In his excellent column on faith in Lord of the Rings, our John Miller says that the films’ director, Peter Jackson, seems to grasp that LOTR is a fundamentally religious work, and says that Jackson honors that in his movies. John’s right. In an interview the other day (which I’ll have more of on NRO as we get closer to the movie’s opening), Jackson said he and his team decided that they weren’t going to load their own “baggage” onto Tolkien’s work. I don’t know that many filmmakers would have been able to resist the temptation, but Jackson has, and may the God he may or may not believe in bless him for it. Also, screenwriter Philippa Boyans revealed she has a keen grasp of the role of Tolkien’s Catholicism in creating the LOTR world. More on which soon… .