Tolkien Dogmatics: Theology through Mythology with the Maker of Middle-earth

by Austin M. Freeman

" Tolkien Dogmatics overflows with insights and is a must-read for serious students of Tolkien." ―The Gospel Coalition
Theology through mythology J. R. R. Tolkien was many English Catholic, father and husband, survivor of two world wars, Oxford professor, and author. But he was also a theologian. Tolkien’s writings exhibit a coherent theology of God and his works, but Tolkien did not present his views with systematic arguments. Rather, he expressed theology through story. In Tolkien Dogmatics , Austin M. Freeman inspects Tolkien’s entire corpus― The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and beyond―as a window into his theology. In his stories, lectures, and letters, Tolkien creatively and carefully engaged with his Christian faith. Tolkien Dogmatics is a comprehensive manual of Tolkien’s theological thought arranged in traditional systematic theology categories, with sections on God, revelation, creation, evil, Christ and salvation, the church, and last things. Through Tolkien’s imagination, we reencounter our faith.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Christianity, Literary Criticism

476 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2022

About the author

Austin M. Freeman (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is a lecturer at Houston Baptist University and a classical school teacher.

Reviews

[Terence Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that leads me to the question who is this book for. If you don’t feel a thrill in your heart when I mention Hobbits, Gandalf, Gollum and the one ring, then this might not be the book for you.

Some of you might look at the cover of this book and think, “Hmm… I know a guy who loves Lord of the Rings. He is not a Christian. Maybe after reading this book. He will be more willing to consider the faith.”

Nope, that’s not going to work. The idea is good, but not with this book. Not a Systematic Theology. You might want to try with another book, “Walking with Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings” by Sarah Arthur. I never knew this book existed until Freeman cited it here. In fact, I never knew there was so much research from all angles on all things Tolkien until I picked up Freeman’s book.

Now, on the flip side, some of you may think, “Hmm… I know a girl who loves theology, Systematic Theology, she just goes on and on about Augustine, Bavinck, and Calvin, but I would like her to have a bit of love for Aragorn, Bilbo and Saruman. Maybe this is the book for her.”

Nope, that’s also not going to work. Freeman freely assumes you know the main story, the people, the significance of the Ring and spoils the ending every few chapters.

You see, you will not fall in love with Tolkien’s stories by reading Tolkien’s Dogmatics. You fall in love with Tolkien’s stories by reading his stories or you could try watching the Peter Jackson movies with your friend. If the movies can’t pull him or her, then I can’t see how this book could. Unless your friend is someone like John Piper or some really serious theological geek. That goes wild-eyed at the prospect of reading another Theology book.

Ideally, this book is for those who love theology and Tolkien. The one who needs to be validated in their love for both; to read what Freeman writes here and give thanks, “I knew there was something really deep and spiritual here but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.”

Full 3,700 word review: https://readingandreaders.com/podcast...

[Jeremy Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a weighty, well-researched, and illuminating text. Freeman has produced a very useful and informative masterpiece. Tolkien Dogmatics is a "must-have" resource for fans and scholars of Tolkien's work. The bedrock of all Tolkien's writing is his Christian worldview. Freeman provides the details of that foundation and he illustrates the ways it plays out in everything Tolkien wrote. Superb!

[Hannah C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and extremely thorough analysis of Tolkien's theological beliefs; however, politely requesting footnotes in the next edition rather than 82 pages of endnotes. O.o

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for people right in the center of the Theology/Tolkien Venn Diagram of interests. So well researched and cited (2,363 footnotes in the 340 pages that make up the main text) that you could almost consider the book written by Tolkien and only edited by Freeman. The level of depth is remarkable, though the author inspired a type of mania for detail in me such that a few minor sections did seem to stop just short of exhaustive.

I could go on in my praise but I hope it suffices to say that no other work, aside from Tolkien's own, has led me to greater understanding, admiration, and appreciation of the great man and his masterpieces.

[Vincent Lemieux · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content is really good. Amazing book for those interested in Tolkien and his legendarium. It really enrich and deepen one's reading.

But I have to minus a star because of all the hundreds of notes that are, sadly, endnotes (there is around 75 pages of endnotes !) I cannot even begin to tell you how it is frustrating for a book of this kind, when most of the citations aren't direct quotes but the author's renderings ; I mean, you HAVE to have footnotes ! After a few pages you just abandoned the endnotes and forget about them. But for someone like me,truly interested in sources, this is infuriating.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do the words worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien teach us about theology? In Tolkien Dogmatics, Austin M. Freeman shares theology through mythology with the maker of Middle-Earth.

A Window into Christian Worldview

At around 475 pages, this is a brilliant work that comprehensively captures the faith of J. R. R. Tolkien. Best known for writing The Lord of the Rings, his books act as a window into his Christian worldview.

