WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.680
<v Speaker 1>Up to this point, Mythic Mind Fellowship has taken a

2
00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.919
<v Speaker 1>fairly eclectic approach, in that the Mythic Mind podcast may

3
00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:10.119
<v Speaker 1>be doing one thing, the Games podcast doing another, Mythic

4
00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:12.560
<v Speaker 1>Mind Movies doing another, and this sometimes we also have

5
00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:15.480
<v Speaker 1>a course that's not directly related to what's happening elsewhere.

6
00:00:15.960 --> 00:00:17.839
<v Speaker 1>But I decided that moving forward, I really want to

7
00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.519
<v Speaker 1>have some more cohesion and what we're doing across the board,

8
00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.160
<v Speaker 1>and so starting this fall, we're going to be moving

9
00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.640
<v Speaker 1>in seasonal themes, seasonal emphasis, in which all that we're

10
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.120
<v Speaker 1>doing across movies, games, the main show, courses that may

11
00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:35.240
<v Speaker 1>be happening, book clubs, that everything in articles that we write,

12
00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.119
<v Speaker 1>everything is gonna be oriented around some common themes. And so,

13
00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:41.280
<v Speaker 1>because I was already planning on leading the Cureityguard study

14
00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:44.159
<v Speaker 1>this fall on the concept of anxiety and the sickness

15
00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:47.759
<v Speaker 1>unto death, looking at anxiety to spare how to live

16
00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.640
<v Speaker 1>in an authentic, integrated human life, it made sense to

17
00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:54.799
<v Speaker 1>me to go ahead and give this fall a psychology focus,

18
00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:58.320
<v Speaker 1>for as I'm calling it, exploring the psyche, to have

19
00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:01.600
<v Speaker 1>some some mythological nods there. We're going to be looking

20
00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:06.879
<v Speaker 1>at different aspects of how to be a human self

21
00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.280
<v Speaker 1>who is living a good life. And I'm being pretty

22
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.200
<v Speaker 1>big about that because we'll be hitting at this from

23
00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:15.719
<v Speaker 1>so many different angles right here on the main Mythic

24
00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:18.439
<v Speaker 1>Mind podcast. So we'll be having a number of conversations

25
00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:20.959
<v Speaker 1>that deal with things like, what does it mean to

26
00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.879
<v Speaker 1>live a good life? How do we handle anxiety? What

27
00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.959
<v Speaker 1>is the psychological importance of the idea of home? How

28
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.920
<v Speaker 1>do you live a grounded life? Like, all these different

29
00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:35.439
<v Speaker 1>aspects of what it means to live well all we

30
00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:37.879
<v Speaker 1>be playing out in various conversations. And then you know,

31
00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:40.400
<v Speaker 1>over in Mythic my Movies, Mythic My Games, there's gonna

32
00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:45.120
<v Speaker 1>be a heavily psychological focus in what we're doing over there,

33
00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:47.680
<v Speaker 1>as well as with the articles that we're writing. And

34
00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.359
<v Speaker 1>so as we get that together to really kick off

35
00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:54.840
<v Speaker 1>in September, things are a little bit slow regarding immediate

36
00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.840
<v Speaker 1>production in August, just because we are working on getting

37
00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.159
<v Speaker 1>this new season put together really well. And so for now,

38
00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:03.480
<v Speaker 1>what I want to provide you with is a reading

39
00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:06.879
<v Speaker 1>from the ink. Well, this is going to be a benefit,

40
00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.599
<v Speaker 1>or this already is actually a benefit that is exclusively

41
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.400
<v Speaker 1>available to fellows and companions over at our new site

42
00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.240
<v Speaker 1>at Mythicmindfellowship dot com, which you should check out if

43
00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.080
<v Speaker 1>you haven't done so already. And so fellows and companions

44
00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:24.120
<v Speaker 1>have this private podcast feed that provides readings from the

45
00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:28.439
<v Speaker 1>articles that I write and that other members of the fellowship, right,

46
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.360
<v Speaker 1>and so this is a special benefit for fellows and companions.

