Reading Texts Theologically

Author: Jasper, David

Source: The Yearbook of English Studies, Volume 39, Numbers 1-2, 1 july 2009 , pp. 7-19(13)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

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Abstract:

What do we mean by a theological text? This essay suggests that such texts are properly imbued with the energies of the mystery and imagination of poetry. Within these texts may be sustained and perceived the persistence of religion in a seemingly secular age, and this may be upheld in an authentic form of `religious reading' with an element of `prayerfulness', even within the postmodern condition and its aftermath in theology. The essay concludes with a brief series of readings from contemporary literary texts by Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy, and David Scott, and, finally, a comparative reading of Origen from his Commentary on the Song of Songs.

Keywords: Theological text; imagination; poetry; secular; religious reading; postmodern; Ian McEwan; Cormac McCarthy; David Scott; Origen

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: University of Glasgow

Publication date: 2009-07-01

More about this publication?

A supplement to the Modern Language Review, this journal includes articles and reviews on the language and literature of the English-speaking world. Most of the volumes published so far are 'Special Numbers', collections of between fifteen and eighteen commissioned articles on particular topics, such as the impact of the French Revolution on English writers; literature in the modern media; and colonial and imperial themes in literature.