This book is creatively arranged as a systematic theology. It brushes in broad strokes, studying Tolkien’s views on God, Humanity, Evil and Sin, Christ and Salvation. While Freeman admits that Tolkien never set out to write a systematic theology, he argues that Tolkien’s theology was expressed through stories.

Using Stories to Understand Theology

Seeing Tolkien’s regard for stories helps you better understand his theology. From speaking of providence to election, God as the Divine Author left an imprint on Tolkien as he wrote his own tales. Even in understanding the incarnation, Tolkien “equates the incarnation in a limited way with the presence fo an author in his story.”

I was compelled to learn how Tolkien saw the Christian life. He did not see it as an easy one — “the whole world is a battleground between God and the devil, with Christians playing the part of soldiers pushing back the territory of the enemy.” When Freeman examines Tolkien’s characters, we see that Frodo “endures more pain than any other and is without honor in his own country.” This is a way Tolkien’s writings resonate as timeless truths even today.

God Made Known

Most interesting to me was a brief section on whether Tolkien was “inspired.” The answer is adamantly no, but one might speak of Tolkien’s work as “arising from revelation in this sense – revelation as a special and direct gifting whose ultimate source is God, and meant in some sense to 'testify for God and Truth' and to 'rekindle an old light.'"

Tolkien enthusiasts will find this book most enjoyable. But all public theologians will benefit from seeing how Tolkien engaged the world with his words. And anyone who loves a good story will see how God can be made known.

I received a media copy of Tolkien Dogmatics and this is my honest review.

[Abby Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should never have taken me this long to read, but it did go on a journey. Shortly after I started it, I realized I knew the authors parents. A suggestion was made to ship the book to friends who lived near them, they would get my book to the Freemans, and the Freemans would have Austin sign it the next time he was home. With a bit of nervousness to ship my book away, and a bit of nervousness to have the author see my already marked all over copy, I slipped it in the mail.
Of course, Austin ended up not coming when he thought and his mom sweetly mailed my book onto Houston.
The book was signed and on it's way home!
The funny part about this was when I picked up the book and saw the name Austin, I literally thought to myself, "Wow, even us Texans are getting in on Tolkien." I had no idea I actually had a distant connection with this actual Texan and Tolkien scholar.
The book is excellent.
I found it so nourishing to my soul. It led me to prayer and praise.
I am not a Roman Catholic, so obviously there is much that Tolkien and I didn't and wouldn't agree on, but life is too hard and mean to constantly focus on points of disagreement. There was lot we could have agreed on.
The bad part is that this made my Tolkien reading list so much much longer.
The format of the book took me a bit to get used to. It is a scholarly work, but it is written for the layperson which makes it kind of a between book. If you expect lots of direct quotes, they're not there, but that is not due to a lack of research. They're all in the notes at the end of the book. Formatting the book this way makes it easier for the average Tolkien fan to read, though it does help if you have a working knowledge of theology and a good dictionary on hand.
They say not to meet your heroes and most of the time I've found that to be true, except for Tolkien. Every time I read about him, I love him more.

[Amund Helgaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veldig spennende å lese hvilke teologi som kommer til uttrykk i Tolkiens fortellinger, men også i hans brev. Blir både bedre kjent med Tolkien som religiøs katolikk, men får også øynene åpnet for spennende måter å tenke teologisk. Dette er en grundig analyse skrevet på en forståelig måte. Godt referanseverk da det er godt systematisert.

[Kevin Fulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to dive into if you are interested in what Tolkien believed. The author does a good job of making use of Tolkien's fiction, letters, and academic writings to parse out his beliefs without reading too deeply between the lines.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an enlightening book. I was thrilled to learn so much, not just about Tolkien's thought and writing, but about my own. I've finally learned the technical theological name for my series, Jesus and the Healing of History. I always suspected there had to be one, because there's nothing new under the sun, but the scholarship in this book is so wide and encompassing, it covers even territory like this. Irenaeus' recapitulation theory, which applies to the healing of history, is that the history and the purpose of the world operates on a symmetrical pattern. (p94)

Notes:
God has no cause or dependency but instead creates and sustains all other things. This is the aseity of God, from Latin a se, "of itself". All things other than God depend on something else to exist, whether on their maker to bring them into existence, their environment to sustain them or time to continue to endure. God stands before all other makers, worlds and times. He is the "Prime Being". (p23)

The distinction between the prime level of Being (God) and our level of being is the archetype/ectype distinction. The archetype or universal model of things is similar to the platonic ideals that stand behind their concrete instantiations. (p25)

Tolkien argues that redemption might work backwards in time and provide at least an opportunity for salvation for pre-Christian souls. (p44)

