The Spiritual World of the Hobbit by James Stuart Bell is a must-read for any Tolkien fan or even non-Tolkien fan! I have to confess that I first wanted to review this book, so I could pass it on as a Christmas present to my husband (who loves all things Middle Earth!).
I have seen the films with my husband, but I have never truly desired to read any of the books. They just aren’t my usual genre. But as I began reading Bell’s look at the spiritual world of all things Middle Earth, I started to begin to understand the characters a little bit better and the world in which they shared their adventures.
Bell obviously has done his research of Bilbo Baggins and his fellow adventurers and makes them seem like real people who simply lived in another time. But what I enjoyed the most was how Bell also has obviously researched scripture and pointed the reader over and over again to different people and events in the Bible that prove his beliefs that Tolkien was mirroring the spiritual world.
Although this book is not meant to be a devotional, I think it is hard to not reflect on spiritual truths as the reader is pointed over and over again to the spiritual war that is going on and how we Christians should be changing and growing throughout our own real-life adventures.
I would definitely put this as a must-read for any avid reader!
*This book was given to me in exchange for my honest opinion by Bethany House Publishers.
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