Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings by Sarah Arthur

Nicely done

Walking With Frodo: A Devotional Journey Through the Lord of the Rings is aimed at middle school through college students. It takes the LOTR trilogy (movie or books) and demonstrates that the struggles in the books are often our own struggles, although perhaps not as dramatic as a battle with the Balrog...

Sarah Arthur uses LOTR "to drive home timeless truths about life."(p. xii) Tolkein's Christian worldview does come out from time to time in the books (who cannot help but to make an analogy between Gandalf sacrificing himself to defeat the Balrog and the despair of his companions afterwards with Jesus dying on the cross and the behavior of the disciples immediately afterwards?)

The book has 9 pairs of devotionals based on decisions or situations in LOTR (bondage vs. freedom and choosing despair vs. choosing hope, for example). There are a few relevant bible verses thrown in for good measure. A strong group leader could make this a powerful Bible study. Or, it can be quickly devoured by someone like me in about an hour because I skipped the discussion questions. Now, I'm inspired to pull out the DVDs and watch the trilogy all over again with a new angle to watch for.

I rate this study 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on February 20, 2010.

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