Cathy

Tolkien parle bien des Valar en tant qu'" autorités " en Arda (" Les Pouvoirs ou les Autorités ", [L153, p.193], deux occurrences, les deux au pluriel) :

As for 'whose authority decides these things?' The immediate 'authorities' are the Valar (the Powers or Authorities): the 'gods'. But they are only created spirits - of high angelic order we should say, with their attendant lesser angels - reverend, therefore, but not worshipful;[...]

Ici, il est manifeste que Tolkien fait référence à un des ordre des puissances célestes telles quon peut les rencontrer dans la première épître de Pierre :

1 Peter 3:22 [KJ] [Christ] who has gone into Heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him.

Mais l'" autorité finale " est celle détenue par l'Unique, Eru comme on le lit en [L181, p.235] :

It is, I should say, a 'monotheistic but "sub-creational" mythology'. There is no embodiment of the One, of God, who indeed remains remote, outside the World, and only directly accessible to the Valar or Rulers. These take the place of the 'gods', but are created spirits, or those of the primary creation who by their own will have entered into the world. But the One retains all ultimate authority, and (or so it seems as viewed in serial time) reserves the right to intrude the finger of God into the story: [...]

Ce qui explique qu'à terme, l'autorité devienne un des noms d'Eru, comme dans la lettre 156, mais aussi, plus explicitement, dans la lettre 113 adressée à C.S. Lewis lors de propos théologiques sans ambiguïté [L113, p.127]:

I do not know if I make myself clear. But I suppose that it is in our power, as members of Christ, to make such gifts effectively. In the simplest case: if a man has stolen something from me, then before God I declare it a gift. That is, of course, a simple way of making use of a wrong, and getting rid of the sting, but that is not the direct object (or it would not be effective); for it seems to me probable that such a gift has effect on the culprit's situation before God, and in any case in any true desire to 'forgive' the desire that that should be so must be present. It would be wonderful when summoned to judgement, to answer innumerable charges of wrongdoing to one's brethren, to find unexpectedly that many were not going to be preferred at all! And indeed that instead one had a share in the good made of one's evil. And no less wonderful for the giver. An eternal interaction of relief and gratitude. (But the culprit must be sorry. Otherwise I suppose in the terrible realms of doom the coals of fire would burn intolerably). (What happens when the culprit is genuinely repentant, but the sufferer is deeply resentful and witholds all 'forgiveness'? It is a terrible thought, to deter anyone from running the risk of needlessly causing such an 'evil'. Of course, the power of mercy is only delegated and is always exercised with or without cooperation by Higher Authority. But the joys and healing of cooperation must be lost?)

Sosryko

Emeric

Sébastien

Cathy

Laurent

Emeric