For Tolkien, it was absurd to doubt the historicity of the gospels because what Jesus said was so foreign to the thought-world of the time. (p45)

In a letter from 1971, two years before Tolkien's death, he recalls a strange visit he experienced. A man came to see him with illustrations that appeared to come from The Lord of the Rings, but that had been drawn many years prior to its publication. The man wanted to know if Tolkien had seen them and been inspired by them. When Tolkien said he'd never seen them before, the visitor asked if he believed he had written the whole work on his own. No, he said, not anymore. He eventually reasons in the letter that God uses imperfect instruments all the time. (p55f)

The dream of the great wave that had plagued Tolkien ceased after he bequeathed it to Faramir in The Lord of the Rings. His son Michael revealed in 1955 that he'd had the same dream though neither had spoken of it before. Tolkien believed he'd inherited it from his parents, as remarked in The Notion Club Papers.

God does not create evil, nor does He desire it, nor is evil simply good improperly considered. Evil is genuinely evil and is opposed to God. It grieves Him. But God is sovereign enough to use evil as a soil from which unexpected good can sprout. (p71)

The miracles of the gospels are demonstrations of Christ's true identity and the power of God for redemption. (p78)

Simplicity becomes baseness without the high and the noble; heroism is meaningless without its defence of the ordinary. (p83)

Stewardship means balancing our rights as regents with the rights of nature's true Owner. Man holds dominion over creation in trust from God. (p85)

Fantasy is the purest, highest and most potent form of art. Consequently this ability for sub-creation, though God-given, is not without risk. Any sub-creator ought to approach the task with great humility, aware of the great danger in such an enterprise. In attempting to communicate truth, one may end only by spreading one's own form of error which, encased as it is in such a powerfully effective medium, is terribly perilous. (p91) Creative desire can easily be corrupted into sin... When we realise the power that a story holds and our own absolute power to shape the world of our imagination, we also begin to desire to wield the same power in the primary world. This way, too, lie the dangers of magic and the machine. (p91)

The adjective is a powerful spell. With it, one can think of golden grass or green suns. (p92)

Fate is the network of physical chances in the world able to be used by free persons... This setting is impossible to change, but the use that free agents make of their circumstances is up to them. (p98) One may be fated to encounter his enemy, but the way he treats him when they meet is his to decide. (p99)

All God's gifts contain an element of danger, since lack of danger means lack of power and the gift would be meaningless. (p99)

The construction of the Rings of Power is due to a desire for power to resist time. (p156)

Evil is 'fissaparous', while being is inherently good and will revert to a good state unless continually dominated. (p158)

Eden is gone and we will never recover it. That is not God's way with repentance, which works in a spiral rather than a circle, expanding rather than simply repeating. We recover something like it, but on a higher level. We cannot return, but we can move forward. A thing recovered is often more precious than a thing never lost just as grace recovered by repentance is different... than original innocence. (p161)

The condition of original sin is an inherited corruption passed down to all humans as a consequence of the actions of our first parents. (p167)

The more evil something is, the more being it loses; on the other hand, as long as something exists at all, it possesses goodness on some level. (p168)

While Man is now distant and estranged from his original estate, he retains his inherent dignity, recalling and imaging God through his sub-creative activity. We are disgraced but not dethroned. (p170)

Evil labours in vain only to prepare the way for good to arise. Materially futile deeds are still god in themselves, regardless of outcome. (p170)

There is a direct correlation between one's choice for evil and the loss of more and more inherently good things. (p185)

"Dissolve" contains three negations, "dis" + "solvere", a combination of "se", away, and "luo", loose or untie.

Idolatrous worship is akin to seeking favour from a tyrant. (p202)

The men of Gondor would never heed the words of Sauron but can still accomplish his desire. When Gandalf finds the porter slain by Beregond, he calls it the work of the enemy who loves to pit friend against friend, confusing hearts and dividing loyalties. (p221)

Perhaps satan has "submerged himself in lies for so long that he lies even to himself. He convinces himself that his lie is truth, and he loses all grip on the distinction between truth and fiction. He is such a habitual and skilful liar that he no longer knows whether to believe anything he hears, and resultantly he disbelieves anything except what he wants to be true. Paradoxically honest and simple statements deceive him the most. Innocence wields the greatest power." (p222)

Thegn is the word used to translate "disciple" in Anglo-Saxon bibles. (p242)

Theories of the atonement (p249ff)
1. Anselm's satisfaction theory.
2. Post-medieval substitutionary theory.
3. Christus Victor theory (Tolkien uses this almost exclusively).
4. Fish-hook theory.

