Writing God and the self : Samuel Beckett and C.S. Lewis / Sharon Jebb.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jebb, Sharon.

Series:

Distinguished dissertations in Christian theology ; 5.

Distinguished dissertations in Christian theology ; 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Self--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Self.

Theology in literature.

God.

Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989.

Beckett, Samuel.

Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963.

Lewis, C. S.

Genre:

Academic theses.

Physical Description:

x, 281 p ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Or. : Pickwick Publications, [2011]

Summary:

Contemporary Literature Has, for several decades and in various guises, been dominated by questions of identity and the self. It has been forgotten that, until the Enlightenment, theological reflection emphasized the close connectedness of the self with God; knowledge of God is essential to knowledge of the self, and vice-versa, correct knowledge of the self is a necessary correlate to true knowledge of God. This has been called the double knowledge.

Writing God and the Self examines two literary texts and lives as representative of two antithetical positions. The first, represented by Samuel Beckett's life and his Three Novels, is that the self is independent of God; the second, represented by C. S. Lewis and Till We Have Faces, is that God and the self are intimately connected. Beckett's radical apophaticism about God is shown to be tied to his extreme apophaticism about the self, whereas Lewis's sense of selfhood is demonstrated to be integrally connected to his sense of a personal and self-transcending God.

Other Voice-Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Charles Taylor, Rowan Williams, Mark McIntosh and Vladimir Lossky-join the chorus of theologians, psychologists, and other thinkers, past and present, that contribute to this exploration of what Christian theology has to say about the insistent problem of the self. Taken together, all these voices articulate a powerful vision of selfhood in relation to God that is desperately needed today. Book jacket.

Contents:

I'll sprout a head at last, all my very own : Beckett, self and psychology

God, fomenter of calm : Beckett, theology

The soul's leap out : Beckett, mysticism

A warped and masked reality : Lewis, psychology

I, a sacred name : Lewis, theology and self

Men and gods flow in and out and mingle : Lewis, , mystical theology.

Notes:

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.)--University of St. Andrews, 2005.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-276) and index.

ISBN:

1608997383

9781608997381

OCLC:

722853574

Publisher Number:

99943844297