47
00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:34.240
<v Speaker 1>But I'm going to make some of these available for

48
00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:36.280
<v Speaker 1>you in the month of August as we're getting this

49
00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.240
<v Speaker 1>new season together. And so if this is something that

50
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.080
<v Speaker 1>you appreciate, something you enjoy, then make sure that you

51
00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:43.520
<v Speaker 1>head over to Mythic Mindfellowship dot com sign on as

52
00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:45.599
<v Speaker 1>a fellow or companion. And by the way, those tiers

53
00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:49.159
<v Speaker 1>also include access to certain courses from Mythic Mine Academy.

54
00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:52.840
<v Speaker 1>Right now you get access to Platohistoicism until we have

55
00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.840
<v Speaker 1>Faces the Lord of the Rings and the fiction and

56
00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.360
<v Speaker 1>Philosophy of C. S. Lewis, and then you'll also have

57
00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.400
<v Speaker 1>access to the upcoming course on Kukyguard which begins in October.

58
00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:05.159
<v Speaker 1>So there's a lot of good stuff there. We've definitely

59
00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:08.039
<v Speaker 1>expanded the value that you get for your dollar over

60
00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.439
<v Speaker 1>at Mythicmindfellowship dot com. But even if you don't sign

61
00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.280
<v Speaker 1>on as a paid member right now. I recommend that

62
00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.439
<v Speaker 1>you still sign on as a free member just to

63
00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:17.400
<v Speaker 1>stay up to date with all the various things that

64
00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.400
<v Speaker 1>we are doing. So again Mythic Mindfellowship dot com or

65
00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:22.479
<v Speaker 1>to click that link in the show notes. But now

66
00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:24.439
<v Speaker 1>let's go ahead and get to our first reading from

67
00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:32.599
<v Speaker 1>the Inkwell. Welcome to the Inkwell, the member exclusive podcast

68
00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:35.319
<v Speaker 1>where we read articles written for Mythic Mind by Andrew

69
00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:38.479
<v Speaker 1>Snyder and other members of the Fellowship. We hope you enjoy.

70
00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:46.199
<v Speaker 2>So today I will be reading my essay that I

71
00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:49.280
<v Speaker 2>posted on the Mythic Mind substack. I'd like to thank

72
00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.280
<v Speaker 2>Andrew Snyder for the opportunity to do this. I really

73
00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:57.080
<v Speaker 2>appreciate it. It's been a lot of fun. So the

74
00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:00.879
<v Speaker 2>title of my essay is Arta Healed, not Arta Unmarred.

75
00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:07.680
<v Speaker 2>Deep Christian anthropology in Tolkien's Athrobeth. Many, if not most,

76
00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:10.159
<v Speaker 2>people are well aware of the fact that J. R. R.

77
00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:14.000
<v Speaker 2>Tolkien was a Christian, specifically a devout Roman Catholic. While

78
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.920
<v Speaker 2>some Christians may remain suspicious of fantasy as such for

79
00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:21.399
<v Speaker 2>religious reasons, and many secular fans may try to pretend

80
00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.800
<v Speaker 2>that Tolkien's Legendarium is a book haunted by the spirits

81
00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:27.399
<v Speaker 2>of the old Gods. Most folks that know anything about

82
00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:29.360
<v Speaker 2>Tolkien seem to know that he was a devout Christian.

83
00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:32.079
<v Speaker 2>If they know a little more than they might know

84
00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:34.959
<v Speaker 2>of his friendship with the great Christian apologist C. S. Lewis,

85
00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.839
<v Speaker 2>If they've really begun to wade into the waters of

86
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.399
<v Speaker 2>tolkien nerdom, then they might have read some of his letters,

87
00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:43.279
<v Speaker 2>or perhaps an essay or two. If you're one of

88
00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:45.759
<v Speaker 2>these people, then you do not need me to convince

89
00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:49.319
<v Speaker 2>you of his Christianity. And I'm not here to do that. However,

90
00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:52.040
<v Speaker 2>I do hope to introduce you to a rather obscure

91
00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:54.759
<v Speaker 2>work of Tolkien's and help you understand not only that

92
00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.199
<v Speaker 2>Tolkien's work is Christian, but how and why exactly. The

93
00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:03.079
<v Speaker 2>Legendarium is quote a fundamentally religious and Catholic work using

94
00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:07.079
<v Speaker 2>a short little philosophical dialogue by Tolkien and published posthumously

95
00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:12.079
<v Speaker 2>by his son called the Athrabeth Finrod Andreth sometime in

96
00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:15.120
<v Speaker 2>the early sixties. Christopher has a hard time dating it exactly.

