[Aiwendil]

Kalessin:

This again I discussed in my earlier post, the philosophical conundrum of how a Creator that is both omnipotent and omniscient can allow Evil without in some way bearing responsibility for that Evil. Again, in Western Christian theology from St Augustine onwards this has been a thorny issue.

And I don't think Tolkien's answer to this would be much different from Augustine's: the evil is ultimately tributary to the good, and will lead to greater good. I find that an unsatisfactory answer, but neither Augustine nor Tolkien went further.

In pure logical science there is no such thing as 'coincidence' or 'choice'.

Not true! See below.

I should stress I do not personally adhere to absolutist causal determinism

Anyone who adheres to total causal determinism today is either poorly informed or in possession of some science more advanced than anything the rest of the world knows. Quantum mechanics rules out total causal determinism. On a macroscopic scale, things become extremely predictable, but not precisely deterministic. And in situations where a small scale system governs the behaviour of a large scale system, such as the human brain, the non-determinism has a greater effect.

if free will is a 'created' factor and the laws of physics/morality etc. are likewise 'created', then our freedom is constrained by 'moral design' rather than amoral causality, and therefore would require faith to simply accept the constraints as just.

True.

The issue of redemption in itself, is a particularly interesting concept. Are we saying that ALL redemption is contingent on the judgement of the Law giver or Creator?

I think so.

Is it NEVER possible to redeem oneself through conscience, voluntary acts of contrition or compensation?

Through acts of contrition or compensation - I think not. Through conscience - sort of. I think the Tolkienian view might be that an individual cannot redeem oneself through consience or actions, but that God will redeem those that have good conscience/will. Also, those with good conscience will tend to do good deeds. So it is practically the same, if essentially different.

But our ability to accept them in a world created by Tolkien AND in 'our' real world is not so different - and our challenges to these assertions here can just as much be made to Tolkien's world as part of this discussion.

Perhaps. But as for me, I have many points of contention with Christian theology, and thus must either refuse to suspend disbelief and to accept Middle-earth or simply not ask things like "how can Iluvatar allow evil to exist?"

By the way, I'm enjoying your 'subjective / objective' discussion on another recent thread, and am exercising great self-discipline in not butting in ... we've been there before

It seems you've overestimated your self-discipline. For my part, though, I'm glad that you broke down and joined the discussion.