“Last year I was in Oxford and had the privilege of meeting Priscilla Tolkien – J.R.R.Tolkien’s daughter. I commented on her father’s work and said I reckoned he was the best Catholic evangelist of the twentieth century. She asked why I thought that. ‘Because he kept alive through a work of imagination a Christian view of reality.’
“Apparently there is an audio lecture going the rounds slamming Tolkien. I haven’t listened to the lecture, but I understand it is along the lines of ‘Nobody ever came to faith and was baptized by reading fantasy novels like Lord of the Rings and there’s no myth or fantasy literature in the Bible so what good is it?’ Whether I am over simplifying the lecturer’s point or not doesn’t matter, because he does raise an interesting question: Is J.R.R.Tolkien an evangelist or not?”
In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on why he considered Tolkien an evangelist.
To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:
Standing on My Head: Was Tolkien an Evangelist? (12 FEB 14)
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