Is Tolkien Gnostic?

I have recently been made aware of a Catholic priest who contends that J.R.R. Tolkien's series about Middle Earth is gnostic and bad.

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.