The four Hobbits brush the dirt off their clothes as they find themselves standing on a path through the woods, having just fallen (literally!) out of the angry clutches of Farmer Maggot. Merry and Pippin are quite carefree, thinking that all danger is behind them. . .but Frodo senses that something else is amiss and urges his companions to seek shelter in the exposed root canopy of a nearby tree. A black rider comes up behind them, his very presence seeming to inspire the emergence of creeping centipedes, insects, and spiders from beneath the tree under which the Hobbits are hiding. Frodo’s eyes role back in their sockets and his lids begin to close, as if he is falling into some kind of possession. His left hand holds the ring in a ready position, while his right, with one finger dangerously extended, reaches toward the Ring. . .
Of course we all know that, in this instance, Frodo does not succumb to his desire to put the Ring on his finger. However, he is certainly tempted to do so. The tension and temptation to yield to this evil – to yield to his desire for the ring – follows Frodo throughout the rest of his journey. In “Tolkien and the Nature of Evil,” Davison explains one possible philosophy of evil’s origin: that it comes from “inordinate desire” . . . the desire for something that violates the rightful order of things.” In the scene with the Black Rider, we see Frodo’s first encounter with the evil enticement of the Ring. Though he initially resists temptation, as the story continues, his resilience weakens and he begins to yield to its pressures.
In scenes such as the one mentioned above, Tolkien describes how the Ring holds the power to tempt and entice its possessor. The path that Frodo follows when his resilience fades is poignantly related to the way the Bible explains our own progression down the path of sin. James 1: 12-15 says the following:
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
In this passage, evil is essentially described as the lure and enticement of man’s desire. On the basis of this passage, I agree with Augustine’s perspective on evil’s origin – it comes from our own distorted desires. As Frodo yields to his desires (similar to idea of giving in to temptation), he begins to use the Ring (similar to sinning), and slowly it takes over his life and changes him, perverting his goodness.
God created us to be good (Gen. 1), and he gives us the ability to resist temptation (1 Cor. 10:12-14), but when our inordinate desires prompts one of our fingers to reach out for the Ring, we will fall down a slippery slope of sin when we yield. Does it concur, then, that evil is synonymous with sin? If it is true that evil begins with inordinate desire (as Augustinian suggests) and that temptation and enticement by our desires leads to sin (as James suggests), then aren’t they the same thing?
The Four Loves is Lewis's closest look at this idea that we should think of sin as a distortion of what we love or desire instead of seeing it in terms of our behavior. Of course, distorted desires surface in our behavior, but sinful actions are more the symptom than the disease on this view. I'd be interested to hear what you all think are the implications of this shift in our thinking.
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