Divine Providence in "The Hobbit"

I should warn you right up front that this post will ooze with intense nerdiness. I'm a total J.R.R. Tolkien fanboy and have even joked that his veneration would be the only condition by which I would consider converting to Catholicism. While I may not actually be that extreme, I'm devoted enough to have a set of Lord of the Rings PEZ candies as the centerpiece for my room.

Likewise, I'm eagerly awaiting the release of The Hobbit movie(s). In anticipation for the films, I've re-read the book so that I can criticize Peter Jackson's changes more intelligently. It's been years since I've read the book and I noticed some things that had escaped me the first time around.

I had never realized that one of the major themes of the book is "luck". While initially skeptical that their pint-size burglar will be of any worth, Thorin and Company eventually begin to respect Bilbo Baggins as one of the most valuable members of the enterprise. It's Mr. Baggins that rescues the Company from such strapes as giant spiders, overly skeptical wood-elves and eventually the dragon himself. The qualities that allow Bilbo to perform such feats include wit, stealth, courage, wisdom and disproportionate amount of good luck. His excessive luck is referred to several times in the book.

However, at the very end of the book (literally the last page) there's a twist of sorts. It's revealed that Bilbo's luck was not luck at all. The last bit of The Hobbit jumps ahead a few years to find the fruits of Bilbo's labors. The North is rid of many evils and the free folk live in peace and prosperity.

Upon discovering this, Bilbo exclaims: "Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion!"

To this, Gandalf offers a rebuke: "Of course! And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit?"

Hinted in these words is a very interesting thought. Bilbo's luck was not "mere luck". It was purposeful and designed to fulfill a larger end. Some would call this fate. Christians call it providence.



I really do believe that providence is a major theme in Tolkien's works. This theme is picked up in The Lord of the Rings. Interestingly enough, the first time Bilbo's "luck" comes into play is in his discovery of the One Ring. Thus, if luck is a tongue-in-cheek expression for providence, then we learn that God purposed the Ring to fall into the hands of the hobbit. It is in this context that Gandalf would assure Frodo that there are greater powers in the world than that of evil and that the younger Mr. Baggins was meant to have the Ring.

In many respects, the Tolkien canon is similar to the Book of Esther in that God is never explicitly mentioned and yet His sovereign hand is seen everywhere if one looks for it. Unlike in the movie, Tolkien has the Ring destroyed not by Frodo but by the providence itself. In the end, only a sovereign God can defeat evil.

For our part, it's vital that we embrace our role  as little pieces in God's bigger plan. We cannot determine the times in which we live. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

This is the attitude of Bilbo. In explaining the larger purposes of the hobbit's quest, Gandalf says to him: "You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!"

And then the last line in the book is: "Thank goodness!" said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.

Bilbo is relieved to discover that he's just a little fellow used for a far grander purpose than himself. So should be the attitude of all followers of God Almighty.

7 Christian Fantasy Books That You May Never Have Heard Of But Should Totally Read

Many of you may know that I'm an absolute sucker for quality fantasy fiction (by quality I mean that Twilight doesn't count). I'm eagerly anticipating The Hobbit movie(s) and have always appriciate the imagination is takes to create these works.

But I've also learned a great deal from many fantasy writers. Because it deals almost by definition with the supernatural, fantasy is probably the most inherently spiritual genre. While this means that it can be very dangerous when done badly (Satanism, paganism and so on) it also means that fantasy can be a powerful tool is exploring Christian truth.

Christians have a long history in the genre. The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia are of course the bulwarks of the Christian fantasy - one the standard of allegory and the other the standard of Christian applicability. While these two works are definitely the best known, there are many other like works that I think deserve some attention. I'd like to direct you to my personal favorites.


From John Bunyan:


I was first introduced to this style of writing when my Sunday school class read The Pilgrim's Progress. Since then my mind has been captivated by the educational and inspiration power of allegory. But it's only been recently that I've been introduced to two other allegories written by the Baptist preacher. The Life and Death of Mr. Badman is the reverse of The Pilgrim's Progress. Holy War is a mind blowing tale of God's benevolent conquest over the human heart.


From George MacDonald:

C.S. Lewis referred to George MacDonald as his master. It was while reading Phantastes that a young atheist Lewis was confronted with holiness. He would later say that MacDonald baptized his imagination. I would recommend starting your explanation of MacDonald by reading The Princess and the Goblins and the sequel, The Princess and Curdie. In these books you can definitely see the inspiration for Lewis' writing style. Likewise, the goblins of The Princess and the Goblins served as the inspiration for Tolkien's orcs.


