Lord of the....?

I’ve just finished reading “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. It’s a brilliant book, but it’s taken me ages to get round to reading, despite seeing the 3 Lord of the Rings films, and having bought the book from Oxfam about 4 years ago.

All throughout, you could see the glimpses of Christian thought in it.  Summing it up, it’s basically about one person on a quest to destroy the world of evil. Lord of the Rings, or Lord of the Cross – both have the exact same message in it.

Firstly, in some of the Characters, we see the different qualities of Jesus:

• We have the protagonist, Frodo, the one who carries the “One Ring to rule them all”. He carries the burden of the Ring as Christ carried the burden of sin. He receives a wound in his chest, much like the spear wound Christ had on the Cross.
• Sam Gamgee, Frodo’s best friend. He sticks by him no matter what. He pretty much would die for Frodo, summing up Jesus’ command: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
• Gandalf is the teaching side of Jesus. He leads the Fellowship, and he is their guide – both as a mentor and a physical guide.  This is much like God. We can rely on God to direct us both in our physical way (what we’re going to do, our future etc.) and also he shapes and guides our thoughts, feelings and attitudes.

• The ‘One Ring’ is sin – it’s the forbidden fruit everyone wants. Gollum calls it “my precious” (how often do we try to keep our sin to ourselves, and not really admit it?). Everyone wants it, even though they know it does no good, and will destroy anyone who had it. It was made by an evil person – just like Satan tempts with sin.
• Many other Characters say or do things that are very ‘Christian’ or God-Like. The journey with the ring is like the Via Dolorosa that Jesus carried his cross upon, with the Ring being the Cross.  The book is just FULL of sneaky references to Christian theology!

If you haven’t read it, get reading it soon!

God Bless,
Morrison