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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.’ 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
Free Will in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov
The Brother’s Karamazov is one of the greatest works of literature. Through the medium of a story about domestic strife and small-town politics, Dostoyevsky introduces themes of faith, despair, courage, and the meaningfulness or otherwise of human existence. This session will focus on a brief passage from the novel in which two of the main characters are forced to consider the nature of sin and the possibility of freedom of will in the context of Christian belief.
Week 2
Creation in Marianne Moore’s Jerboa.
Marianne Moore was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister from Kirkwood, Missouri who rose to be one of the most influential American poets of the twentieth century. Her work explored the concept of sin and temptation in light of her understanding of the fallenness of humanity. She also wrote with rare insight about the relationship between humanity and the natural world. In this session, we will focus on one of her poems – Jerboa – and seek to unpack its reflections of the concept of creation.
Week 3
Sacrifice in Franz Kafka’s Abraham
The story of the sacrifice of Isaac – the Akedah – is one of the most challenging passages in the Biblical canon. In this short story, Franz Kafka meditates on the possible, real experiences of the human man Abraham and, in so doing, calls us to question the real meaning of the sacrifice, and of sacrifice in general. We will discuss this short piece of writing in tandem with Kierkegaard’s writing on the same subject in this weeks class.
Week 4
Faith in James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain
James Baldwin was one of the great literary voices of the twentieth century. His novels, informed by his own life, described the anguishes and the joys of being cast to the margins of society as a black, gay man in America. At the heart of much of Baldwin’s work is a preoccupation with faith, belonging and abjection. Go Tell it on the Mountain is a deeply personal story in which the characters negotiate the challenge of faith: faith in God and faith in institutions. We will be discussing these themes in light of black theology – which was emerging at the time that Baldwin was writing.
Week 5
Grace in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find
Christian theology suffuses the work of Flannery O’Connor, the twentieth century American writer. One theme which she grappled with was the concept of grace. In this remarkable and challenging story, she pushes us to think about the relationship between morality, hypocrisy and grace. We will be discussing this story in the light of the concept of Grace as discussed in the writing of St Augustine.
Reading - The Grand Inquisitor
Questions for reflection
1. How do you think Dostoyevsky’s life experiences while writing Karamazov affected the novel?
2. Is Ivan – strictly speaking – an atheist?
3. Is it reasonable to say that pain and suffering are the price of freedom of will?
4. Is the Inquisitor a hero or a villain?
5. Can we really be free if there is always a correct and an incorrect ethical choice?
6. Is it legitimate to lie to people if it will allow them to have a happy life?
7. What is the significance of the kiss with which Christ leaves the Inquisitor?
Reading - The Jerboa
Questions for reflection
1. How did Moore’s mother’s worldview affect the poet’s imagination?
2. Can you see the influence of Reinhold Neibhur in the poem?
3. How would you characterise Moore’s view of the natural world?
4. Is Moore a misanthropist?
5. What is the significance of the character of Jacob in the poem?
6. What is the significance of the mongoose in the poem?
7. Why does Moore describe the Jerboa as an artist?
8. Are there any other poems that this poem reminds you of?
Reading - Abraham
Questions for reflection
1. Is the biblical Abraham a hero?
2. What does it mean to be a ‘knight of faith’?
3. Is faith higher than ethics?
4. How might Kafka’s life experiences shaped his view of Abraham?
5. To live an authentic life, do we need to take a leap of faith, like Abraham?
6. Is a God who demands the impossible a benevolent God?
7. Is there any way of knowing whether divine revelations are real or not?
Reading - Go Tell It on the Mountain
Questions for reflection
1. Is Gabriel’s faith a positive or a negative factor in the story?
2. Does John experience a religious or a secular conversion?
3. What does the character of Elisha represent?
4. Is Florence justified in exposing Gabriel’s past?
5. What significance do the characters’ names have?
6. Why did Baldwin choose this title for the novel?
7. What do you see as the significance of the final lines of the novel?
Reading - A good man is hard to find
Questions for reflection
1. How would you describe the character of the grandmother?
2. Why do you think that O’Connor leaves the character of the grandmother unnamed?
3. Is the character of the Misfit ‘a prophet gone wrong’?
4. Why does O’Connor see a connection between grace and violence?
5. What do you think that the Misfit means when he says that Jesus ‘shown everything off balance’?
6. What does this Misfit mean when he says: “She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life”?
7. Why do you think that O’Connor chose this title?
8. What do you think will happen to the Misfit after the end of the story?
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Week 1
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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.
