tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post8285044963806838902..comments2023-11-07T06:20:12.181-08:00Comments on Tolkien: Medieval and Modern: Creator and Creation"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"http://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-59340453973245150362011-05-13T12:24:48.299-07:002011-05-13T12:24:48.299-07:00You pose some very interesting questions: Is destr...You pose some very interesting questions: Is destroying the source of evil as bad as the evil itself? Is allowing evil to continue evil? I think this goes back to the question of the origins of evil, namely, that it is a byproduct of free will. If actively trying to destroy the good is evil, then actively aiding evil, or willfully choosing not even try to stop it, would also be evil. To me, the inevitable conclusion of this line of thought is that all individuals therefore have a responsibility to stop evil from spreading; though they cannot hope to undo it completely. With respect to the Creator’s role, it would seem to be too great a violation of free will to destroy the evil thing or block the evil, à la deus ex machine (to mix my linguistic references). Like the creations, the Creator seems to also have a responsibility to try to make things as good as possible within the existing limitations – the main one of which is that the Creator cannot violate the free will of its creations.<br /><br />CourtneyCDKJacobsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612608037267663825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5746173806126403959.post-60713071064098025672011-04-29T14:22:10.429-07:002011-04-29T14:22:10.429-07:00What should the creator do in response to corrupti...What should the creator do in response to corruption? I'm not sure that what Sayers is suggesting is that the Creator destroy Garrick or even Garrick's Anti-Hamlet. Rather, while acknowledging that Anti-Hamlet is evil, we the readers can make something good of it, just as (which is her implicit parallel) God made something good of the Fall by becoming incarnate as Christ so as to save all of humanity. The story of the Flood is anomalous in this sense that the good that comes of man's sin is only available to Noah and his family, but that is still a good. I suppose the question is then whether the Creator has a right to destroy his own creation--or an author to destroy his work.<br /><br />RLFB"Tolkien: Medieval and Modern"https://www.blogger.com/profile/04348913969813157482noreply@blogger.com