126 Dialog: A Journal of Theology • Volume 42, Number 2 • Summer 2003

Through the vision of artists Joseph Sittler finds thekey to the critique of his own cultural time and place.Sittler utilizes the careful, poignant, and often cruelimagination of authors and poets to provide a clearerview of life’s internal relationships and cultural con-text. His constructive theology explores life through“Literature-in-theology” and “Theology-in-literature.”Literature-in-theology provides the critical voice. Thelanguage of poetry or prose provides the metaphorsand images that give depth and meaning of theologi-cal narratives and didactic proclamation. Theology-in-literature is the balance to the equation. Movingfrom theology into literature directs critical attentiontoward all human endeavor. Theology through litera-ture offers critical reflection on the ever-present activ-ity of God’s grace and the evidence of human rebel-lion.

The artists who provided fodder for Sittler’s workwere mainly North American. In the works of the au-thors whom Sittler most frequently quoted, WaltWhitman and Herman Melville, he found literature’scritique of the American conflict. These American voicesshed light on the three North American weaknessesthat theology must address. Sittler utilized the litera-ture of Whitman, Melville and others to criticize theAmerican rejection of boundaries, the egocentrism of

the culture and the preference for flat scientific lan-guage.

Poets provided the language for Sittler’s founda-tion theological concept of grace. In the words of hisfavorite poet, British Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins,Sittler found the answer to North America’s weaknesses.Hopkins’ poetry provides the metaphors for Sittler’saffirmation of God’s powerful and cosmic grace. Sittlerargues that these favorite artists as well as musiciansand even architects know what people need to know.

[People] need to know the truth. The artistprobes for the reality of human existence. Allthat betrays and dismays and delights and urgesmen and women into creativity—all this is whatthe artist wants to look at.1

The balance of theology and literature reveals newmetaphors and words to describe the depth of humanjoy and suffering.

Literature-in-Theology

For Sittler the first step in “Literature-in-theology” isto recognize the tension between the tradition trans-mitted by literature and the power it holds to shape anew world view. Literature not only transmits a world-

Through the Eyes of the Artist:Joseph Sittler,

Theology and LiteratureBy Elaine Siemsen

Elaine Seimsen is a professor of Homiletics at Luther Seminary.

127Through the Eyes of the Artist: Joseph Sittler, Theology and Literature • Elaine Siemsen

view, it contributes to the creation of one. This liter-ary-produced world-view confronts the theologian withthis tension between the tradition and the culture.Literature-in-theology demands that theology recog-nize that literature and written words of society arenot just illustrations for the theologian to refer to inpassing. Sittler often quoted Nathan Scott, that lit-erature is the “fecundating material for theological re-flection.”2 This tension is the humanly created fertil-izer prized by Sittler in his theological tasks.

Sittler sees literary sources that hold tradition andcreativity in tension as the “unaccredited witness.”These sources offer to the human the evidence thatGod’s grace is present and celebrated through all ofcreation. As the voice for this tension, Sittler writesthat literature aspires to be a point of the operation ofthat grace as it participates in the “anguished and joy-ous act of recognition of the truth.”3 Within art, lit-erature, drama, music, he finds a unique contributionto language that invites formation and shaping.4

We sometimes suppose that people look uponthe world and find it beautiful and then lookfor a language with which to adorn what theybehold. I think that is true, but it also worksthe other way. Sometimes we are partly blindedtoward this world, and then someone puts thebeauty of which we had not been aware into agorgeous line. Thereafter we behold it in anew way. We do not only go from beholdingto language, but we may go from the beautyof language to the enhancement of beholding.5

The second step in “Literature-in-theology” is itsability to draw our attention to God’s participationwithin the particular. Seeing God in the particularreminds the reader of their participation in the whole.Richard Wilbur’s “Advice to the Prophet,” illustratesthis point. In reference to this poem, Sittler sawliterature’s ability to bring the problem down wherethe individual could understand it. Literature con-fronts the reader with times of fear, joy, frustrationthat lead ultimately to the sense of the sacred. It isthrough the talent of the artist that the ever-presentparticipation of God, grace of God, is most clearlyrevealed as embodied in the common experiences ofthe creation.

In the third step, literature is the critical eye that

exposes the human situation in its moral and ethicaldilemma. Sittler characterizes these moral ethical di-lemmas within his three categories called the threetyrannies of North American society. The Tyranny ofBoundlessness is exemplified in the poetry of WaltWhitman that romanticizes the American frontier. TheTyranny of the Self is voiced by Joseph Conrad in thecharacter of the ship’s captain in Typhoon, who onlytoo late understands the power and destruction ofnature, all the while believing that humanity was incontrol. The Tyranny of Opaque Language is raisedup through all of the poetry that Sittler loved to quote.He felt that poetry reflects the creation, nature in par-ticular, with greater sensitivity than the scientific lan-guage of the culture.