The first instance of the word "harrow" in English refers to the harrowing of hell. Tolkien muses alongside the Beowulf poet whether Christ's redemption might work with the harrowing a hallowing of all those righteous pagans who lived before the appointed time. (p251)

Tolkien uses "doom" and "fate" in the sense of divine election. Doom can have a positive sense. (p254) He is not a Calvinist. Fate is fully resistible. (p255) He commonly uses "faith" to refer to an act of loyalty or allegiance. (p255)

In the Corrigan poems, Tolkien depicts Mary on a throne surrounded by joy. (p265)

The sons of Fëanor swear a terrible oath in the name of God, calling hell down upon themselves for breaking it, naming Manwë, Varda and the holy mountain in witness. They vow that none whatsoever - even one of the Valar - should take a Silmaril from them. This oath inspires dread in their hearers for, once sworn, such an oath cannot be broken and will pursue the speaker to the end of the world. (p274)

Many of the heroes of legend were simply people thrown into extraordinary circumstances who chose to persevere. (p275) The great stories never end, though some characters may come and go as their parts are completed. (p275)

Lembas, "waybread" in Elvish, corresponds to the Host or viaticum ("supplies for a journey") in Catholic practice, given in preparation for the journey of death. (p278)

Courtly love glamorises adultery, unrealistically exalts the woman as a sort of idol and distorts the nature of marriage. (p283)

We need "Grace" to do the good, and "grace" to cooperate with "Grace". (p287)

Many people turn away from God to the devils to seek rapid and magical answers to prayer. (p295)

Hell is God’s prison-house for those who will not accept His clemency. (p330)

Akrasia (weakness of will) is the final state of the wicked. A soul in hell may undergo a sort of fixity of desire which, without repentance, turns a person from a grumbler into a mere grumble. (p331)

Satan does not rule hell; it is his prison. (p331)

[Kris]

Author was interviewed on the Babylon Bee podcast.

[Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

No, it isn't about dogmatic opinions of J.R.R. Tolkien. Nor is it, except incidentally, about how JRRT's fiction teaches religious dogma.

Rather, it is an exploration of what, as a Roman Catholic Christian, JRRT actually believed, to the extent that it can be determined from his life and writings -- not just his fiction, but his letters and published nonfiction.

Freeman divides the book into twelve, fairly traditional, segments of Catholic dogma: God, Revelation, Creation, Humanity, Angels, the Fall, Evil and Sin, Satan* and Demons, Christ and Salvation, the Church, and the Christian Life. For each of these topics, he discusses JRRT's opinions in the context of Catholic teachings. I do not intend to summarize what he has to say about these topics, or, rather, what he has to say about what JRRT would have had to say about them, because to even begin doing so would make this review ridiculously long.

Freeman himself does not seem to be a Catholic, but he doesn't seem to be terribly hostile to Catholicism the way some non-Catholic Christians are. Certainly his explanations of various Catholic teachings are fair and reasonably accurate; for example, though he discusses devotion to Mary and the Saints, he never accuses Catholics of "worshipping" them.

In general, he concludes, JRRT was a faithful and obedient child of Mother Church, respecting the Magisterium and believing what it teaches. While he does not seem to have in any way contradicted the Deposit of Faith, as it's called, he does seem to go _beyond_ it in a few places.

Freeman plays a little fast and loose with chronology. At times, he takes bits of early work -- as early as the _Book of Lost Tales_ -- and uses them to say "Tolkien (seems to have) believed X;" at others, he clearly recognizes that JRRT's attitudes toward both the Church and his own sub-creation grew and became richer as he got older and more experienced. This, however, is a minor flaw.

The writing is unexceptionable if a bit dry. I found that the first half of the book took me nearly two weeks to read, while the second half took but five days: I suppose I had learned to read Freeman's style more easily.

Interestingly, there are relatively few direct quotes from JRRT's writings here; but there are copious endnotes directing you to where in the corpus a given nugget comes from; which brings me to the books apparatus.

After a short "Acknowledgements," Freeman provides "Prolegomena" which explain what he is doing and why, the difficulties such a task entails, and, importantly, what he is _not_ doing. This section gave me my one laugh in the whole book. It has a section titled "Tolkien: The Monstrance and the Critics."

After the text is a very brief "Glossary of Names and Terms from Tolkien's Fiction," followed by a Bibliography in two parts: Tolkien's writings and secondary texts.

The endnotes are actually probably my biggest gripe. I'm a compulsive note-reader, but most of the notes are simple page references, such as "153. _The Book of Lost Tales_ 1, 256" or whatever. That sort of note, I mostly ignore unless I want to actually look something up -- which I never actually did do during this book -- but there are enough meatier notes that I would be looking up one, noting the number of the next interesting-looking note, and trying to remember that number as I went forward in the main text. Also, his references to the various books gave me a little difficulty at first. For example, he refers to _The Return of the King_ as _Return_. Since there is also a book called _The Return of the Shadow_, I wasn't sure which he was referring to until I noticed that he referred to the latter as _Shadow_. A list of his abbreviated titles at the beginning of the notes would have been helpful.

