C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien on the power of Fiction

Tim Keller discussing C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien's view on fiction and Christianity

I do not own the music used in this video
Howard Shore-The Lord of the Rings

[KenPotter]

“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
- C.S. Lewis

[Kleezeno]

notice that every popular fantasy story takes place in a medieval-style world. The Middle Ages era was the most intensely religious period in our history. Our yearning for the medieval world is a sign that we are fed up with the modern world and it's secular atmosphere. People want to live in a world where the mysterious and the spiritual are still important. This why the most poplar fiction is stuff like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc.

[lifewasgiventous]

I’m so terribly glad I was raised in a Christian household. Christianity was the greatest inheritance I have ever received.

Edit: I never realized that was Tim Keller’s voice haha he’s great too.

[theevolutionoflove]

CS Lewis said that "God becomes an author. And writes himself into his story".

[nathanprindler]

This is what Jordan Peterson needs to understand. He knows the power of Christianity in the ethical, mythical, and pragmatic sense, but hopefully he will one day soon believe, as C.S. Lewis did, that "Christianity is both a myth and a fact. It's unique. It is the true myth."

My whole life I've imagined myself to be a person driven by rationality; that practicing logic and sticking to what's verifiable is what we need to adhere to to make things right.

But you know... I think the older you get, the more you realize, (if you're sensible, ) just how driven we all really are by the imagination. That our desires and the stories that captivate us really determine how we view the world. I realized looking at my collection of books that though my fiction and biography section was small, it was those books that have had the biggest impact on my life... The stories of missionaries to cannibals, Corrie Ten Boom​ in Nazi Germany, music artists like Keith Green​ and Rich Mullins, and Christian heroes like Martin Luther and George Muller. The biography of the latter was what gave me the courage to leave home at 18 and bike to Alberta!
The Bible is something like 75% narrative, because though we'd like to think otherwise in our proud age of science and prioritizing the empirical, we cannot escape the fact that we are emotional creatures who are driven and shaped by imposing ourselves into stories, and our hearts long to live the greatest story that we can imagine.

[duncansutherland]

These two are why I converted, CS and JRR.

[cringeproof]

As a child I loved fantasy stories, hero stories, fairy tales... but as I grew up I became despondent at the evils of the world. And now I realize that the beauty and triumph of good over evil, and the importance of each person in God's world, is true on a deeper level than our world. And my desire for an inspirational, ethereal world beyond us, is a natural feeling, to be encouraged in faith in God, not trampled down by the world. I don't want to live a miserable life, I want to live for heaven and goodness. And I have always wanted this.
I have a feeling that many people feel this way.
Be in your heart like a child!

[jackp]

This might be my favourite find on YouTube, it perfectly describes how I came to Christ, I was obsessed with storytelling yet I was a nihilistic mess, then I realised how can stories have meaning when life has no meaning

[greenergrass]

I grew up in a very fundamental/puritan household that it turned me off from Chrisitianity for so many years.
But now? Thank you CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien for leading me to our Lord Christ through your works. Your talents are such a gift from heaven.
I am Home again ♥

[NineHundredDollarydoos]

"We don't want to read high literature, that's nice and nihilistic, because that's the way life really is. We say 'Well maybe it is, but it SHOULDN'T BE!'"
This resonates with me deeply. Why should we accept tragedy, loss and sadness? People often say "The world doesn't care what you want." Well I say that if the world doesn't care about what people want, why should we care about what IT wants? Strive for a better world, the BEST world. Don't be content with the smidgeon of joy the current world allows us to have.

[KEP]

Christians stopped using the arts (stories/film in today's world) and handes it over to the secularists, and then are shocked when all people ever hear is secularism and are shocked when the vast majority of youth become secular humanists.

Culture isn't shaped by politics, the government, or even once per week lectures from your Baptist minister. Culture is shaped by the arts, and politics flow from it, and people usually join a religion (or lack thereof) based upon what they've been taught by the culture. This is why Jesus taught mostly by storytelling; not by voting, politics, schools, or government.

[Zomfoo]

A Christian does not have faith in Christianity, but in Christ.

[ArsPraestigium]

“He went into the word of the Lord to find the Lord of the Word.”

[jononeher]

"Artists tell lies to tell the truth. Politicians tell lies to cover the truth up." (Taken from V for Vendetta). This video reminded me of this quote.
LOTR and LW&W are incredible timeless stories.

[rogertorres]

I believed in god but never really had a relationship with him until I read the Bible for myself and it exposed a lot about myself and lead me to realize I wasn’t created for myself but to reveal the glory of god to as many people as I could I would encourage any to read the Bible with an open heart not to judge but to allow it to reveal the nature of god and his purpose for us

[Apol-los]

"There shouldn't death. We're not meant to die. We're not meant to lose our loved one. Good should be triumphing over evil. There ought to be a supernatural world. We shouldn't be stuck in time and then we are dead. At a deeper level we feel this is how reality ought to be."

[SacredMusicTribe]

Eternity is written in the hearts of men

[Lexthebarbarian]

Im an elapsed catholic and kind of atheist this days, but videos like this makes me want to go to church again and pray the rosary. This video is so beautiful, your voice is soothing and the choice of music is perfect. Well done mate!

[fporretto]

The power of story, conveyed through "secondary belief, " is that a good story well told that expresses *_an eternal verity_* -- one of the truths written into the laws of the universe -- is more persuasive than any amount of exposition. It does so by embedding that truth in the motivations, decisions, and actions of the characters, *_and the consequences that follow._*
There is more persuasive power in such a story than all the lectures ever given and all the textbooks that have ever existed.

[johnbecht]

This is a masterpiece and an edifying blessing to all the Church.