Who is Tom Bombadil? Any Lord of the Rings fan knows
that Bombadil is a very mysterious character.
But what's interesting is that as we unpack him as a character,
we end up unpacking things we've forgotten about how to do life.
Bombadil opens a window into what it means to steward the
earth and our vocations. Well, what if we had a larger
concept of stewardship, of being created in the image of God that
goes toward dominion in its truest sense?
Not just ecological preservation and certainly not domination,
but instead a posture that asks questions like, what if my
vocation has a home in the Kingdom of God?
Even though Bombadil himself doesn't appear largely in the
story or go with the hobbits on their journey, exploring his
character opens ultimate questions about death,
resurrection, heaven, rest, good and evil.
Questions about who we're supposed to be and what exactly
we're supposed to do here. Join the Imagination Redeemed
podcast for a live webinar reading group that will take
what looks like a nerdy, obscure character discussion and drive
it into a realm of wonder, mystery, and a new picture of
what it means to live in the world.
Here's how it will work. Beginning on June 4th, we will
spend 4 weeks reading and discussing the book In the House
of Tom Bombadil by CR Wiley. Each Wednesday we will host a
live webinar discussion, the first of which will be with the
author. You can participate in these
conversations live or watch them as recordings at your
convenience. And you can participate with
others not only in those live conversations, but in an ongoing
chat as we explore the book together.
Let me tell you what to expect on June 4th.
We'll start off with the conversation of who is Bombadil,
A conversation with author CR Wiley.
Tolkien fans love to debate that question.
Who is Tom Bombadil and why is he even in the story?
We'll get into our theories and yours on the answer.
But this week with author CR Wiley, we will also explore the
question of why the answer matters.
Because the answer isn't just a key to understanding The Lord of
the Rings. It's a key to understanding the
Christian life. The second week, June 11th, we
will delve into the topic of dominion.
We tend to shrink from a word like dominion, yet Tom Bombadil
exercises a stewardship that goes a great deal further than
do no harm. He gives us a model for living
as the amount of day so that our God-given lordship of creation
is woven into the thriving of the things in it.
This week we will contrast Bombadil and Sauron and unpack a
vision for shepherding the earth in keeping with the ancient
songs sung into its soul. Week 3, June 18th.
We will deal with the topic of communion, order and chaos,
women and men, nature and technology.
It's pretty easy to see apparent tensions through opposites as we
look around, and it's difficult to build households that manage
those tensions. Yet Tom and Goldberry supply a
picture of how to live joyfully in the wilderness, order our
lives by the great stories, and weave seamlessly into a dance of
mutual delight. This week we will tiptoe through
a theology of communion that has implications for the
relationship of the sexes, mankind and the rest of
creation, happiness and limits, and home and wild things.
Finally, in Week 4, on June 25th, we will look at
culmination. Tom has his limits, including as
an exemplar. This week we will explore those
limits and what they teach us, but we'll also look at what he
shows us of death and resurrection, the hierarchical
complexity of God's creation, and a vision of heaven that can
shape our habits on earth. Are you in?
We're going to have some fun with this.
That's kind of the point. We're curious about how to
approach the mysteries of how we live in the world and with each
other and come out with a posture of merriment.
To join up, go to anselmsociety.org/bombadil.