale of the coming Consummation of Middle-Earth.

I found the book on a whole to be rather academic, long-winded, and at times dull. But some can find this to be the case with Tolkien's books as well, so you should know what you're in for. Anyone who HAS seen the trilogy through in book form should be able to stick with this. While academic in nature, the contemplations, and revelations are none the less enjoyable.

Again, very comprehensive and complete study of the theological themes gleaned from these works, and if you are interested in learning more about them, buy this book.

Comical side note: Be aware when you buy this book that roughly 50% of the cost is devoted to ten-dollar words like "milquetoast", "supernal", "repudiate", "concupiscence", and "ubiquitous".

Rating:
Summary: The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in M
Review: The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth by Ralph C. Wood is an amazing critical review of Tolkiens works that show the Christian nature of his well read and reknowned works. The text is easy to comprehend and is written with clarity and the reader in mind. 5/5.

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful and thought-provoking
Review: The Lord of the Rings is not a Christian allegory, however Tolkien's devout Christian faith and his intention to impart Christian meanings to the Lord of the Rings is a fact of history. In The Gospel According To Tolkien, Ralph Wood does a wonderful job bringing to light Tolkien's Christian meanings in the Lord of the Rings

Wood did not write a book of the Christian parallels he sees in the Lord of the Rings nor how he interprets the LotR (Lord of the Rings) into his Christian views. Rather Wood's book is about the Christian thoughts that Tolkien intended to get across to the reader in many subtle ways throughout the LotR. Wood is faithful to Tolkien's beliefs and intentions. He does not take something that was said in the LotR and stretch it to his own beliefs or what he wanted it to mean. Though I do not agree with all of Tolkien's views, I appreciate Wood's faithfulness to Tolkien's vision.

Wood's book is very engaging and stimulating. Yet, if you are looking for Harry Potter entertainment you will be very disappointed and will not, (like some critics) make it through the first chapter. I strongly recommend that everyone (Christian or not) read this book and have it in his or her library, if for no other reason than understanding Tolkien's Christian faith and worldview.

Rating:
Summary: A Christian interpretation worth reading, though flawed
Review: This book is for anyone predisposed to finding a Christian message in The Lord of the Rings. It's rather heavy-handed and one-sided, but Ralph Wood is admittedly no slouch. Unlike most Christian readings of Tolkien's classic -- vacuous and devoid of substance -- this one stands as a refreshing reminder that informed studies relating to the author's Catholicism are possible. Wood's thesis is that while much of northern paganism is honored in Lord of the Rings, Christianity resounds through it on a deeper and more profound level.

Wood believes that Tolkien's story is "deeply Christian for not being overtly Christian" -- meaning that since God discloses himself through Israel and then Christ, there can be no other way to reveal Himself directly save through the Biblical Story. Lord of the Rings, therefore, can only reveal Christian truths subtly, without allegory or abstract moralizing. He also ventures that Tolkien's story is "pre-Christian in chronology but Christian in content" -- that the story is set in pagan pre-history, yet anticipates later Christianity by disclosing (covertly) the principle claims of the Christian faith. Pagan brutality and grimness is alive and well in Middle-Earth, but Tolkien�s protagonists rise above this by demonstrating Christian virtues such as mercy and hope. (Wood even argues that the apocryphal debate between Finrod and Andreth anticipates the resurrection of Christ and the human race.)

While Wood makes a fair case here and there, he pushes his thesis way too far. I would say that Lord of the Rings is pagan both in chronology and content, even if it does occasionally hint at "greater things to come". Tolkien was a devout Catholic, but he admired the Scandinavian epics and pagan folklore which he devoted his life to studying. He emulated (and wrote about) pagan themes, notably that of courage for courage's sake, against all the odds, without hope. And on this particular theme -- hope -- Wood misses the mark by zeroing in on exceptional passages as the rule.

The fact is that Christian hope is utterly foreign to the people of Middle-Earth. Tolkien's protagonists remain strangely devoid of need for what the author knew to be a cardinal virtue. Hope, far from being an antidote to despair (its role in Christianity), actually leads to despair: "We now come to the brink," intones Aragorn, "where hope and despair are akin". "There never was much hope for Frodo," Gandalf tells Pippin, "just a fool's hope." In place of hope stand the pagan virtues of courage and cheer: Sam "never had any hope in the quest from the beginning, but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope; he had stuck to his master all the way, and he would still stick to him". Courage -- without the illusion of hope -- is what keeps despair at bay as Frodo and Sam plod on towards Mount Doom.

Even after the Ring's destruction, Frodo says to Sam: "It's like things are in the world: hopes fail." Frodo failed to destroy the Ring (having claimed it for himself; Gollum's freak intervention is what destroyed it), and failure is what he had expected all along. "It's like things are in the world." This is what the people of Middle-Earth know to be true: that evil can be resisted but not overcome, and that it must be resisted for no other reason than because it is the right thing to do.

But Wood has virtually nothing to say about the multitude of passages in which hope is so clearly eschewed by the heroes of Middle-Earth.

The book is nonetheless well written, thought-provoking, and offers a formidable challenge to Tom Shippey's magisterial "JRR Tolkien: Author of the Century".

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking and intelligent
Review: This is a very good study of the Christian underpinning of Tolkien's work. His great mythology is set in pre-Christian times, so cannot be overtly Christian, but celebrates and points to the loveliness and necessity of the great Christian values. Further, it has a Christian eschatology reminiscent of the Four Last Things - Heaven. Hell, Death and Judgement. Even an Orcv and the Lord of the Nazgul, it may be noted, refer to some sort of life after death.

There is no real Christ-figure in The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien himself said Frodo was not an equivalent of Christ but simply a good soldier who sacrificed himself to the utmost in a good cause. Gandalf is a supernatural being - a Maia - equivalent to an angel.

It is interesting to note in the movie of "The Two Towers" how much Galadrial, who blesses and intercedes for the members of the Fellowship, resembles many depictions of the Madoona.

Note too, how the elvish hymn to Elbereth resembles the Catholic hymn "Hail Queen of Heaven"

Tolkien's work is congruent with Christianity, and its message is a celebration of Christian values. Plainly it could not have been set in Christian times - the theological problems would have been too great (the Christian Arthur stories are full of theological difficulties).

I would recommend this book be read in conjunction with the two other best books on the subject - Shippey's "JRR Tolkien, Author of the Century," and Hal GP Colebatch's "Return of the Heroes" both available from amazon.com. Together they give a comprehensive and balanced account of the religious elements in Tolkien's work ("Return of the Heroes" brings in "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" as well.