Enfleshing Scripture through Literature

Abstract

College students seldom have an adequate backdrop against which to view and evaluate their present experiences and, consequently, are hindered in their growth into responsible adulthood. Although scripture could be an enlightening and stabilizing touchstone for their experiences, students are not sufficiently familiar with this unique aspect of their heritage nor their basic claim to it. By means of a course developed at Saint Mary's College, Winona, basic scriptural themes and experiences were identified and then perceived through their expression in literature. As a result students were stimulated to insights which promoted personal understanding and acceptance; the human experience initially brought forth in scripture, recalled and interpreted through literature, tended to surface as their personal story.