From C.S. Lewis:


Of course, there's the basic Narnia stories which every human being on the planet should read. However, Lewis also wrote many other fiction stories. The Screwtape Letters is a classic that will make you laugh out loud when it's not scaring you to death. In it, Lewis provides many insights into human nature and spiritual warfare. But Lewis believed Til We Have Faces to be his very best work and I can't say that I disagree. The characters are rich, the writing style engrossing and the plot mind blowing. But you have to stick with because it all "clicks" at the very end.


From J.R.R. Tolkien:


The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are absolute must-reads. However, for someone looking to dig deeper, The Silmarillion is a good read. In this massive postmortem work, the professor is much more overt about his Christian faith. Valaquenta (a sub-section of the book) begins, "In the beginning Eru, the One, who in the Elvish tongue is named Iluvatar, made the Ainur of his thought; and they made a great Music before him." If you don't want to read the whole thing just read Of Beren and Luthien. It was Tolkien's personal favorite, inspired in part by his own marriage and the first one he showed to his best friend, C.S. Lewis. It is also pay tribute to through the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings.

These are some of my favorite which I hope you'll enjoy too. I'd love to hear from you as well. What are some of your favorites?

In Defense of Magic

Most of you know that I'm a bit of a fantasy nerd. I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to Lewis and Tolkien. One of the reasons I'm so fond of fantasy is that I believe it to be the most inherently spiritual genre. It deals with the supernatural almost by definition. This is both it's biggest strength and weakness. When done correctly it can powerfully portray biblical truths in a way that no lecture could. The imagination helps to link the mind and the heart. As I've written about before, I believe that good Christian fantasy is essentially theology in 3D. It's no coincidence that the founders of the genre (Bunyan, MacDonald, Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, ect.) were all Christians. However, when it's done wrong, the genre can be very pagan and almost satanic.

For this reason, many Christians have rejected the genre and "magic" altogether. Now, there's certainly a concern that needs to be raised about the misuse of magic. J.R.R. Tolkien himself disapproved of his friend Charles William's use of occult imagery. However, I feel that it's an overreaction to dismiss all stories that deal with the supernatural. I'm not trying to molest anyone conscience. If your conscience doesn't all you to read about Gandalf the White than don't read about Gandalf the White. However, I would like to explain why my conscience not only allows me to read about "magic" but rejoices in it.

Or rather, I'm going to allow a couple of men a lot smarter than I explain it. The following is a couple of videos done by theologian Doug Wilson and his son, novelist Nate Wilson. The first one lays the ground work and talks about (among other things) the difference between "Gandalf wizards" and "Harry Potter wizards". The second one is a follow up video that answers some objections raised to the first interview.

I found them well worth my time and I hope you too enjoy them.

In Praise of Dead Englishmen Who Wrote Fairy Tales

or A Brief Hagiography of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

G.K. Chesterton said, “Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." It's because of this that I have become immeasurably grateful to a couple of dead Englishmen who wrote such fairy tales.

These men, of course, are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm extremely grateful to these two men because they did what few theologians or preachers have been able to accomplish. Through speculative fiction they used the imagination to unite the heart and the mind. C.S. Lewis spoke of the "disarming" effect that such literature has on people. He should know. Though he wrote many works on theology and reality, he never really came into his own until he wrote a children's book for his goddaughter Lucy.

But for me, Tolkien was really my introduction into such literature. Now, I must confess that I watched Peter Jackson's movies before I read the books. However, I quickly fell in love with Tolkien's style and content. But, for me, The Lord of the Rings is more than just classic literature. It's theology in 3D. An author's work is always an expression of his soul. And Professor Tolkien's worldview comes through bright and clear in his works. I never really understood total depravity until I read about the damning effects of the Ring. Philio love didn't "click" until I was taken by the friendship of Frodo and Sam. Courage and self-sacrifice came to life for me when I first read The Return of the King.

Some Christians will complain about how dark Tolkien's works are. But, it's important to understand what he was getting at. Through the darkness there are always maintained a slim glimmer of hope and those who grabbed onto that hope made it to the other side. Like all good fairy tales, Tolkien showed us that the dragons of a fallen world could be beaten. In The Silmarillion, he says, "Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid the weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures."

