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In the 1950s, the Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich wrote aseries of lectures dealing with what he saw as the ‘problem of theology andculture.’ Tillich argued that secular art could perform a sacred function inbringing human beings towards a more authentic awareness of ‘the ultimateconcern.’ For Tillich, the greatest works of art were those which drew viewersand readers towards the horizon of understanding. In this course, we willconsider a range of different literary masterpieces, considering the ways inwhich the work of these writers can bring us into encounter with the mysteriesof human existence. We will bring these secular works of art into dialogue withsome key concerns of the Christian theological tradition: providence, justice,prayer, mysticism and vocation.
Week 1: Prayer in Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Between 1951 and 1963, Salinger published five slim volumes of work. Between 1963 and his death in 2010 he continued to write but never published and he retreated into a world of private spiritual contemplation. An early clue to the preoccupations which would consume most of his life can be found in his 1961 work ‘Franny.’ In this short story, a young woman meets her boyfriend and they discuss a nineteenth century Russian text on the subject of prayer. What is prayer? What is its intended effect? These are the questions raised in this short, unassuming, but deeply truthful work of literature.
Week 2: Providence in Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Defoe was born in England in 1660 at a moment in history when the country was riven by political and religious conflict. Raised in a dissenting Protestant household, Defoe was deeply engaged with the Calvinist concept of personal conversion and regeneration. In his magisterial work – Robinson Crusoe – Defoe is credited with having invented the English novel. But the text is also fretted with deeply theological themes regarding the relationship between God and the individual and the experience of God in the world.
Week 3: Vocation in Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead is in some ways an unlikely bestseller. Published in 2004, it tells the story of John Ames: a Congregationalist minister from Iowa. The novel finds Ames on his deathbed in 1956 and it tells the story of his relationship with his father and grandfather, both of whom were also Congregationalist ministers. The novel explores notions of vocation, duty and the discipleship and asks probing questions about freedom of will.
Week 4: Judgment in ‘First Confession,’ by Frank O’Connor.
One of O’Connor’s best known stories is ‘First Confession,’ first published in 1951. It tells the story of a young boy’s first confession and his sometimes confused understanding of Christian hamartiology. Whilst the story is full of warmth and humour, it has at its heart a deeply humanistic commentary on the nature of judgment, the relationship between justice and mercy and the nature of sin itself.
Week 5: Mysticism in To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf was avowedly sceptical of the Christian religion. Unusually for her time, she was raised by two atheist parents and her novels are populated by sceptical and secular characters. Nevertheless, many scholars have noted the presence of mystical themes in her novels. In this session, we will examine some passages from her great novel To The Lighthouse and compare the themes expressed with the mystical writers of previous generations.
Reading - Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Questions for reflection
1. How would you describe the character of Lane?
2. How would you describe the character of Franny?
3. “Lane is like the pharisee and Franny is like the tax-collector.” Do you agree with this statement?
4. What is it about The Way of the Pilgrim which attracts Franny?
5. What is the hesychastic method?
6. Is Hesychia a higher mode of prayerful piety?
7. Why does Franny start to pray the Jesus prayer at the end of the story?
8. How do you think Salinger’s own experiences affected the writing of this story?
Reading - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Questions for reflection
1. Is Robinson Crusoe a heroic figure?
2. What is the moral message of Robinson Crusoe?
3. How did early modern concepts of Providence shape the writing of this story?
4. “My mind was entirely composed by resigning myself to the will of God and throwing myself wholly upon the disposal of His providence.” Is this a truthful description of Crusoe's life on the island?
5. Is Robinson Crusoe a ‘justified sinner’?
6. “Robinson Crusoe is a humanist story.” Do you agree?
7. How might Defoe’s life experiences have shaped his writing of Robinson Crusoe?
Reading - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Questions for reflection
1. How does John Ames see resonances between his own story and that of Hagar and Ishmael?
2. In the extract, John Ames accuses Jack Broughton of ‘treating words like actions.’ What do you think he means by this?
3. Why does John Ames contend that the commandment to honour one’s parents is more important than the commandment not to commit murder?
4. What does the testimony of John Ames tell us about the nature of faith?
5. Does John Ames have a patriarchal view of the world?
6. ‘The message of Gilead is that it is impossible to be a good man.’ Do you agree?
Reading - First Confession by Frank O’Connor
Questions for reflection
1. Is the priest the hero of this story?
2. Can we read this story as a parody of the story of the prodigal son?
3. Is Jackie right to call Nora a hypocrite?
a. Is Mrs Ryan a hypocrite?
4. The message of the story is that moralism is the greatest sin. Do you agree?
5. What are the similarities between this story and ‘Guests of the Nation’?
6. How did O’Connor’s own life experiences shape this story?
Questions for reflection
1. How did the influence of Virginia Woolf’s father influence her beliefs?
2. What does it mean to say that Woolf was both a mystic and an atheist?
3. How do you interpret this quotation from Lily Briscoe’s internal monologue:
One wanted fifty pairs of eyes to see with, she reflected. Fifty pairs of eyes were not enough to get round that one woman with, she thought.
4. “Mrs Ramsey’s prayer is just wishful thinking.” Do you agree?
5. Read the following quotation from Paul Tillich’s The Religious Situation:
“Art’s immediate task is not that of apprehending essence but that of expressing meaning. Art indicates what the character of a spiritual situation is; it does this more immediately and directly than do science and philosophy for it is less burdened by objective considerations. Its symbols have something of a revelatory character while scientific conceptualization must suppress the symbolical in favor of objective adequacy.”
Do you think that the extract from To the Lighthouse fulfils this task?
6. What did Virginia Woolf mean when she spoke about the ‘pattern behind the cotton wool of life’?
7. To the Lighthouse ends with Lily Briscoe contentedly deciding that she has ‘had her vision.’ What is the meaning of this line?
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Aidan is a tutor in Social and Environmental Justice stream. He completed his PhD at the Divinity Faculty of the University of Cambridge in 2018. During his doctoral studies he ran as a Parliamentary candidate for the Green Party. He is the author of two academic books: Jewish Christians in Puritan England (2020) and Israelism in Modern Britain (2021). Between 2020 and 2022 he worked as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at St Mary's University in London.
