Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
1995
Disciplines
Religion
Advisor
Ephrem Hollerman
Abstract
My thesis explores the relationship between God and poetry. I assert that poetry is not only the best language with which to speak to God, but it is the best language with which to speak of God as well. It analyzes poetry from the classical period to the contemporary period, as well as including biblical excerpts from the Hebrew Scriptures (the Psalms, Job) and the New Testament (the synoptic gospels, the Gospel of John). The poetry in the thesis falls in two categories: the celebratory poems with which we speak of God, and the poems of suffering with which we speak to God in prayer. The second half of the thesis explores why poetry is the most appropriate language with which to speak of God. In this half of the thesis I discuss symbol, metaphor, and the transcendence of poetry in relation to the divine.
Copyright Statement
Available by permission of the author. Reproduction or retransmission of this material in any form is prohibited without expressed written permission of the author.
Recommended Citation
Zapzalka, Heidi, "God and Poetry" (1995). Honors Theses, 1963-2015. 520.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses/520