97
00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:18.360
<v Speaker 2>Tolkien penned this work seemingly in an effort to explain

98
00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.199
<v Speaker 2>some of the philosophical problems that he created for himself

99
00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.639
<v Speaker 2>in the lore surrounding the Elves and Men in Middle Earth.

100
00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:26.959
<v Speaker 2>It takes the shape of a philosophical dialogue and much

101
00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.480
<v Speaker 2>the same tradition as those of Plato, Cicero, or Barkley

102
00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:33.839
<v Speaker 2>and others, though the drama of the dialogue is distinctly Tolkienian.

103
00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:37.519
<v Speaker 2>Athrabeth translates to converse or debate, and so the title

104
00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:41.279
<v Speaker 2>is the Debate of Finrod and Andreth. It's set very

105
00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:43.439
<v Speaker 2>early in the history of Arda, prior to the Battle

106
00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:45.399
<v Speaker 2>of Sudden Flame in the first Age of the World,

107
00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.639
<v Speaker 2>and the debate is between a high eleven lord, Finrod

108
00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:52.000
<v Speaker 2>Felgund and a human wise woman named Andreth of the

109
00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.360
<v Speaker 2>House of Bayor. Finrod, who is one of the Elvin

110
00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:58.319
<v Speaker 2>lords most friendly with men, opens the dialogue mourning the

111
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.959
<v Speaker 2>swift passing of men. Finrod is grieved by this brevity,

112
00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.879
<v Speaker 2>but Andreth observes that their passing was swifter before we

113
00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.560
<v Speaker 2>found this land. Finrod, surprised, then, asks, then are you

114
00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:14.040
<v Speaker 2>content here? Content? Said Andreth, No heart of man is content.

115
00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.360
<v Speaker 2>All passing and dying is a grief to it. But

116
00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:20.199
<v Speaker 2>if the withering is less soon than that is some amendment,

117
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.560
<v Speaker 2>a little lifting of the shadow thus begins the dialog.

118
00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.360
<v Speaker 2>Tolkien created a world in which death is no less

119
00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.079
<v Speaker 2>a tragedy than it is in the primary world, and yet,

120
00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.879
<v Speaker 2>according to the Lore of the Eldar, death is Eru's

121
00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:36.639
<v Speaker 2>gift to men. In his night famous nineteen fifty one

122
00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.560
<v Speaker 2>letter to Milton Waldman, Tolkien explains that the doom of

123
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.879
<v Speaker 2>elves is to be immortal, to love the beauty of

124
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.319
<v Speaker 2>the world, to last well it lasts, never leaving it

125
00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:49.839
<v Speaker 2>even when slain. The doom or gift of men is mortality,

126
00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.800
<v Speaker 2>freedom from the circles of the world. This creates attention

127
00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.480
<v Speaker 2>in Tolkien's lore. If death is a gift of error

128
00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:57.560
<v Speaker 2>to men, then why do men fear it so? If

129
00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.160
<v Speaker 2>death means freedom from the circles of the world, why

130
00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:04.040
<v Speaker 2>does it strike them and us as unnatural and abominable.

131
00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.319
<v Speaker 2>On the other hand, if the Eel's immortality is so

132
00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:10.040
<v Speaker 2>wonderful and enviable, then why does Tolkien, via the Lore

133
00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.519
<v Speaker 2>of the Eldar, frame death as a gift from the creator. Tolkien,

134
00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:16.600
<v Speaker 2>by creating these two peoples who are essentially kin and

135
00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.839
<v Speaker 2>yet essentially estranged because of the problem of mortality, sets

136
00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.720
<v Speaker 2>the background and creates opportunity for a poignant and rich

137
00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.759
<v Speaker 2>reflection on Christian anthropology. A highly sophisticated and deeply Christian

138
00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:32.839
<v Speaker 2>anthropology rooted in Patristic theology, is woven into the fabric

139
00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:36.879
<v Speaker 2>of Tolkien's Arda. Tolkien's Athrobeth reveals the theology in which

140
00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:41.600
<v Speaker 2>the fall is seen primarily as ontological and cosmological, not

141
00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.160
<v Speaker 2>merely as a breach of command and punishment. Tolkien's theology

142
00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:49.199
<v Speaker 2>therefore necessitates, within the secondary world of Arda, the resurrection

143
00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:51.879
<v Speaker 2>of the body and the incarnation of the Son of God.

