I was reading a short essay in the [*Word on Fire* Gospel Reflections on Luke 12:49-53](https://www.wordonfire.org/reflections/a-ordinary-wk29-thursday/) where in Luke 12:49 Jesus says that He came to set fire to the world. In the essay Bishop Barron says that Jesus' priesthood is shown as a "spreader of the sacred fire". This reminded me of something I thought was an Old Testament passage, but on reflection it was just a line from the Lord of the Rings - probably only the movie, not the book. Is the notion of a priest as a spreader and/or keeper of the sacred fire based on something to do with Old Testament typology or is it just a general notion of a priest throughout pagan/human history?

I have long been a fan of [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien) , and have enjoyed his works from an early age. I am aware that he was raised by a Roman Catholic priest, and remained a deeply religious man his whole life. I'm wanting to pin down some of the major christian symbols and undertones in his works that are a byproduct of his Catholic world view. I would particularly like to know who or what symbolizes Christ in [*The Lord of the Rings*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings) .

I've just read Silmarillion for the second time in my life. The last time was 20 years ago. In short, it's basically a "fantasy bible", starting out extremely abstract with how God creates these beings called "Ainor" which produce "music", and one of them, Melkor, makes his own, disharmonic music, and developers from there into the "Lord of Darkness"/Devil. Interesting to note is that the author, J. R. R. Tolkien, was very much Christian. Apparently. But how does that fit with this fantasy vision of the world? Because, as he says himself in an interview, it *is* meant to be about the early history of this, our planet/world -- not some kind of distant alien planet or an alternative dimension. This really got me thinking. After all, one of the commandments is all about how you aren't supposed to "depict other gods", but he very much does so with Silmarillion, which doesn't at all fit with the old or new testaments of the Christian/Jewish/standard bible. I'm probably going to attempt to read the bible again soon, but I stopped when they got to the point, pretty early on, where they just started listing names for pages upon pages. Silmarillion has a very similar issue; it becomes extremely "heavy" to read due to the numerous names and aliases for everyone and everything. Another major "problem" (or potential point of conflict) is that, in Tolkien's vision, humans are not the first creatures created after the initial beings/gods (called Ainur/Valar/Maior) -- instead, it's the elves, and only much later do humans appear, and when they do, they are made out to be very easily lured into evil deeds and horribly traitorous acts by Melkor, the Satans of Silmarillion. This got me thinking a lot: what do Christians in general think of a work such as Silmarillion? Is it "disgusting heresy" or "an interesting fictional alternative history which of course isn't true but nevertheless interesting to read about, much like the other actual religions/beliefs which are obviously false but still have some interesting storytelling"?

It is interesting that both of the most prominent Christian fantasy authors (not as in "Christian Fantasy" but Christians who wrote fantasy) put paradise across the sea. I realize that Tolkien's Númenor (the place across the sea in Middle Earth where Elves go, etc.) was not actually an analog of heaven (despite my title's bait wording :), and probably traces more of its mental origins to Celtic myth and legends of Atlantis. And I imagine that C. S. Lewis may have derived his idea of Aslan's country from discussions of Númenor with Tolkien as part of their Inkling 's group. *But* I'm wondering if there is anything in earlier Christian writings or thought (especially the Bible of course) that might have influenced this creative choice? I also find it interesting that "across the sea" seems to have been picked up by some Christian musicians (Jeremy Enigk's "The Prophet " and I think there was one by Havalina Railroad Co which I can't find, there may be others). So, lest this be considered off topic, I repeat: what is the *Christian* significance of the idea of a paradise across the sea (if any)?