Rhone Publishes Book on Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, MacDonald
Dr. Zachary Rhone, adjunct assistant professor of English at Houghton College, has published a book titled The Great Tower of Elfland: The Mythopoeic Worldview of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and George MacDonald. Rhone’s book offers a case in favor of Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, and MacDonald’s similar Christian perspectives, countering a concept introduced in the late 1970s by author Humphrey Carpenter. Carpenter argued against the idea of the Inklings (an Oxford based literary group including both Tolkien and Lewis) sharing a Christian perspective in their writing. Rhone’s book is one of only a few that offers an alternative view. “The research in The Great Tower of Elfland demonstrates how significant a single belief – in this case, a deep faith in Christ – is in shaping a worldview,” he notes. Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, and MacDonald shared many beliefs: their views on language, the human journey, and others. According to Rhone, they believed that language is f...