144
00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:55.759
<v Speaker 2>In the midst of his grief, Finrod attempts to account

145
00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.000
<v Speaker 2>for the lore of his people. Concerning the children of men,

146
00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.720
<v Speaker 2>he says, claim that ye are our kin, and a

147
00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:04.680
<v Speaker 2>kinship far closer than that which binds together all other

148
00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:08.519
<v Speaker 2>creatures of Arda. If we consider the briefness of life

149
00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:10.879
<v Speaker 2>in all Middle Earth, must we not believe that your

150
00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:13.639
<v Speaker 2>brevity is also part of your nature. In typical high

151
00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.480
<v Speaker 2>Elvish fashion, he completely fails to understand the weight of

152
00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.959
<v Speaker 2>the fear and hatred of death which men experience. For him,

153
00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.360
<v Speaker 2>it is easy to see death as a gift ages

154
00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:24.519
<v Speaker 2>of life bound to the earth, and which elves witness

155
00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.439
<v Speaker 2>the marring of Arda have yielded a kind of grief

156
00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.240
<v Speaker 2>in memory of things past. For the elves, being bound

157
00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:32.200
<v Speaker 2>to the circles of the world is not a problem,

158
00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.559
<v Speaker 2>and death is seen as something of an escape not

159
00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.399
<v Speaker 2>allotted to them. But Andreath, for whom the human experience

160
00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.200
<v Speaker 2>of death is all too near, maintains that men are

161
00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.720
<v Speaker 2>not now as they were, nor as their true nature

162
00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.480
<v Speaker 2>was in their beginning. The wise say plainly that men

163
00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:50.000
<v Speaker 2>are not by nature short lived, but have become so

164
00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.759
<v Speaker 2>through the malice of the Lord of darkness. In response

165
00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:57.120
<v Speaker 2>to this, Finrod assumes that if this be so, then

166
00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:59.919
<v Speaker 2>men shared a fate more akin to the elves, i e.

167
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.639
<v Speaker 2>The life which endures as long as the world, but

168
00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.360
<v Speaker 2>no longer, but that the Shadow took that from them.

169
00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:09.120
<v Speaker 2>He asks, you say, we were not made for death,

170
00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.840
<v Speaker 2>nor born ever to die. What do you mean that

171
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:16.039
<v Speaker 2>ye were as we are or otherwise? Andreth is surprised

172
00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:19.799
<v Speaker 2>by this. She says, we considered only dying, and not

173
00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.639
<v Speaker 2>dying of life as long as the world, but no longer.

174
00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:26.399
<v Speaker 2>We had not heard. Tolkien thus introduces two types of immortality.

175
00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.840
<v Speaker 2>The immortality of the elves is such that they last

176
00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.480
<v Speaker 2>as long as Arda, and as Arda will have an end,

177
00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.080
<v Speaker 2>soll the elves. But Andres speaks of another kind of immortality.

178
00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.879
<v Speaker 2>We knew that in our beginning we had been born

179
00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:40.960
<v Speaker 2>never to die, and by that, my Lord, we meant

180
00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:44.840
<v Speaker 2>born to life, everlasting, without any shadow of any end.

181
00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:48.799
<v Speaker 2>Finrod disputes this. He says, you claim to have had

182
00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.679
<v Speaker 2>imperishable bodies, not bounded by the limits of Arda, and

183
00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:55.879
<v Speaker 2>yet derived from its matter and sustained by it. And

184
00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:58.679
<v Speaker 2>you claim, also, though this, you may not have yet

185
00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:02.120
<v Speaker 2>perceived to have had roar in fear that we're from

186
00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.759
<v Speaker 2>the beginning out of harmony. And as a footnote, these

187
00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:07.440
<v Speaker 2>terms roar and fay a are defined than a footnote

188
00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:11.919
<v Speaker 2>of Tolkien's proa or plural roar, corresponds roughly to the

189
00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.720
<v Speaker 2>body of one of the incarnates, in which is housed

190
00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:19.399
<v Speaker 2>the faa or plural faar, which corresponds roughly to the soul.