(On the other hand, his bibliography pointed me to several other books I want to read, so there's that.)

Finally, there are three Indexes: Names, Subject, and Scripture citations.

Does Freeman actually accomplish what he sets out to do? Well, not completely; but then, the first sentence of the Prolegomena is: "The task of this book is in many ways an impossible one." It is indeed, because, in places, the task would require the author to read (or, better, reconstruct) the mind of a dead man. Freeman, to his credit, largely avoids making these efforts, and acknowledges the places where we simply can't know what JRRT really thought about some topics.

Also, JRRT never really wrote down any sort of systematic theology. If someone had asked him for one, he would probably have pointed to a good catechistic text. So a great deal of what JRRT believed must be extracted and extrapolated from letters and texts that are primarily about other things.

Within those, and other limits, I would say that Freeman has admirably achieved this task to the extent that it _can_ be achieved.

[Josh Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worked my way into the world of Tolkien backwards from how you might expect. It was the Peter Jackson movies, not the books, that first grabbed my attention and introduced me to this vast fantasy world. It turns out I was not alone and since the release of those films twenty-some years ago, the words and worlds of Tolkien have enjoyed quite a resurgence. For the past few years, I’ve made it a habit to read or listen to The Lord of the Rings in its entirety. Read one year, listen the next, watch the year after. And in the latter half of 2023, I began to collect the wider writings of Tolkien with the goal of spending 2024 immersed in the complete oeuvre of one of history’s most accomplished fantasy authors.

For every book that Tolkien wrote, dozens have been written about Tolkien—his writing, his friendships, his methodology, his philology, his theology, and more. Tolkien Dogmatics is a comprehensive exploration of Christian theology as seen through the lens of the mythology of Middle-Earth. I came into it expecting a more relaxed read. I had read other books on elements of faith in Tolkien’s works—Ralph Wood’s The Gospel According to Tolkien the most notable—and found them to be for fans of the books or movies who wanted to relate the stories to their faith. Tolkien Dogmatics is the opposite. It’s intended audience is for fans of theology who want to relate their theological thinking to the world of Middle-Earth. The distinction is important. This is a theologically rigorous work.

The author, Austin M. Freeman, holds a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology and has written extensively on the intersection of fantasy and theology, including articles in official Tolkien studies journals. His passion for both Tolkien and theology exudes off every page of Tolkien Dogmatics. What impressed me the most was his thoroughness. Most books that I’ve read referencing Tolkien’s theology stick to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, perhaps quoting from one of the more popular of Tolkien’s letters. Freeman quotes from The History of Middle-Earth, a Tolkien super-fan only exploration—really, what one might call a literary archaeology—of the development of Middle-Earth as edited by Tolkien’s son, Christopher based on Tolkien’s extensive unpublished writing. The Silmarillion also features heavily (and how could it not?), and even non-Middle Earth writings get their due.

Even as a Tolkien fan, it took me several months to really sit down and process this book because I felt like I kept needing to go back to the source material. Tolkien Dogmatics is a systematic theology and commentary of Tolkien’s corpus of writings. If you absolutely adore Tolkien (or systematic theology!) and want a comprehensive look at how Christian (and particularly, Catholic) theology permeates his work, this is your textbook. If you are a more casual reader—of either Tolkien or theology—I would suggest beginning with Ralph Wood’s The Gospel According to Tolkien and then decide whether or not to tackle this more daunting work.

Tolkien Dogmatics is constructed like a systematic theology: It begins with a prolegomenon and has twelve chapters on 1) God, 2) Revelation, 3) Creation, 4) Humanity, 5) Angels, 6) The Fall, 7) Evil and Sin, 8) Satan and Demons, 9) Christ and Salvation, 10) The Church, 11) Christian Life, and 12) Last Things. Each chapter is approximately 20-30 pages long and does a good job of covering both an overview of orthodox Christian teaching and how Tolkien relates that to his mythos. Freeman also does well in retaining a sense of Tolkien’s (and thus Middle-Earth’s) Catholicity even as he writes as a Protestant who teaches at a Baptist university. There were times that I felt the connection between the theological concept and the nearest Tolkien analogue was tenuous at best. That is to say, Tolkien Dogmatics occasionally struggles to make the case that when Tolkien wrote about a certain mythological element, he was building on a certain theological element. Tolkien would prefer it that way, I think. He was not intending to create a theological analogue in his fiction.

