Quote:
Originally Posted by Belfaborac
Any traditional fantasy story featuring good vs. evil or light vs. dark can be interpreted as having Christian theme, if one wants to interpret it that way. I'm betting the same goes for pretty much any book of any length - look closely and you'll find something that can be interpreted in a religious way. Tolkien always maintained that neither the war, nor religion featured deliberately in his work and I see no reason to doubt him.
C. S. Lewis on the other hand meant his stories to have Christian themes, so subtlety or a lack thereof didn't enter into it.
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I don't think that Tolkien denies Christian themes, rather he denies overt Christian symbols and allegories. Indeed, from what I have read he intended this work to develop a pre-christian world that was consistent in morality and belief with Christianity (in the same way Christians would hold that the Prophets of the old Testament held beliefs consistent with Christianity).
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Bill