Why be good?

[pocaracas]

So much reading that I had to just to catch up with this thread! Can't you people just stay put on Sundays?!

Luke 1 1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Gee, Luke was aware of lots of accounts of Jesus. It appears that He got more press than some in this forum care to admit.

Anyway, as I read this, I was reminded of another book... care to guess which from the quote below?

Prologue

1
Concerning Hobbits

This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history. Further information will also be found in the selection from the Red Book of Westmarch that has already been published, under the title of The Hobbit. That story was derived from the earlier chapters of the Red Book, composed by Bilbo himself, the first Hobbit to become famous in the world at large, and called by him There and Back Again, since they told of his journey into the East and his return: an adventure which later involved all the Hobbits in the great events of that Age that are here related.
Many, however, may wish to know more about this remarkable people from the outset, while some may not possess the earlier book. For such readers a few notes on the more important points are here collected from Hobbit-lore, and the first adventure is briefly recalled.

It seems, we should believe Tolkien, as he's basing his retelling of the story on the authoritative telling by Bilbo. Sadly, the red book has been lost forever. Had it not been for Tolkien, we'd never know that Hobbits and elves had ever existed on this planet.