In short, I think I am safe in calling Tolkien Dogmatics the theological textbook of Middle-Earth. This work is very niche, a passion project meant for a specific audience. I see value in it for the theologically-minded to see how what Tolkien would term “sub-creation” retains theological truths. I see value in it for fantasy writers seeking to build better fictional worlds. I see value in it for the Tolkien scholar wanting to better understand Tolkien’s faith. It’s so much more than I expected when I began. Tolkien Dogmatics is a shining Silmaril in the world of Tolkien studies.

[Jacob Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I think Freeman does an excellent job actually trying to say what Tolkien would have said. This is evidenced in the sheer amount of endnotes that are here. One thing that is a little disappointing is the fact that these are endnotes. One would love to see the quotes directly or such, but this book largely functions as a cross reference.

That may be a critique of the book somewhat. Without a large library and pre-existing knowledge of Tolkien, this book doesn't do all the work that it can do. One should really read even beyond Lord of the Rings to his commentaries on Beowulf, Leaf by Niggle, debates between LoTR characters, and more! In one sense, Freeman is quite clearly a prolific reader of Tolkien and impresses in his own right.

But this book may be difficult to access if you have no love for Tolkien and no willingness to follow up with Tolkien's writings directly. That said, I do think a book like this will intrigue you to *want* to read Tolkien more, if you start here. And it would do an excellent job priming you to pick up on some of his themes.

Noteably, Freeman shows how Tolkien is sometimes weak in some areas (e.g., the Trinity). But also, some of this is due to his lack of emphasis on being clear in this in his own writings. Because LoTR is the mythic ages before our age of mankind and history begin, there is a lack of understanding. Also, it was helpful for Freeman to beat it through my thick skull that The Silmarillion and The Hobbit and other books are actually *in-world books* written as histories by Elves and Hobbits respectively. Thus, any view we have of these ideas should be taken in as reading them as histories by these people making sense of the times they live in, which is interesting and helpful perspective.

Additionally, Freeman does a good job highlighting how Tolkien grows and grapples in his ideas over his writings. I thought the section on Death in the Last Things chapter was particularly strong on this, as it shows ho Tolkien initially sees death as a "gift" and then struggles to reconcile how this can have a strong tinge of truth in it while still starting to see that he made it to "natural" to mankind -- which is not Christian teaching. Watching how Tolkien sifts through this in debates in his later years is edifying and helpful to think about.

All in all, a very fun read. A book I will reference in my readings of Tolkien as I go forward and one that spurred on my love to continue reading and re-reading Tolkien. Highly recommend to one looking for a fun but yet stimulating work of theology! If nothing else, I pray by the end you would be encouraged that far from "myth" being a negative word, Tolkien shows us that in Christ the whispers and rumors that lurk in myths are all coming true. Far from being outlandish, fairy tales actually stir the heart precisely because we wish so desperately that they might one day come true. Tolkien excellently primes our heart to receive the story of Christ coming into the world as the true myth, the fairy tale of all fairy tales, and the one that delights our hearts as it brings into harmony all of our deepest desires and hopes. I am grateful for Tolkien's work on this theme and hope it stirs up other Christians to pursue similar projects!

[Joel Whitson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I must be frank: I have never read anything Hobbit/LotR by Tolkien. At most, I have read quotes from his work and an assortment of letters between him and his friends. However, my appreciation for who he is and what he has written is deeply seeded. There is much to say about Tolkien, his worldview, and the way he does not feel the need to crowbar the gospel of Jesus Christ into his work; instead, the light of the gospel simply shines through his work since his faith is integral to who he is. So then who am I to review a book about Tolkien, Middle Earth, and Theology? I am a student, one who loves and thrives off beauty, and appreciates creational good that moves people to the truth. Tolkien does just this, he tells a good story, moving people to understand that there is meaning and life. Tolkien is one who gets to the core of the inherent knowledge of God, a truth that people cannot reject. He did not desire to write this gospel-epic, redemptive narrative but instead a creationally good story that everyone can enjoy and find hope in (much of this paragraph is a "paraphrase from memory" of what Levi the Poet says in "Hallowed Art, Hollow Artist, Hope").

Is this book a formal systematic? By no means, and I do not think Freeman set out to do this on Tolkien's behalf. Does this book, however, make someone want to read Tolkien more? I think so. If the reader has a love of beauty, a love of truth, and a desire for good then this book will compel them to seek out the creative work of Tolkien, mining it for all that it is worth.

