"David Rodemaker" <dar at horusinc.com> said... > > On Mon, Nov 25, 2002 at 07:26:08PM -0600, David Rodemaker > > <dar at horusinc.com> wrote: > > > > Well, yeah. Except that for Lewis, the Christian mythos is absolutely > > > > true about the universe. The fair question, as I see it, is: Did Lewis > > > > expect the series to hit people this way, or could he reasonably have > > > > expected it to? And if so, how did he feel about it? -- Not > > necessarily > > > > questions we can answer. > > > The same argument could be made about LOTR, it's certainly as > > Christian as > > > Narnia is... > > > > Um, no. Narnia is very much a direct analogy, and the author > > admits it. Tolkien in LOTR denies any allegory along those > > lines, and it's a much weaker connection. > > > > I don't deny there are some parallels, but Narnia is several > > large steps closer to Christianity than Middle-Earth. > > Bah. > > Denial does not equate actuality. The amount of mystical Christian allegory > in LOTR is quite high, and any degree of 'less/more' really starts to hinge > on the intentional/unintentional axis. Besides, while Narnia is a somewhat > direct analogy, and explicitly so, of the NT, that does not mean that LOTR > *isn't* a less explicit but no less direct analogy. > > IIRC, his denials mainly tendered to the question that LOTR was written as a > commentary of WWII. > > (That is based btw, on reading done *many* years ago of his letters, etc. > Specific denials of Ring=Nukes and a specific comment comes to mind along > the obverse, 'Gandalf is an angel') > > I can't think of medium-to-large 'sized' concept from Christianity that I > cannot find without difficulty in LOTR. And I can find Judaic concepts in Christian Myths. I can find Druidic concepts in Christian Myths. I can find Wiccan concepts in Christian Myths. I can find Buddhist concepts in Christian Myths. This does not make Christianity Pagan or Buddhist any more than finding Christian concepts in LotR makes it a "Christian" work. Paul -- Good planning and organisation are just crutches for people who can't handle stress and caffeine. http://members.optushome.com.au/velvetspyder Costumier & Reprobate