Few modern works of literature have captured the moral imagination of the West as powerfully as Tolkien’s epic. Though often read as mere fantasy, Tolkien himself famously insisted that his story was ‘a fundamentally religious and Catholic work’. On April 9, 2026, the James Cardinal Gibbons Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America hosted a landmark webinar titled ‘The theological meaning of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings’. The event brought together internationally acclaimed author Joseph Pearce and Dr Jan C Bentz to explore the sacramental vision of JRR Tolkien.
9:36 AM
Interview with Joseph Pearce: Why Middle-earth is not a pagan myth
Joseph Pearce and Jan C Bentz examine the theological vision in Tolkien’s fiction, from providence and liturgy to the Catholic imagination
Jan C. Bentz
8 min read
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