Easter Ends Our Illusions

‘Rob the average man of his life illusion,” wrote Henrik Ibsen, “and you rob him of his happiness at the same stroke.”

That must have been the emotional outlook of many pious Jews as they witnessed the gruesome execution of a Nazarene prophet at the hands of Roman soldiers. No one in Israel’s collective memory had stirred their hopes as he had. No one spoke so movingly about God’s relentless love for his chosen people, or so convincingly about God’s triumph over his enemies.

About the Author

Joseph Loconte

Joseph Loconte is the director of The Rivendell Center in New York City and the author of The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945. He serves as a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute and as the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He is at work on a documentary film about the impact of war on the lives of Tolkien and Lewis.

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‘Rob the average man of his life illusion,” wrote Henrik Ibsen, “and you rob him of his happiness at the same stroke.”

That must have been the emotional outlook of many pious Jews as they witnessed the gruesome execution of a Nazarene prophet at the hands of Roman soldiers. No one in Israel’s collective memory had stirred their hopes as he had. No one spoke so movingly about God’s relentless love for his chosen people, or so convincingly about God’s triumph over his enemies.

About the Author

Joseph Loconte

Joseph Loconte is the director of The Rivendell Center in New York City and the author of The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945. He serves as a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute and as the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He is at work on a documentary film about the impact of war on the lives of Tolkien and Lewis.