Why Orthodox Christians Can Love Tolkien and Other Imaginative Fiction

I am a lifelong Tolkien fan, but now that I have a Tolkien podcast, I've found more time to explore how my love for Tolkien fits into my spiritual life as an Orthodox Christian. And it turns out that there is actually a specifically Orthodox Christian reason to love Tolkien and other works of imaginative fiction.

Is the Age of the Earth Important? A Footnote and a Response

On page 20 of An Introduction to God appears this footnote: Orthodoxy makes no definitive statement about exactly how God created the universe or in what amount of time. The important point is that He did create it ex nihilo, out of nothing. The footnote is connected with this text: “In the beginning, God created the universe, including mankind, whom He placed at the…