[HPforGrownups] Re: Baptism/Christianity in HP: was Looking for God in Harry Potter

[Marion Ros]

No: HPFGUIDX 153474


Ken wrote:
>>>Tolkien is reported to have told a Bishop once that Lord of the Rings
is a "very Catholic" story<<<

Yes. But Tolkien also wrote (I paraphrase loosely) "everything I create sprouts from the mulch of everything I've experienced"
A very true thought. And Tolkien *was* a very convinced Catholic. But he was also deeply in love with AngloSaxon culture language (as well as Greek and Latin myths and language, Gothic, Icelandic etc etc)
And Tolkien also *detested* the Narnia stories. C.S. Lewis was one of his dearest friends, but Tolkien scoffed about the mishmash of magical beings and the anachronisms (fauns with umbrellas and beavers making tea etc) and he absolutely *abhorred* allergory, christian or otherwise. Stories, according to Tolkien (and I heartily agree with him), have merit only as *stories*. Of course, the cultural values of an author will be reflected in his/her writings, but is it really necessary of proclaiming everything a christian author writes as 'inherently christian'? 
Why?
What would be the point? 
Can a story only be relevant if it carries some christian 'message' in the christian mind?

Marion

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