Magic

"May the gods have mercy! The Death Legions of Krak-Tukat outnumber us ten to one! We shall face thousands of howling blood-thirsty beasts!"

"Stand back! I shall summon the Firestorm of Palizant upon them and our men will only need to finish off their charred remains!

"Palizant'es tilmara uka-uka rimbombatur! ZZRAK!

"Well, I suppose you're not so unsophisticated as to expect magic to have an observable effect on physical reality, right? Its value is in the metaphors it gives us to better understand ourselves!"

"RUN!"

Argument

(Yes, I know Tolkien would be dismayed.)


"How can you say that Jesus wan't the Messiah, when He fulfilled every prophecy? He was born of a virgin..."

"The word Isaiah used means 'young woman,' not 'virgin.' And her son was supposed to be named Emmanuel, not Jesus."

"'Emmanuel' means 'God is with us.' It's a perfect description of Jesus as God incarnate."

"Nowhere does it say that the Messiah will be God incarnate. It _does_ say that he will bring peace, which Jesus didn't."

"The sense of that is spiritual. He brought peace to our souls by dying for our sins."

"That's what _you_ say."

"But—"

"Of course the Balrog has no wings! Otherwise it would have flown instead of falling into the chasm."

"Wings are not enough for flying. It could have used them to slow down the fall. That explains why it and Gandalf took so long to hit the bottom."

"Man, read the book. 'The shadow around it reached out _like two vast wings_.' They're not literal wings. It's a simile."

"What's the difference between wings and something _like_ wings if you can't fly with them anyway?"

"Freaks."

"Uh-huh."