"If you do not believe in a personal God the question: 'What is the
purpose of life?' is unaskable and unanswerable. To whom or what would you
address the question? . . . Those who believe in a personal God, Creator,
do not think the Universe is itself worshipful, though devoted study of it
may be one of the ways of honouring Him. And while as living creatures we
are (in part) within it and part of it, our ideas of God and ways of
expressing them will be largely derived from contemplating the world about
us."
--Tolkien, Letter to Camilla Unwin, 20 May 1969
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Tolkien held that the universe has purpose because
it is the creation of a Personal God who had made us, could command us,
and does love us. At the heart of his fiction is a decidedly imaginative,
moral, and theological vision. It therefore behooves us to explore that
vision at least partly in ways he would have understood. Each week you
will write a journal in response to the ethical and theological themes in
the week's reading. Your journal should involve three areas of
reflection:
1) A clear discussion of the ethical or
theological matter in
the text. This will likely include judicious quotation and summary
of the text in question. I
should be able to to tell that you are clearly responding in some way to
an assigned reading.
2) An honest, personal
reflection on what this means to our own culture, to your life, or to
the lives of those around you. Of course, use some discernment in
the kind and depth of personal information you include. (I'm neither
your pastor nor your counselor.) At the same time, write with telling
the truth in mind. The journal is of less value to you otherwise.
3) A consideration of the
change required. I'd like you to include some consideration of
whether the week's reflection causes you to change your mind in any way
or calls on you to change your life. If it calls on you to change, what
means are necessary to effect this change? If not, why not? Thinking
about the means of change might require you to talk with a pastor, professor, or
respected friend. It is permissible to include some speculation about
this at
times.
Journals will be taken
up each week at beginning of class on Fridays, and they should be at
least two typed double-spaced pages in length. While
journals allow you the luxury of freewriting, I do expect to see some care
taken in the exposition of your ideas. You should observe all the
marks of strong college-level writing. You are more than welcome to be
experimental or creative in how you present your ideas; however, choose
your words with a sense of craft. This, too, is a good. |