I couldn't believe it!
Catholics love Tolkien, and we typically hold on to him as our standard bearer for Catholic literature. So to hear a priest comment about the non-Catholic spin in Tolkien's approach to Middle Earth was overwhelming for me.
There are two lectures over an hour long each:
http://www.audiosancto.org/sermon/20140128-Fantasy-Tolkien-and-Mystic-Flight-part-1.html
http://www.audiosancto.org/sermon/20140128-Fantasy-Tolkien-and-Mystic-Flight-part-2.html
There is also this transcript, in case it is easier to just read what this anonymous priest had to say:
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-fantasy-writing-of-tolkien-was.html
The priest sounds sort of whiny at times, and he can come off as annoying and condescending when it comes to the tone of his voice. But there is a lot of content in his words, which I have tried to focus on.
I have also discovered that someone tried to write a condensed summary of the first lecture. The highlights are as follows:
- WELL-INTENTIONED PEOPLE [CAN LOOK] FOR ANSWERS IN THE WRONG PLACES
- TOLKIEN HATES ALLEGORY
- TOLKIEN EMBRACES MYTH, BUT THE CHURCH DESPISES MYTH
- FRUITS OF TOLKIEN'S SERIES [ARE NOT THAT GREAT]
- TOLKIEN'S WORLD "ARDA" HAS A GNOSTIC CREATION
- TOLKIEN'S ANCIENT HISTORY OF ARDA LENDS ITSELF TO EVOLUTION AND PAGANISM
- TOLKIEN DOES NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT DEATH IS
- TOLKIEN'S MAGIC IS HORIZONTAL, NOT VERTICAL
Could this priest be true in his warnings against the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion? His presentation goes against a lot of my sensibilities as a Catholic reader. But perhaps I am only reacting against the priest in this way because I love the Lord of the Rings so much?
It is hard to tell.
