SwallowedUpInVictory
Member
A footnote to "Nothing can penetrate the barrier of Unwill" in Ósanwe-kenta in NoME it says:
"No mind can, however, be closed against Eru, either against His inspection or against His message. The latter it may not heed, but it cannot say it did not receive it."
I find it fascinating that the únat of forcing one's will by breaking the host's unwill counts also for Erú. He created it and so he restricts himself. The only advantage compared to Melkor is that the hosts have to hear his voice, but still don't have to listen to it if they don't want to. How telling is this of Erú giving free will... He rejoices in the Music, while Melkor's reaction to this únat is "unceasing and unappeasable rage". The movie "Bruce Almighty" illustrates this problem of God in a quite funny way ("How do you make someone love you without changing free will?").
For me the footnote sounds very much like the definition of Conscience in the CCC (§1776):
"Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."
"Must obey" does not mean that the person does not have a choice, because one can do things contrary to one's bad conscience. It rather means "ought to obey" I guess, which also sounds more like Tolkien's version. Of course the quote from NoME is more than conscience (inspiration, dream, vision, etc.) but this passage is probably the one most overtly talking about Conscience (in the catholic sense) that I know of Tolkien
"No mind can, however, be closed against Eru, either against His inspection or against His message. The latter it may not heed, but it cannot say it did not receive it."
I find it fascinating that the únat of forcing one's will by breaking the host's unwill counts also for Erú. He created it and so he restricts himself. The only advantage compared to Melkor is that the hosts have to hear his voice, but still don't have to listen to it if they don't want to. How telling is this of Erú giving free will... He rejoices in the Music, while Melkor's reaction to this únat is "unceasing and unappeasable rage". The movie "Bruce Almighty" illustrates this problem of God in a quite funny way ("How do you make someone love you without changing free will?").
For me the footnote sounds very much like the definition of Conscience in the CCC (§1776):
"Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."
"Must obey" does not mean that the person does not have a choice, because one can do things contrary to one's bad conscience. It rather means "ought to obey" I guess, which also sounds more like Tolkien's version. Of course the quote from NoME is more than conscience (inspiration, dream, vision, etc.) but this passage is probably the one most overtly talking about Conscience (in the catholic sense) that I know of Tolkien
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