But perhaps the reason I love Tolkien the most is because of the impact he had on Lewis. When Lewis and Tolkien met at Oxford, Lewis was a devote atheist. His mother had died at a young age and he had seen many horrors while fighting in World War I (something Tolkien could relate to). Lewis taught medieval literature and wanted to believe that the Bible was just another myth. But, because of his intellect, he simply couldn't. He knew that there was something about Christianity that didn't match the stuff he lectured students about.

One day, Lewis and Tolkien spent all evening walking around a pond, arguing about the truthfulness of Christ's claims. During the course of the exchange, Tolkien commented that Christianity was the "true myth". For some reason, that phrase spoke to Lewis and by the next day we was, in his own words, a reluctant convert.

I cannot even begin to tell you of the impact Lewis has had on my life. To this day, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the only book I've finished in a single day (though I love to read, I'm rather slow at it). Again, the ability to put biblical truths in "3D" had a profound impact on me when I was younger.

Lately, I've become fasinated with his other writings. Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves and Mere Christainity are books that, in my not-so-humble opinion, every human being should read. His logical manner of examining truth and wittily then applying it to practical living is phenomenal. Through Lewis, I learned many practical things, such as the nature of humility and chastity.

But perhaps the thing I'm most grateful for is that he taught me that I need never be afraid of truth. Because, to the Christian, Truth is a Person and a Person whose not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2:10-12). Therefore, we can always go deeper and deeper into Truth and find fulfillment and satisfaction. He brought into profound light that God is the chief end of all things.

And that's why I wrote this piece. Not just to come out of the closet as a fantasy nerd, but to express thankfulness to two dead guys who helped draw me into a deeper relationship with the God of universe in a way that no lecture could.

Mission: Read Like Crazy

The great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said, “The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own.”

Lately, God has been impressing upon the need to gain wisdom from men who already possess it. This has motivated me to start asking more and better questions of different people I admire. It has also motivated me to start reading more non-fiction books by the great contemporary theologians.

I know from experience that these commitments usually fizzle away without two secret ingredients: discipline and accountability. You all can help me with both. I've decided to make a goal of reading ten books by the end of next year.

Why ten? I don't know. It just seemed like a good round number. Likewise, I think it is both a doable goal and a goal that will take a bit of effort. Upon finishing each book I'll be posting a brief review here.



This is my list thus far:

Just Do Something By Kevin DeYoung

Religion Saves and 9 Other Misconceptions By Mark Driscoll

Desiring God by John Piper

Humility: True Greatness by CJ Mahaney

Knowing God by JI Packer

God is the Gospel by John Piper

Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World - Various contributors

How Should We Then Live by Francis Schaeffer

What do you think? Good list? Bad list? What books have been meaningful to you? What books would you recommend?

The Fate of Christian Fantasy

There are two very important things that you should know about me. I love to read and I love to write. Since I was very young I have loved telling and writing stories. My pet genre is speculative fiction - which is a swiping term which includes everything the least bit abnormal. Therefore, I've been keeping a close eye on the Christian fantasy industry.

Remember, epic fantasy - at least as we know it today - has its roots in Christian authorship. There was a time when it was unheard of for a fantasy novel not to have Christian worldview. But, the devil has this tendency to hijack our stuff. As a result, many Christians have given up on fantasy.

Of course, it doesn't help that we as men have stopped paying attention literature. In fact, bookworm often has an inherently feminine flavor. As a result, prairie romances dominate Christian bookstores. It's been a long time since we've seen a big, quality Christian fantasy hit the shelves.

The exception would be people like Ted Dekker. His Books of History Chronicles - a trinity series which includes the Circle Series, Paradise Trilogy and the Lost Books novels - has been widely successful. However, Dekker had already made a name for himself in the thriller department before he decided to try his hand at fantasy. It's extremely hard for new authors to get fantasy published.

However, all is not lost. Having been rejected by the bookstores, many authors are turning to the Internet to sell their work, with varying levels of success. Jay L. Young self-published his Heroes of Old series, which I've heard is a cross between the Bible and X-Men (yeah, I had to think about that for a bit too). Young's series has seen a tremendous level of success for a self-published book. A friend of mine, Adrianne Redding, self-published a beautiful book called RoseBeast (learn more)And some smaller publishers, namely Marcher Lords, have devoted themselves to Christian fantasy.

What does all this mean? It means that there are a growing number of people out there who are hungry for a meaty portion of Christian fantasy and, if necessary, they're willing to go follow some unorthodox roads to get it. With the movement rapidly catching on, it may not be long before we see Christian fantasy hit the mainstream once again.

So, how knows, maybe the days of Tolkien and Lewis may yet return.