Fr. Robert Barron comments on "Lord of the Rings" (Part 2)

Another part of a video series from Wordonfire.org. Father Barron will be commenting on subjects from modern day culture.

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[manwithouthat44]

fr barron, while naming all these similarities between the bible and the lord of the rings, dont you see the biggest similarity, that its both fantasy.

[wordonfirevideo]

@manwithouthat44 Friend, if you can't tell the difference in genre between the Lord of the Rings and, say, the book of the prophet Jeremiah or second Samuel or the Gospel of Matthew, then I give up.

[Dkayed85]

I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.

J. R. R. Tolkien

British scholar & fantasy novelist (1892 - 1973)

Nuff said.

[wordonfirevideo]

@Dkayed85 "The Lord of the Rings is a Catholic novel." J.R.R. Tolkien, British scholar and fantasy novelist, in a private letter.

[Audioepics]

@Dkayed85 I think you are right, Tolkien did indeed hate allegory but he also stated that he preferred the term "applicability". And about that, he said "one resides in the freedom of the reader, the other in te purposeful domination of the author". Being a Catholic, Tolkien infused the story with symbols that meant a lot to HIM, but he did not intend to preach Catholicism to anyone. That's the beauty of fantasy. You take out of it what you find meaningful.

[manwithouthat44]

@manwithouthat44 oh I think its very cool that you respond to commenters, and I enjoy your videos to an extent. I dont believe but Im interested in religion, most of all chatolicism, I like religion, I just cannot stand apologetics, youre the carsalesman of philosophy. Smooth talk, wishful thinking. Dont want to be offencive or anything. I would love it if you would respond to this. Oh btw, english isnt my first language so excuse my poor grammar, and I cant express myself like I would like to.

[manwithouthat44]

@wordonfirevideo .... you would "win" But that doesnt make it any more true. Anyone in his right mind doesnt have to study anything about the bible to know there is nothing "truthful" about it in that sense. I take christinanity as serious as any south pacific tribe that worhships some shipwrecked WOII pilot or thinks Prince Phillip is a god, and who pray for them to come back to their island to save them. What more credibility does this Jesus guy have. Apologize and excuse your way around that

[manwithouthat44]

@manwithouthat44 No I probably will never "win" any argument with you over religion OR anything else. Thats what annoys me so much about you and these other apologetics. Youre so overeducated in these philosophy jargon, that youve lost all sense of reality but can overanalize and "win" any argument with anyone about anything by just manipulatively excusing and apogalizing your way around it. Even if your stance was that Im actually not a man, but always been a women, or that santaclaus exists..

[manwithouthat44]

@wordonfirevideo oh so now I am the dumb one for not believing that this jesus is a god who got executed 2000 years ago is still alive watching us and waiting to return to puth all the naughty people in hell and good people to heaven. Yes its a corny argument but it IS a myth, a fairytale, poetry, literature, fiction with plotholes at most.

[TheOrthodoxSteven]

The Lord of the Rings is indeed thoroughly Catholic and Christian in its thematic structure and substance, but its also true to say that none of the characters, places, items, or symbols within the novel are one-to-one allegories with things in the real world. Tolkien's "secondary world," as he said repeatedly, exists for itself and on its own terms, and there is no inner or hidden message in it. So while it is indeed Catholic, it is not so in a catechetical or didactic sense.

[SunsetSix]

Father Barron, will you comment on homosexuality sometime?