191
00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:23.679
<v Speaker 2>Tolkien explicitly and importantly states that the Elvish conception of

192
00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:27.159
<v Speaker 2>the self includes both. Moving on with a quote. Yet

193
00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.440
<v Speaker 2>harmony of the heroa in Fea is we believe essential

194
00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.919
<v Speaker 2>to the true nature unmarred of all the incarnate. From

195
00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.840
<v Speaker 2>Finnrod's perspective, death represents the separation of the soul from

196
00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.360
<v Speaker 2>the body, and therefore true immortality would necessitate the immortality

197
00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:44.480
<v Speaker 2>of the body, not only of the soul. This is

198
00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.240
<v Speaker 2>inconsistent with the Lore of the Elder, which states on

199
00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.799
<v Speaker 2>one hand that Arda will have an end, and on

200
00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:52.320
<v Speaker 2>the other that the gift of men lies in their

201
00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:55.679
<v Speaker 2>not being bound to Artis's fate. But if the true

202
00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:59.279
<v Speaker 2>fate of men is to have life, which is truly everlasting,

203
00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:03.679
<v Speaker 2>then this would necessitate Arda being everlasting. Therefore, the fate

204
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.240
<v Speaker 2>and nature of men is bound up with the fate

205
00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:08.799
<v Speaker 2>of Arda. This is where we begin to see Tolkien's

206
00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:11.720
<v Speaker 2>Christian theology really come to the forefront. In the early

207
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.240
<v Speaker 2>fourth century AD, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a treatise

208
00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.000
<v Speaker 2>entitled On the Incarnation of the Word. I have chosen

209
00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:20.240
<v Speaker 2>to focus on this text as the voice of Patristic

210
00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:23.159
<v Speaker 2>theology in the essay for a few reasons. For one,

211
00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:26.919
<v Speaker 2>it is vastly influential on Christian theology both East and West,

212
00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:29.600
<v Speaker 2>and is widely respected as one of the great defenses

213
00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.600
<v Speaker 2>of Christian orthodoxy related to the incarnation of the Son

214
00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.919
<v Speaker 2>of God for another. As will be seen, its themes

215
00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.279
<v Speaker 2>of death as an ontological enemy of human nature and

216
00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:42.200
<v Speaker 2>the restoration of that corrupted nature resonate deeply with Tolkien's themes,

217
00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:46.000
<v Speaker 2>as expounded on explicitly Indiathbeth. It is certainly the case

218
00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:48.720
<v Speaker 2>that Tolkien was deeply acquainted with patristic and of course

219
00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:51.799
<v Speaker 2>medieval theology, especially that of the West, and my central

220
00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.720
<v Speaker 2>claim is that Tolkien weaves this theology into the very

221
00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.039
<v Speaker 2>fabric of his legendarium. At the beginning of the on

222
00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:02.159
<v Speaker 2>the Incarnation, st Athanasius makes its interesting claim. He explains

223
00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.679
<v Speaker 2>that by virtue of being created, humans are brought from

224
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.799
<v Speaker 2>non existence into being. This initial state of non being

225
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:13.000
<v Speaker 2>means that quote, by the principle of its own coming

226
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:15.399
<v Speaker 2>into being, it would not be able to endure eternally,

227
00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.679
<v Speaker 2>and so Athanasius seems to be saying that men are

228
00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.679
<v Speaker 2>by nature mortal. He even states this explicitly, for the

229
00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:24.759
<v Speaker 2>human being is by nature mortal, having come into being

230
00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:29.440
<v Speaker 2>from nothing. However, Athanasius emphasizes that because of his likeness

231
00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.399
<v Speaker 2>to the One who is, he would have remained incorruptible.

232
00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:35.200
<v Speaker 2>That is, the grace of being in the image of

233
00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:38.600
<v Speaker 2>the Creator makes man incorruptible in spite of his mortal nature.

234
00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.240
<v Speaker 2>Athanasius then makes clear that the cause of death then

235
00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:45.759
<v Speaker 2>is sin quote. But human beings turning away from things eternal,

236
00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.200
<v Speaker 2>and by the counsel of the devil turning us towards

237
00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:52.200
<v Speaker 2>things of corruption, were themselves the cause of corruption in death.

