The Good News of the Return of the King. Michael T. Jahosky

The Good News of the Return of the King

the Rings was a Christian story; we have failed to understand how it is a Christian story. Although a bit more complicated, neither was Tolkien confused about whether The Lord of the Rings was an allegory or not. In a letter to Joanna de Bortadano in 1956 Tolkien wrote, “Of course my story is not an allegory of Atomic power, but of Power (exerted for Domination).”28 On the other hand, Tolkien also said, “I cordially dislike allegory in all of its manifestations.”29 Is The Lord of the Rings an allegory in one sense but not in another? There has been an incredible amount of confusion about this issue in Tolkien studies. One of the main goals of this book is to demonstrate that this apparent contradiction can be resolved through a proper understanding of parables. Tolkien’s letters also reveal an intense reverence for the miracle of the incarnation, which will be crucially relevant to our discussion about parables. I am indebted to Holly Ordway’s book Apologetics and the Christian Imagination specifically for the connection between the incarnation, story, and apologetics. Many Tolkien scholars have taken some of the comments he made about the incarnation in his letters to mean that either The Lord of the Rings is not a Christian story or that it is, but it contains no incarnation.30 Neither theory is correct because both stem from a theology that is not rooted in the parables.

Jesus spoke in parables to challenge and gently lure his audience into discipleship, not to coerce them into a conversion. Jesus relied on metaphorical language not because it was another way of saying what could have been said literally, or to deceive people, or to make an emotional impact, but because what he wanted to say was inseparable from the way he was saying it.31 Any understanding of the Christian worldview which fails to keep parables at its center must, I am convinced, be revised. According to Sallie McFague, “if the parable (and its close cousins, story and confession) are seen as primary forms for theology, then the content of theology might well be different than it has been in the past.”32 Since Jesus spent the greater part of his ministry speaking in parables, a non-parabolic theology will miss too much. As we will see, this is a topic that not only Tolkien himself understood and took seriously, but a subject which Father Robert Murray—one of Tolkien’s close friends—delivered a sermon about during the Tolkien Centenary in 1992.

If our understanding of Christian theology is grounded in Jesus’s parables three things become clear not only about Tolkien and his mythology, but about Christianity as well. First, as his 1939 lecture “On Fairy Stories” and his friend Murray’s sermon “J. R. R. Tolkien and the Art of the Parable” will both make clear, Tolkien’s theology was indeed grounded in Jesus’s parables, an important fact which subsequently shaped the way he understood “fairy stories.” Second, we will see that Tolkien’s reverence for the miracle of the Incarnation stemmed from his parabolic theology. In other words, Tolkien recognized that there is a relationship between the incarnation and Jesus’s parables. Parables are, in short, incarnational myths. Parables are the best means of communicating the reality of the incarnation because their form is incarnational. Thirdly and finally, as we will learn in the Introduction, Jewish parables are monarchic. The root word for “parable” in Hebrew, which is mashal, originally meant “shadow” or “rule.” This is a reflection of the way Semitic kingship was understood in the ancient world. God’s “shadow” on earth was the king, who was also his “son” or “image.” The king also ruled on earth as God’s steward.33 As N. T. Wright has said, “the very form of the parable thus embodies the content it is trying to communicate: heaven appearing on earth.”34 As a corollary of this, I hope to show that Tolkien was a very profound and effective Christian apologist because of his intimate understanding of parables. Once again, I realize calling Tolkien an apologist may take some Tolkien scholars by surprise since Tolkien was quiet and guarded in his witness, but as we will see, there is abundant evidence to suggest that he was as great an apologist as Lewis was. My hope is that this book will reveal that Tolkien’s books, especially The Lord of the Rings, comprise a beautiful literary apologetic for Jesus Christ and the gospel. In the words of C. S. Lewis, I hope this book is like “red beef and strong beer” for your “road into Jerusalem.”35

Acknowledgments

I have told my wife, Sarah, that after this book is finished, I would like to go see mountains again, like Bilbo told Gandalf at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring: “I want to see mountains again, Gandalf—mountains; and then find somewhere where I can rest.”36 This book has been a joy to write, but it has been a long and weary road. Writing this book has been one of the biggest challenges of my life, and I have been helped by many people that I would now like to thank. Sarah, my wife, has been by my side every step of the way from the conception of the book to its completion, and without her love, support, and companionship, this book would have never been finished. I have had to write this book without any time off from a full-time teaching position over many years, and so Sarah graciously helped me find the time to make sure I could reach the finish line. I want to thank Paul Gould who decided to answer an email from a stressed-out humanities professor whom he did not know and then graciously connected me to people who in turn helped me find a home for my book at Wipf and Stock. Paul, thank you for taking a chance on me and for your guidance and support. I am also indebted to many members of my family, most of all Mom and Dad, who encouraged and supported me constantly. The opportunities you provided me with over the last two decades have led to the creation of this book; thank you, I love you both very much. I am also grateful to my in-laws, especially Kelly, who read portions of this manuscript and gave me wise advice over the years. Last, but not least, I want to thank my sister, Jan Jahosky, for helping me market this book, and Matthew Wimer at Wipf and Stock for his support.

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Christian Reflections by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1967, 1980

God in the Dock by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1970

On Stories and Other Essays by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd

3 Ways of Writing for Children by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd

Selected Literature Essays by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1969

Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1955

Pilgrims Regress by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1933

Letters to Children by CS Lewis ©copyright CS Lewis Pte Ltd 1985

Excerpts from THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH: The History of Middle-earth, Volume XII by J.R.R. Tolkien, Copyright ©1996 by Frank Richard Williamson and Christopher Reuel Tolkien as Executors of the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from UNFINISHED TALES OF NUMENOR AND MIDDLE-EARTH by J.R.R. Tolkien, Copyright ©1980 by J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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