The Hobbit: Discovering Grace and Providence in Bilbo's Adventures

Joseph Pearce

The Hobbit (Group Study Edition-Video DVD Set + 1 Leader Guide + 1 Lecture Guide)
Sku: C50503

In this course, Joseph Pearce shows that Tolkien's own words about The Lord of the Rings being a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work" also apply to The Hobbit. Some readers mistakenly believe that The Hobbit is just a simple children's story. Tolkien might have written the book for his children's entertainment, but the best children's literature always has a deep level of meaning, and The Hobbit is no exception.

The Course includes lifetime access to eight 30 minutes lectures, a quiz on each lecture and a PDF of the Lecture Guide. The full-color Lecture Guides provide helpful discussion questions, insightful lecture summaries, and suggested readings for each participant. Passing each quiz in the course with a minimum score of 70% gives the student a certificate of completion, which can be applied to one our certificate programs. See Certificates for more detail.

Course Lectures

1. Bilbo's Pilgrimage

Bilbo's journey reflects our own journey through life, involving growing up and growing in virtue - through grace.

2. An Unexpected Parting

Gandalf prompts Bilbo into an adventure, which, on the moral level, encourages growth in wisdom and virtue, through suffering and sacrifice, of Bilbo himself.

3. Trusting in "Luck"

Through Bilbo's early encounters, we learn that "luck" is not merely chance, but is evidence of meaning and purpose in the cosmos.

4. Goblins and Gollum

The adventure continues as goblins reflect cruelty, wickedness, and the evils of technology and Gollum shows how hatred often hurts itself.

5. Bilbo Comes of Age

Gandalf leaves the party, allowing Bilbo to grow up through defeating obstacles on his own.

6. The Return of the King

Thorin Oakenshield returns to Lake-town as the rightful King under the Mountain, and must vanquish the usurper, the dragon Smaug.

7. The Dragon Sickness of Pride

Bilbo discovers the dragon's weakness which becomes its downfall, but not before the dwarves fall prey to its sickness of greed and pride.

8. Blessed Be the Poor in Spirit

As the adventure ends, a humble and grown-up Bilbo finds great contentment back at home, just as our life's pilgrimage leads us back to our home in Heaven.

Meet your Professor

Joseph Pearce is Director of the Center for Faith and Culture and Writer in Residence at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a renowned biographer whose books include his autobiography, Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love (Saint Benedict Press, 2013); Candles in the Dark: The Authorized Biography of Fr. Ho Lung, Missionaries of the Poor (Saint Benedict Press, 2012), Through Shakespeare's Eyes: Seeing the Catholic Presence in the Plays (Ignatius Press, 2010); and Tolkien: Man and Myth, a Literary Life (HarperCollins, 1998). He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Higher Education from Thomas More College for the Liberal Arts and also received the Pollock Award for Christian Biography. He is co-editor of the St. Austin Review and has hosted two series on Shakespeare for EWTN, as well as hosting several EWTN productions on J. R. R. Tolkien.

The Hobbit (Group Study Edition-Video DVD Set + 1 Leader Guide + 1 Lecture Guide)
Sku: C50503

Sale Price: $119.95
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