The Language of Spiritual Literature in a Post-Religious Era

Abstract

McGregor asserts that the language writers once used to talk about God or metaphysics is often viewed as old-fashioned in today’s secular world, representative of an outmoded, patriarchal and prejudiced institution. Quoting from writers such as Marilynne Robinson, Annie Dillard and Robert Lax who have expressed spiritual concerns in original ways, he argues for a more open approach to the possibilities in words and images by writers of faith. He calls for a more inclusive attitude toward spiritual writing in our national literary discourse. McGregor concludes with the hope that we might experience a renaissance in our literature, a reinjecting of spiritual matters, not in a dogmatic or overly redemptive way, but in ways that reflect real life, with questions and doubts and new language.