The Language of Religious Faith

A course on the ways poetry provides a language of religious faith that emerges from the sense of a divine presence in human experience. We will explore how this language of religious faith expresses a wide range of both negative and positive responses by those seeking a relationship with this divine presence, including fear, doubt, guilt, abandonment, ecstasy, gratefulness, hopefulness, and security. Our study of this phenomenon will yield insights into the relationship between psychology and spirituality. Sources will include the biblical books of Psalms and Job and contemporary Jewish and Christian poetry.