Join me for another session in Novel Theology as we explore Christian theology and doctrine through the lens of a rollicking good story. This time we'll be looking at theodicy in Tolkien. How do we hold fast to God as good and kind, present and powerful in the midst of a brutal and broken world? 

These are the questions asked by theodicy, a term that describes our attempts to understand God's presence in the midst of our suffering and sin. I think the deepest questions of theodicy - where is God in our pain? can we choose goodness? who will redeem us? - are some of the same ones driving the characters and narrative in Tolkien's magnificent story The Lord of the Rings. In this session of Novel Theology, we’ll consider different ideas of Christian theodicy and look specifically to Tolkien's story as a world that immerses us in what I believe is a redemptive and deeply biblical picture of theodicy. We’ll consider ideas like our capacity for agency and choice, the reality of evil, the battle between hope and despair, and the role that beauty plays in the healing of the world.