Again, not generally disagreeing with previous post, I should comment a bit on the following:
Quote:
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The 'science' must be convincing, but must not exclude the miraculous. The miraculous is proof of the existence of Eru. Simply, there are things in M-e which cannot (& I think this is deliberate on Tolkien's part) be explained scientifically
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Which reminds me of certain discussion we had with davem
(btw,
Evil Things)
If push comes to show, I fear 'real' miracles
can be explained scientifically. What miracles per se do we meet in ME, as far as I may recall, are
1. Numenor catastrophe (the only one textually backed up as Eru's intervention)
2. Gandalf resurrection
3. Bilbo finding a ring
4. Gollum falling down with a ring
Scientific explanation:
1. Vulcanic erruption/earthquake
2. Clinic death/hallucination
3. Chance/coincidence
4. Chance/exaltation-hunger-dangerous place exposure mixt
Or, to put another wording around it, Eru is not breaking His own rules. If direct intervention it must be, it works along same pattern as 'natural' events would do.