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In the 1950s, the Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich wrote a series of lectures dealing with what he saw as the ‘problem of theology and culture.’ Tillich argued that secular art could perform a sacred function in bringing human beings towards a more authentic awareness of ‘the ultimate concern.’ For Tillich, the greatest works of art were those which drew viewer sand readers towards the horizon of understanding. In this course, we will consider a range of different literary masterpieces, considering the ways in which the work of these writers can bring us into encounter with the mysteries of human existence. We will bring these secular works of art into dialogue with the key concerns of the Christian theological tradition: from free will to creation; from grace to apocalypse.
Week 1
Apocalypse in T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland
T.S. Eliot was one of the foremost poets of the twentieth century. Perhaps his most important work is The Wasteland – a kaleidoscopic poem filled with allusions to Western and Eastern culture and religious tradition. Many scholars noted the ways in which Eliot drew upon the genre of apocalyptic literature in this work. In this week’s session we will examine The Wasteland as an apocalypse, comparing it with Biblical apocalyptic literature.
Week 2
The Atonement in Shusaku Endo’s Samurai
Shusaku Endo was one of the greatest Japanese novelists of the twentieth century. His most famous work is Silence but we will be looking at a lesser known work: Samurai. The novel tells the story of a Franciscan priest, travelling with a number of Japanese Samurai to Rome. Along the way, the novel asks us to consider the real meaning of the crucifixion, divorced from its cultural context within Christendom. In so doing, it asks larger questions about absolute truth and its relationship with redemption.
Week 3
Discipleship in George Herbert’s The Collar
George Herbert was a seventeenth century Anglican priest and poet. He is revered as one of the foremost metaphysical poets – alongside John Donne and Andrew Marvell. Herberts work often includes reflection on the challenge of faith and discipleship, nowhere more so than in his famous poem The Collar, which we focus on in this weeks session.
Week 4
Theodicy in Albert Camus’ The Plague
The Plague is considered by many to be Albert Camus’ masterpiece. Published in 1947, it tells the story of a plague sweeping the Algerian port of Oran. In part, The Plague is a consideration of one of the great theological questions: why do bad things happen to good people? We will be discussing The Plague, and its messages for us about the relationship between suffering and theism.
Week 5
Encounter in Raymond Carver’s Cathedral
In our final week of the course, we will be discussing Raymond Carver’s story, Cathedral. Cathedral is – on the surface – a simple account of the meeting between a blind man and his old friend’s husband. As the two characters sit and talk, however, Carver introduces his reader to a profound meditation on the experience of being human and the nature of encounter as a entry-way to profound self-knowledge or even conversion. We will be thinking about Raymond Carver’s story alongside the work of the philosopher and theologian Emmanuel Levinas.
Reading - The Waste Land
Reading - Extract from Samurai
Questions for reflection
1. What does Hasekura mean when he describes Christ as a mangy dog?
2. What is the story of Hasekura and Velasco suggest about the relationship between God and humanity?
3. Throughout the novel - and in the extract you read - Hasekura sees the place that he lives, Japan more broadly and ultimately the world as a marsh. What do you think the meaning of this is?
4. Is Velasco right to seek to convert the Japanese envoys?
5. Can Catholicism ever be totally separated from its European and colonial heritage?
6. Is it possible to conceive of a God without power?
7. Is speaking of God as ‘an event’ the same as atheism?
Reading - The Collar by George Herbert
Questions for reflections
1. What does the title ‘The Collar’ mean to you as a reader?
2. There are some veiled references to the Passion in the poem? Can you see any? What do you think the desired effect is here?
3. The poem is written in quite a chaotic style with many uneven lines and only the last lines seem to conform to any consistent rhyme scheme. Why do you think Herbert chose to write the poem in this way?
4. What can we glean about Herbert’s theology –about his understanding of God’s nature – from the poem?
5. The poem could be read as an account of ‘costly grace.’ What does this phrase mean to you?
6. Does this view of human nature seem distinctively seventeenth century to you? Or does it have resonances with the present day?
7. Does discipleship inevitably go hand-in-hand with suffering?
8. Do you agree with Nathan Zuckerman’s assessment of the poem as ‘grandiose’?
Reading - The Plague by Albert Camus
Questions for reflection
1. Camus described the characters in his novel as ‘rebels.’ What does this mean to you?
2. Does the first sermon – in which Father Paneloux claims that the plague is a punishment for the collective sinfulness of the people of Oran – make sense theologically?
3. Does the second sermon – in which Father Paneloux claims that the plague is a test of faith – make sense theologically?
4. Rieux describes the experience of fighting the plague as one of endless failure. How does this function as a metaphor for the absurdist thesis?
5. The novel closes with the claim that “what we learn in the midst of plagues [is that] there are more things to admire in men than to despise.” Does this claim resonate with your experience of the pandemic?
6. Are the characters of Rambert, Rieuxand Tarrou ‘saints’?
7. Is it true that there is no value in abstract ethical theorizing?
Reading - Cathedral
We would really appreciate it if you could take a fewminutes to provide us with feedback on your experience with our course. Please complete an evaluation form here:
Evaluation Form - Literature and Theologies · ChurchSuite Forms
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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.
