The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth [Paperback]

Ralph C. Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2003

In this accessible and engaging book, Ralph Wood shows us that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece is a deeply Christian work because it does not blink back the horrors of our terrible times but confronts them with startling honesty. Readers keep turning to this work because here they are immersed in significance and meaning - perceiving the Hope than can be found amidst despair; the Charity that overcomes vengeance; and the Faith that springs from the strange power of weakness. The Gospel According to Tolkien will be loved by both longtime Tolkien fans and those recently drawn to his books through the popular feature films.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers and fans of J.R.R. Tolkien have long been aware of the Christian underpinnings of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Still, Tolkien has not been without his religious critics, including those who have read a fascination with paganism into the pre-Christian world of Tolkien's creation. Wood, a professor of theology and literature at Baylor University, responds to those critics with an academically sound retort of "Nonsense!" Acknowledging straight off that Rings is devoid of any traces of "formal religion," Wood offers countless pieces of evidence that support his analysis of the full-fledged, deeply Christian theology of the mythological culture of Middle-earth. And he does so convincingly. Even longtime fans of Rings who have never questioned the books' Christian elements will undoubtedly discover new insights, so rich is Wood's analysis of Tolkien's gospel. But be forewarned: This is not a book for the casual reader. Rather, it is a somewhat scholarly endeavor for those who want a more thorough understanding of the underlying themes that have made The Lord of the Rings novels, as well as Tolkien's other writings, such enduring treasures. Wood teases out those themes-life and death, good and evil, courage and cowardice, mercy and justice and of course, faith, hope, and love-to reveal the faith-filled nature of Tolkien's theocentric and sacramental, albeit fictional, world.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Ralph Wood's The Gospel According to Tolkien will send readers back to Tolkien's work to see what they had missed, as well as to enjoy what they had seen before. --Mark A Noll, author of America's God; From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; 1 edition (October 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664226108
• ISBN-13: 978-0664226107
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > History & Criticism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful and thought-provoking, October 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth (Paperback)

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.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wood is faithful to Tolkien, October 7, 2003

By 

Gerad Gentry (Mart, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth (Paperback)

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.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good companion., March 24, 2005

By 

Israel Galindo (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth (Paperback)

The plethora of books with a variant of the title "The Gospel According To ..." continues to fill bookshelves and entice the unwary buyer into reading some attempt to shoehorn popular culture into the biblical message. The earliest of this genre that I can recall was The Gospel According to Peanuts (still in print since 1965), after the popular cartoon strip by the late Charles Schultz. Being a confessing Christian, Mr. Schultz did on occasion openly present a Christian message through his syndicated strip-the most famous and endearing being the rendition by the blanket-hugging Linus of Luke's birth narrative in Schultz' animated Christmas television feature. Today we have our choice of The Gospel According to Dr. Seuz, The Gospel According to The Simpsons, The Gospel According to Harry Potter, The Gospel According to Disney, and The Gospel According to The Sopranos (I'm not making that last one up, really).

Ralph C. Wood, professor of theology and literature at Baylor University, has now added to that collection The Gospel According to Tolkien. It is arguably the only volume that can legitimately make a claim to that title, for as Wood ably demonstrates, Tolkien's corpus is implicitly, but authentically, Christian. Tolkien's Middle Earth trilogy has experienced a rediscovery, if not a revival, among a wider audience due to Peter Jackson's brilliant movie interpretation of The Lord of the Rings, so the timing of this publication could not have been more strategic.

Wood presents an accessible theological interpretation to The Lord of the Rings material, though he draws from Tolkien's entire corpus of writings, from works like The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, as well as letters and essays, in which Tolkien provides the background and history of the mythic Middle Earth as well as commentary on the nature and purpose of the literary genre in which he worked. This background material is in evidence especially in the first two chapters of the book in Wood's treatment of the themes of creation, the Fall (both of the mythic world of Tolkien and of the real world), the nature of sin ("iniquity") and evil. Subsequent chapters stay closer to the more familiar Middle Earth material of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These later chapters deal with the themes of good and evil, and Tolkien's vision of the Kingdom. The most valuable contribution of this book, I believe, is Wood's treatment of the redeeming virtues in the panoramic drama of Tolkien's world and ours. Specifically, his treatment of the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, courage, and temperance-as well as his treatment on Tolkien's concepts of eucatostrophes, community, and the nature of stories-serve in an authentic way to connect the dots between Tolkien's dense cosmology and the Christian faith.

For those wishing to delve into the informing Christian theology that plays out behind the curtain of Tolkien's dramatic trilogy, or for those who want an overtly Christian introduction to the epic story of The Lord of the Rings, there is unlikely a better resource to be found. Wood's book will not only help introduce the reader to the theological world of Tolkien's Middle Earth, but will provide insight into the importance of stories-of good stories-to our ability to understand the Gospel message.