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Billy Hallowell, TheBlaze — When examining popular literary works, there’s often a fascinating story surrounding the author and his or her intended purpose in crafting the messaging within a book. From religious sentiments to embedded ideals about the human condition, fiction is often used to make grand and pertinent statements about mankind. Case in point: J.R.R. Tolkien and his book, “The Hobbit.”In “The Christian World of the Hobbit,” a new literary analysis of the popular writer, author Devin Brown examines the intense religious nature of Tolkien’s written works. In a recent interview with CBN.com, Brown provided some fascinating tidbits of information. Among them, a fact that many Tolkien fans might not be aware of: “The Hobbit” author was responsible for bringing C.S. Lewis to the Christian faith.
Here’s what Brown had to say about Tolkien’s religious views and his assistance in helping Lewis find Christ:
[Tolkien] was Roman Catholic. His mom converted; she had been an Anglican. His dad died. So, he went with her in the Catholic faith and was very devout, very pious. That said, when he helped bring Lewis to Christianity—he didn’t bring him to Catholicism, he brought him to Christianity. Certainly, his commitment to Christ was first and his denomination second. But, yeah, he was very pious, went to church not just every Sunday, but often every day. He was one of those kind of people, that I don’t know that very many of them exist anymore.And just as Lewis was brought to faith by Tolkien, it was Tolkien who owes the success of his books to Lewis. In fact, “The Hobbit” author quit twice while working on “The Lord of the Rings” book project (a follow-up to “The Hobbit”), with Lewis begging him to continue.
“You’re going to leave me hanging here? You’ve got to finish it,” Lewis essentially told Tolkien. “This is going to be your great work.”
And complete it he did. Considering the intricate nature of Tolkien’s faith and his deeply held connection to Christ, naturally, his writings are reflective of that devotion. Brown contends that, while Tolkien didn’t initially write his books to be overtly Christian, over the long process of edits and amendments, the literary works did, indeed, end up having faith-based imagery infused within them.
[...] Believers who are unfamiliar with the books and movies might be surprised to find that the faith-based themes are deeply-rooted under the surface. It’s ironic, too, considering that Lewis so overtly discussed his religious views in his writings. Tolkien, in contrast, seemingly prefers a more under-the-rader handling of his theological perspective, as noted by Brown.
In an interview with Alabama.com, English professor Jane Chance of Rice University corroborated this notion, noting that Christian beliefs do, indeed, exist just beneath the surface.
“If you go to see ‘The Hobbit’ with a sense of Christianity in mind, you’re going to see morality and some underlying spirituality that we might perceive as being Christian,” she explained. ”Both ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ are deeply religious in their subtext. You’re not going to find that on the surface.”
In “The Lord of the Rings,” too, Chance said that Christian themes were prevalent.
“Aragorn represents a savior figure in a lot of ways,” she told Alabama.com. “He’s a hero but he’s also a Christ figure in many ways, bringing harmony to Middle Earth.”
“The Hobbit” will premiere this weekend in theaters across America. » Read More
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About the Author
Billy Hallowell has been working in journalism and media for more than a decade. His writings have appeared in Human Events, Mediaite and on FOXNews.com, among other outlets. Hallowell has a B.A. in journalism and broadcasting from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York and an M.S. in social research from Hunter College in Manhattan, New York. He is the founder of Pathufind Media and lives just outside NYC with his wife. You can find him on Twitter @BillyHallowell.