Hi, this is Dr. Joe Rigney, author of Live Like an Arnian, and you're listening to Pines with Jack.

Out of the darkness of my life, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth, the blessed sacrament.

There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.

This is Pints with Jack, Season 6, Episode 48, Tolkien's Faith, after hours with Dr. Holly

Ordway.

Welcome everyone. Here on Pints with Jack, we are reading our way through the works of C.S. Lewis.

This episode is being posted on September 21st, meaning that tomorrow is Hobbit Day,

commemorating the birthdays of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

These are, as I'm sure most listeners will know,

characters from The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, books by the Oxford inkling, J.R.R. Tolkien.

This, therefore, makes it a very appropriate week to discuss the latest book from Dr. Holly Aldway, Tolkien's Faith, a spiritual biography. And that's why I opened today's

episode with that quotation from one of Tolkien's letters, where he speaks about the Catholic

devotion to the Eucharist. Our guest today is a former guest of the show. Dr. Holly Ordway is the

Cardinal Francis George Professor of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute,

and she is visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Christian University.

She is the author of several books, including Tolkien's Modern Reading,

and the book which we're discussing today, Tolkien's Faith, A Spiritual Biography.

Dr. Ordway actually also lives a couple of miles from my home,

so I can personally assure all those listening that she brews a mean pot of tea. Dr. Holly Aldway, welcome back to Pints

with Jack. It is a pleasure to be on. Well, I heard that you've got some fun plans for Hobbit Day

this year when this episode is released. How are you going to be celebrating

Bilbo's birthday? I will be celebrating it by actually giving a keynote at the Franciscan University

...