fiction

Never in my life have I heard of such rubbish. The Word of God is to be the only basic source for the study of God's Word--not a trilogy of fantasy novels. Many Christians are becoming so wrapped up in pop culture that they have trouble differentiating the difference between the fictional events found within The Lord of the Rings and the true, inerrant Word of God.

We need to get out of Middle-Earth and into the real world. You cannot find strength, guidance, and spiritual power in a fictional collection of stories, regardless of whether or not they are allegories of the Christian's journey.

"Walking With Frodo"?! Is this meant to equate Frodo with Jesus Christ? Reality check: Frodo was never real, Middle-Earth was never real, and all the events which took place within Tolkien's world never happened. Christ was real, however. The battles He faced and the battles we face are very real, and we therefore should not waste our time in thinking that this garbage will assist us in them.

Sarah Arthur's "Walking with Frodo" blew me away. I received it as a gift and thought it was merely an attempt to cash in on the LOTL craze. I was wrong. This book is an excellent devotional or small group study guide. And you don't have to be a total LOTL fan to "get it" ... Eminently readable and biblical without being heavy handed ... I loved it. Even those who don't consider themselves Christians can enjoy the thought-provoking and well realized chapters. Those who are "Bible-shy" can understand the author's points by following her references to The Lord of the Rings. Well done! I can't wait to see what Sarah Arthur does next.

My motivation for reading "Walking With Frodo" was primarily an interest in Tolkien's work, rather than in Christian devotion. "Walking With Frodo", however, is not a critique or analysis of Tolkien from a Christian perspective. Rather, the author Sarah Arthur uses Tolkien as a jumping-off point to discuss Christian themes. The book is primarily aimed at young people.

Given even this purpose "Walking With Frodo" does not work well. Ms. Arthur draws comparisons between Tolkien's work and Christian thought that are thin and conclusory. She begins, for example, by describing Gandalf's battle with the flaming Balrog. With no more support than that, she immediately tells the reader that of course the parallel creature in Christianity is Satan. (Tolkien was once asked if his work could be compared to Wagner's "Ring" cycle of operas. Tolkien answered that both works contained references to rings and that was the end of the comparison. The Balrog/Satan comparison strikes me as similarly light-weight.)

Ms. Arthur draws other comparisons and conclusions in a similar vein, using very little Tolkien material to support them. I find it hard to imagine that any young person with a good grounding in Christianity to begin with, is going to obtain anything more in this volume that could not be gained merely by reading the Bible itself or participating in related group activities. If the purpose is to attract young people who are LOTR fans to consider Christian values, I fear that any young person intelligent enough to read and understand Tolkien's work will see through "Walking With Frodo" as a thin attempt to tie Christian ideas to the coattails of Tolkien's current popularity.

I note also that although Ms. Arthur identifies Prof. Tolkien as a Christian, she does not mention that he was Catholic. (Likewise, C.K. Chesterton is identified as a Christian in a footnote, with no mention of his Catholicism.) While Protestants and Catholics may enjoy closer relations now, we know that this was not always so, either in this country or in Tolkien's time in Britain. We should remember that it was not too long ago that some Americans questioned whether a Catholic could lead this country as its President. In a book aimed at young people who may not be fully aware of the circumstances of Catholic/Protestant relations, (and as one who has had a Catholic education through college) I would have liked to have seen the fact of Tolkien's Catholicism mentioned.