Hobbit fever has spiked to new heights, and a spate of recent books seeks to tie Tolkien's writing more firmly to Christian thought. Among them is Ralph C. Wood's "theological meditation" on The Lord of the Rings, in which he traces the way the trilogy discloses Christian faith.

Wood, a professor of theology and literature at Baylor University, argues that Tolkien's work is "all the more deeply Christian for not being overtly Christian." In scholarly yet accessible prose, Wood examines its subtle faith themes—creation, the Fall, evil and moral courage, love, hope, and the promise of life after death.

He also looks at criticisms of Tolkien's series, such as male chauvinism, a rural world irrelevant to modern urban life, and the lack of formal religion in the story. Wood argues that Tolkien captures the transcendent, even divine, quality of real love through his portrayals of forgiveness—key to our own transformation.

Cindy Crosby is a frequent contributor to Publishers Weekly.

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The Gospel According to Tolkien is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.Ralph Wood wrote for Books & Culture Corner on the Two Towers movie.

Books & Culture also asked if Tolkien should be considered the foremost author of the twentieth century.

He also wrote for Christian History about good and evil in Middle Earth. Other articles in that issue, wholly devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien, include:

Tolkien: Man Behind the Myth | At odds with his age, he created another.

A Feeling for Language | Without philology, Middle-earth would never have existed. But what is philology?

Meeting Professor Tolkien | An American professor spent a summer with Tolkien. He remembers ...