238
00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.480
<v Speaker 2>And so Athanasius has presented the fall as a consequence

239
00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:58.840
<v Speaker 2>of sin, but he clarifies that repentance and moral purity

240
00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:01.960
<v Speaker 2>are not enough to rect to fire our nature. He writes,

241
00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:06.039
<v Speaker 2>what should God do demand repentance for human beings for

242
00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:08.840
<v Speaker 2>their transgression. One might say that this is worthy of God,

243
00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.159
<v Speaker 2>claiming that just as they were set towards corruption by

244
00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.279
<v Speaker 2>the transgression, so by repentance they might again be set

245
00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:19.320
<v Speaker 2>towards incorruptibility. But repentance does not recall human beings from

246
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:23.120
<v Speaker 2>what is natural, but merely halt's sins. If then there

247
00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.879
<v Speaker 2>were only offense and not the consequence of corruption, repentance

248
00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:30.159
<v Speaker 2>would have been fine. And so, much like Tolkien, Athanasius

249
00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:32.759
<v Speaker 2>has presented a philosophical problem that is not limited to

250
00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.360
<v Speaker 2>a transgression and penalty, but rather as concerned with death

251
00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:40.799
<v Speaker 2>as an ontological infection of human nature. Andreth and Athanasius

252
00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:44.080
<v Speaker 2>both agree that we had been born never to die,

253
00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.039
<v Speaker 2>but the evil one call him Melchor or Satan, has

254
00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.039
<v Speaker 2>changed the doom of a whole people and robbed them

255
00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:55.320
<v Speaker 2>of their inheritance. In the Aphabeth, then Tolkien offers further

256
00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.200
<v Speaker 2>philosophical explanation of this problem. Finrod argues that due to

257
00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.720
<v Speaker 2>the nature of man and his intended fate, eternal life

258
00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.120
<v Speaker 2>is something of an ontological necessity. Speaking of the proa

259
00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:08.120
<v Speaker 2>or body and Fea or soul, he says that to

260
00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:11.639
<v Speaker 2>divide them is a grievous hurt, and yet each must

261
00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.120
<v Speaker 2>fulfill its right nature without tyranny of the other. Then

262
00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.000
<v Speaker 2>this must surely follow. The Fea when it departs, must

263
00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:21.320
<v Speaker 2>take with it the proa as its eternal spouse and companion,

264
00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:27.000
<v Speaker 2>into an endurance everlasting beyond Aa and beyond time. This, then,

265
00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.360
<v Speaker 2>I propound, was the errand of men, not the followers,

266
00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.679
<v Speaker 2>but the heirs and fulfillers of all, to heal the

267
00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:37.360
<v Speaker 2>marring of Arda, For that Arda healed shall not be

268
00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:40.799
<v Speaker 2>arda unmarred, but a third thing and greater, and yet

269
00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:45.200
<v Speaker 2>the same. If this be so, then grievous was the

270
00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.960
<v Speaker 2>wounding of man's nature. Tolkien, in the voices of Finrod

271
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:53.039
<v Speaker 2>and Andrath, meditates on the calamity of the fall. Finrod says,

272
00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.600
<v Speaker 2>mighty indeed, under erru were men made in their beginning,

273
00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.159
<v Speaker 2>and dreadful beyond all other calamities was the chain in

274
00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.080
<v Speaker 2>their state. This is not a matter of mere transgression

275
00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:07.360
<v Speaker 2>and penalty, but a calamity affecting the whole cosmos. Thus

276
00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:09.840
<v Speaker 2>Finrod and Andreth are left to speculate how the nature

277
00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.360
<v Speaker 2>of men might be restored, forced to rely on hope

278
00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:16.279
<v Speaker 2>or estelle, that Christian virtue which does not rely on

279
00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:20.600
<v Speaker 2>uncertain expectation of good, but rather trust in him who

280
00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.840
<v Speaker 2>quote will not suffer himself to be deprived of his own,

281
00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:28.960
<v Speaker 2>not by any enemy, not even by ourselves. Athenaxious writing

282
00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.559
<v Speaker 2>from the other side of the great yu catastrophe can

283
00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.879
<v Speaker 2>give us the answer. And yet Andreth speaks of a rumor,

