Children’s Literature as Implicit Religion
The Concept of Grace unpacked
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/imre.v13i2.161Keywords:
Grace, Children’s LiteratureAbstract
This article is a development of research into children’s literature that investigates how religious concepts are present in the writings of well-known children’s authors. Previous work has considered atonement theories and this considers the concept of grace. Grace is identified as unconditional love seen as forgiveness (without a demand for justice), moving on (without vengeance), and extravagant offering. These three hallmarks are used as a lens through which to scrutinise The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis), The Lord of the Rings (Tolkein) and the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling). Grace is concluded to be a core concept within implicit religion.References
Byatt, A. S. 2003. “Harry Potter and the Childish Adult.” New York Times, July.
Jennings, T.W. 2006. Reading Derrida/Thinking Paul. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Lewis, C.S. 1950. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Hammondsworth: Penguin Books.
———. 1956. The Last Battle. New York: Harper Collins.
———. 1955. The Magician’s Nephew. New York: Harper Collins.
———. 1952. Mere Christianity. New York: Harper Collins.
———. 1942. The Screwtape Letters. New York: Harper Collins.
———. (II) www.faithalone.org/journal/2000/townsend (accessed 12.1.09).
Rowling, J.K. 2007. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. London: Bloomsbury.
Tolkien, J.R.R. 1995. The Lord of the Rings. London: Harper Collins.
Worsley, H.J. 2003. “Popularized Atonement Theory Reflected in Children’s Literature.” In Expository Times 115(5): 149–156. doi:10.1177/001452460411500502