Regardless, Freeman sets out with common categories of systemic theologies and dogmatic works. There he explains Tolkiens thoughts regarding these topics and how it is shown in the creative work of LotR. He does a good job handling the Catholic doctrine of Tolkien

"In Heaven, we look from the mirrored truth of the physical creation to the truth itself, and this transforms not just creation but our creativity as well. Salvation does not change or destroy nature, but complete and corrects it." - page 339, Freeman,

"The Evangelium has not abrogated legends; it has hallowed them, especially the ‘happy ending’. The Christian has still to work, with mind as well as body, to suffer, hope, and die; but he may now perceive that all his bents and faculties have a purpose, which can be redeemed...All tales may come true; and yet, at the last, redeemed, they may be as like and as, unlike the forms that we give them as Man, finally redeemed, will be like and unlike the fallen that we know." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays.

This review comes from

[Sam Knecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides perhaps Cormac McCarthy, no other author but Tolkien has sharpened my enjoyment of fiction over the years. What’s unique about Tolkien is his preferred whetstone: an alloy of both biblical narrative and medieval Norse mythology. Trying to discern the man’s own theology, then, requires cutting through scores of over-realized religious readings and cold secularist interpretations of Tolkien’s writing.

Freeman masterfully completes this task using both personal letters and fictional writings from Tolkien. He even includes a broad range of second-hand sources. It should be noted, however, that Freeman’s task is a descriptive one. Freeman, an evangelical Protestant, lays out Tolkien’s Roman Catholic orthodoxy and his armchair thought experiments with very little commentary. Marianism, sacerdotalism, papal authority, strange trinitarian conjectures are all put forward as faithfully as possible with extensive endnotes.

The project itself is an achievement, but Tolkien’s own theology can be severely disappointing at times. Chapter VI, on The Fall, was particularly difficult to work through. Tolkien had interesting ideas about the corruption of reality, but he—like many (most?) Roman Catholics—didn’t go far enough. Instead of an inherited rebellion inside the soul of every son and daughter of Adam, we read of a “fallenness of station” and a “weakened” ability to choose good over evil. The fallenness of station idea seems to come from, or at least is bolstered by, Tolkien’s medieval understanding of creation. In chapter III, on Creation, there’s a fascinating conception put forward of the “hierarchy of existence” that does much to explain Roman Catholic involvement in creative arts. Tolkien’s theology may be disappointing for an evangelical to read, but it’s not inconsistent.

While all that’s true, what I love Tolkien for is his (sub-)creative work to make heady abstract doctrines arresting and real. Specifically, Tolkien’s depiction of evil touches on something biblical and visible in daily life. Evil, like the sinister spider Shelob, consumes. It wants, it takes, it hungers for more. It delights in cruelty. It doesn’t expel goodness and generosity and mercy so much as it sucks it up into a black hole of loss and darkness and death. Similarly, Tolkien’s neologism “eucatastrophe” (a sudden breaking in of unexpected good into disaster) and his piercing descriptions of the concept stir the affections. After reading Tolkien, my longing for Christ’s return is stronger. No other fiction author but Tolkien has sharpened my enjoyment of Christ over the years.

[Jamin Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a common comparison between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien that many readers are familiar with: Lewis loved allegory and Tolkien despised it. Because I love allegory, I have typically found myself enjoying Lewis' works more than Tolkien's, but this book has now given me a brand new appreciation for Tolkien.

While Tolkien may not have been into "allegory" per se, Freeman shows us just how steeped in deep Christian theology Tolkien's works are. So much of his mythology brings the themes and views of the Bible to life in startling, exciting, and inspired ways. Tolkien's writings are, in some ways, more aligned with the theological discoveries of current Biblical scholarship than the scholarship of his own time. This myth-maker had a way of interweaving his faith into everything.

So if you, like me, were always made to think that Tolkien's works weren't very "spiritual," or that people are just reading into things when they see faith elements in Lord of the Rings—then read this book. Freeman brings Tolkien's works to light like never before, steeping us in footnotes upon footnotes of deep research. This was easily one of the best books I read this year.

[Zak Mellgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a meticulously researched, sometimes awkwardly written, fascinating Frankenstein of a book. It's an attempt to strictly present the theology JRR Tolkien, specifically as how his nonfiction (mostly his letters) interacts with his fiction. And it ends up being a mix of literary criticism, systematic theology, and mythological reference work that is...well...deeply amusing but also a bit clunky and occasionally hard to follow. I think if I was more familiar with Tolkien's sprawling legendarium (basically every story he ever wrote) I would have gotten more out of it. This is also Freeman's first book and it shows. His writing style is rather dry.

But as a reference work for theology of Middle Earth, I think it's a great success. I enjoyed my journey and would love for Freeman to write more on Tolkien and Middle Earth, perhaps narrowing his focus in future books.

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read that helped me better understand how Tolkien's beliefs (including medieval Catholicism, Anglo-Saxon Christianity, the role of noble pagan myths, concept of subcreation, eucatastrophe) are revealed through his various works (fiction and non-fiction). Since I haven't read Tolkien's entire corpus, I learned more about the world of Middle Earth not covered in LOTR or The Silmarillion as well as Tolkien's views as expressed in his letters and academic works.