284
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.200
<v Speaker 2>an inkling of the salvation to come espoused by those

285
00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.120
<v Speaker 2>of the old Hope. When asked of this, Andreth says

286
00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:44.039
<v Speaker 2>that it was not in the might of men, nor

287
00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.080
<v Speaker 2>in any of the peoples of Arda that the old

288
00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:49.919
<v Speaker 2>hope was grounded. They say that the One will himself

289
00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:54.480
<v Speaker 2>enter into Arda, heal men, and all the marring from

290
00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:58.759
<v Speaker 2>the beginning to the end enter. Athanasius Tolkien has thus

291
00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.919
<v Speaker 2>explicated the central problem of the human condition and how

292
00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:05.559
<v Speaker 2>it affects the cosmos, and imply the solution. Man, whose

293
00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.879
<v Speaker 2>nature contains both roa and phaia, body and soul, was

294
00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.720
<v Speaker 2>created to be immortal, but death has brought us unto corruptibility.

295
00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.120
<v Speaker 2>The death inflicted upon us as bound up with the

296
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.480
<v Speaker 2>fate of the world, and marred our nature in all

297
00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.159
<v Speaker 2>of creation. Therefore, the solution must come from without, from

298
00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:24.519
<v Speaker 2>outside Aea itself, from the one who must enter his

299
00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:28.120
<v Speaker 2>creation in order to heal it. And Athanasius teaches us

300
00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:31.200
<v Speaker 2>about this. He says, being the Word of the Father

301
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.360
<v Speaker 2>and above all, he alone consequently was both able to

302
00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:38.360
<v Speaker 2>recreate the universe and was worthy to suffer on behalf

303
00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:41.200
<v Speaker 2>of all, and to intercede for all before the Father.

304
00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:44.919
<v Speaker 2>For this purpose, then the incorporeal and incorruptible and the

305
00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:48.639
<v Speaker 2>immaterial Word of God comes into our realm by taking

306
00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.279
<v Speaker 2>on our corruptible nature, delivering it over to death on

307
00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.759
<v Speaker 2>behalf of all, he offered it to the Father. He

308
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.879
<v Speaker 2>gave them life from death by making the body his own,

309
00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.639
<v Speaker 2>and by the grace of the resurrection, banishing death from

310
00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.840
<v Speaker 2>them as straw from a fire. For Athanasius, the very

311
00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:07.240
<v Speaker 2>purpose of the incarnation of the Word is to heal

312
00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.440
<v Speaker 2>his own creation and to heal our nature, because he

313
00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:12.920
<v Speaker 2>will not suffer himself to be deprived of his own

314
00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:17.039
<v Speaker 2>The resurrection of the body, by defeating death, undoes the

315
00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:20.640
<v Speaker 2>marring of Arda and restores the grace bestowed upon our

316
00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:24.799
<v Speaker 2>nature of being in the image true children of a Luvitar.

317
00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.839
<v Speaker 2>In this essay, I hope to use this text of

318
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.079
<v Speaker 2>the Athrobeth, Finrada and Dreth to demonstrate the degree to

319
00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:35.400
<v Speaker 2>which Tolkien's fantasy is foundationally Christian and points to the

320
00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:38.839
<v Speaker 2>mysteries of our sylation. Tolkien's project of the escape and

321
00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:42.519
<v Speaker 2>consolation of fantasy, as describes in his Essay on Fairy Stories,

322
00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:45.599
<v Speaker 2>is not meant to deprive us of reality, nor to

323
00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.559
<v Speaker 2>distract us from the truth. Rather, through the medium of

324
00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:51.799
<v Speaker 2>stories told of a secondary world, Tolkien points to the

325
00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:54.759
<v Speaker 2>true story of the primary world. If I've convinced you

326
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.279
<v Speaker 2>of nothing else, reader or listener, I hope I have

327
00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:02.200
<v Speaker 2>convinced you toley leg take up and read these words

328
00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:05.880
<v Speaker 2>of Tolkien and of Saint Athanasius. I've only scratched the

329
00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:09.680
<v Speaker 2>surface of these works. They bear reading and rereading. So

330
00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:12.839
<v Speaker 2>once again i'd like to thank Andrew Snyder for the

331
00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:14.640
<v Speaker 2>opportunity to read this to you all.