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 the same ones driving the characters and narrative in Tolkien's magnificent story. In this session of Novel Theology, we will quickly tour some of the major schools of thought in Christian theodicy, and then look specifically to Tolkien's story as offering us an immersion in the core themes of what I believe is a redemptive and deeply biblical theodicy; the presence of evil, the possibility of agency and the power of choice, the redemptive grace of beauty, the need for hope. I believe what we discover there can deeply form our own grapple with suffering and loss, teaching us to reach for God's goodness, to fight for hope and trust in beauty, even in a fallen world.

Novel Theology: Theodicy with Tolkien