The book is organized like standard dogmatics, covering all the major theological themes (God, Revelation, Creation, Humanity, Angels, Fall, Evil, Satan & Demons, Christ & Salvation, Church, Christian Life, Last Things).

[Jonah Huckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible read. Very easy to get through, and insightful. The author does an amazing job of bringing Tolkien’s worldview or life in a respectful and authentic way. As a baptist, it is impressive that he is genuine and respectful of Tolkien’s Catholicism, and never lets his own convictions cloud or misrepresent Tolkien.

For any worried about overly allegorical interpretations, the author does a great job of differentiating between the primary and secondary world and the areas of overlap and dissonance between middle earth theology and primary world theology.

Highly recommend this book.

[Josh Traylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freeman succeeds in a unique exploration of Tolkien as a Theologian. He approaches this not by imposing his own theological convictions on Tolkien, but rather explaining what we can know about Tolkien's theology in both his fiction and non-fiction. This work is a robust synthesis of understanding all Tolkien's primary work, as well as scholarly secondary sources. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in exploring how Christianity is displayed in Tolkien's fiction.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An incredibly well-researched and respectful exploration of Tolkien's theology through his corpus of writing. The style was a bit too dryly-academic in places, and a few of the chapters could have been edited down a bit, but a very solid and unique book in the large category of "books about Tolkien."

Full review forthcoming for Englewood Review of Books.

[Will Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly the nerdiest thing I’ve ever enjoyed, but such a fun intersection of things I love. I learned much about Tolkien, saw much about God in Tolkien’s work, and got a nice little education on Catholicism in the process. Though some of his theology baffles me, I am blown away by the world of Tolkien.

[Rob Byron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magnificent amount of depth which really leads you to appreciate Tolkien more. Unsurprisingly, given the book's subject matter, this was a little dense annd not the kind of book you can run through quickly!

[Caleb McCary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful companion to the works of Tolkien. I read it alongside a re-read of ROTK and it added theological depth to the reading that I greatly appreciated.

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely and unique work shaping a systematic theology from the fantasy (and nonfiction) work of the Roman Catholic, JRR Tolkien.

Fantasy and theological nerds, rejoice!

[James-Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big enough Tolkien nerd to truly appreciate this one as much as it deserves, I readily admit.

[Justin Strydom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theology and Tolkien, two of my favourites. A long read, but so worth it.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this from beginning to end

[Rostislav Tkachenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

​Богослов’я через міф та підказки в листах

🏰 Толкін свідомо створював міфологію – свою власну, авторську, хоча її витоки можна знайти в Біблії та легендах раннього середньовіччя (як дохристиянських, так і християнських).

🏜 Він збудовував світ, в якому ще немає Божого одкровення, але існує певне (істинне) уявлення про Творця. Світ, в якому живуть ангели, демони, ельфи, люди, гноми та інші істоти. Світ «шляхетних язичників» і «протохристиян».

Чи можна виявити і чітко сформулювати богослов’я, яке Толкін свідомо чи підсвидомо вклав у свій легендаріум та інші твори?

Можна, – вважає пан Фріман і пише книгу під назвою «Толкінівська догматика: богослов’я через призму міфології» (Tolkien Dogmatics: theology through mythology).

Що це за книга?

✝️ Це – систематизація богословських поглядів Толкіна, як вони «проглядають» в його фентезійних творах та «вистрибують» з його листів.

📊 Книга структуровна, як підручник з теології, де кожен розділ відповідає певній догматичній темі: Бог, одкровення, гріхопадіння, зло і гріх, Христос і спасіння, церква і т.д.

❤️ Фрімен знаходить, виокремлює, пояснює і аналізує, в щó вірив сам Толкін, і які ідеї й переконання транслював в грандіозній міфології Середзем’я, а також Сказаннях з Небезпечного Королівства та своїх більш професійних працях.

📚 Він досить глибоко працює з першоджерелами та враховує здобутки академічних досліджень творчості Толкіна, а кожен розділ супроводжує невеличкий список рекомендаваної літератури.

👀 Чи дійсно Толкін вважав, що смерть – це дар? Чому йому властивий досить похмурий погляд на присутність зла в світі? Як він розумів мужність та жіночість? Чи є в фентезійних творах Толкіна місце Божому одкровенню, спасінню або церкві? Ці та подібні питання добре висвітлює книжка Фрімана.

Висновок: у Фрімена вийшов якісний й ретельний огляд богословських ідей Професора. Іноді не вистачало цитат для підкріплення авторських спостережень. Але систематизація і рівень аналітики в книзі досить високі. Мені сподобалося. Рекомендую.