In the final step Sittler saw that literature exposesthe anxiety that rules the theological task. Facing thisanxiety, literature says what theology cannot say or, atleast, is afraid to say. The poet “put(s) loud and withresonant clarity what we all would wish to say had wethe dark music and the language.”6 Sittler demon-strates this clarity as he examined Richard Wilbur’spoem “Advice to the Prophet.” In particular, Sittlerfinds that the clear voice of Literature-in-theology ex-poses the egocentric human focus toward creation.

Literature-in-theology leads to Sittler’s primarypurpose of finding “the only really adequate languagewhereby the manifestations of grace in creation can bedisclosed.”7 As Sittler wrote:

To suppose that “occasions of grace” can bespecified without a language that catches thatbright and absolutely particular which shocksthe mind into astonished awareness, and tothat startled thankfulness for things that are,is to suppose the impossible.8

The poet, playwright, and author provide this lan-guage crucial to the Christian understanding of theaction of God within the everyday and commonplace.This language records not only the critical evaluationof the human but also identifies the unpredictableinstances of God’s actions which evoke wonder, sur-prise, and gratitude. The language of the artist offersthe disclosure of the essentially gracious character ofthe whole reality. God’s grace is what the artist sees inways hidden from the uncritical human. Sittler knows

128 Dialog: A Journal of Theology • Volume 42, Number 2 • Summer 2003

in searching for God’s grace, literature forces us toencounter the broader world.

Theology-in-Literature

The relationship of the interior life and broader worldhas always been the concern of theology. In its firststep, Theology-in-literature moves beyond concern forthe interior and attends to the broader world of hu-man experience and emotion. Sittler maintains thatthe thoughts and disrupting emotions of the arts—inparticular, literature—are the light that illuminatestheological reflection. As he critically examined hu-man sin, Sittler would frequently introduce his favor-ite author, Herman Melville, into the theological con-versation. Sittler believed that theology opened upMelville’s examination of life leading to the opportu-nity for a proclamation of moral development.

The influence of Melville brings into Sittler’s con-structive theology the expansion of the concepts ofthe human condition as well as the boundaries forgrace and beauty as exemplified in the power and vio-lence of the sea. Sittler recognizes that these qualitiesare timeless and hold a serious theological reflection.

Moby Dick is the condensation of the wholehuman world. Captain Ahab, Ishmael and thegreat ocean voyage with its perils: its dramati-zation of human pride and lust and arrogance,that shakes its fist in the face of, not only themighty sea, but the creator of both men andocean. This is a kind of multiplication of myown life by letting it read wide and deeply inthe life that is then celebrated in the great lit-erature of the world.9

In the second step Sittler demonstrates that The-ology-in-literature can utilize authors such as Melvilleto drive toward realism. Ultimately, for Sittler, Melvilleclearly captures the expression of the Tyranny ofBoundlessness: the frontier that offers no limit to theAmerican, spatially or spiritually, and its accompany-ing democracy that will ensure human potential. AsSittler writes,

[I]t is not difficult to feel how the open illim-itable frontier character of the American ex-perience is taken as a clue to moral interpre-tation of man generally. It is a tribute to the

power of this feeling that Melville—piercedthrough the general moral optimism of theexpansive spirit of the time, revealing in pow-erful fictional characters the ambiguities, thetensions, and the dark depths of evil and delu-sion.10

In the third step, Theology-in-literature presentsboth the affirmation of human possibility and humandetermination with their ties to the limitless frontier.Sittler believed that theology can reveal how poetrymoves the heart of the reader or hearer to experiencethe deep and powerful feelings that Americans havefor the land. In particular, Sittler sees Whitman pro-ducing

out of the sheer overwhelming rhythm ofnames that suggest space and scope, richnessand distance—the intoxication of the illimit-able. That this illimitable forward-leaning vi-tality foresees concrete achievements and con-quests that are of doubtful moral significanceis nothing to the point.11

In the fourth step, Theology-in-literature can trans-port the reader into the fuzzy, hazy world of poetrywhere uncertainty in language is to be desired. Mov-ing away from the promised certainties of tradition,theology can invite the believer to enter into worldsthat are surpassingly beautiful and filled with expect-ant possibility. The result is the formation of the veryreal, rounded human that Sittler seeks. The result ofTheology-in-literature is the freedom that is the ex-pression of the real self.

Balance and the Theater of God’sGrace

Neither Literature-in-theology or Theology-in-litera-ture can stand alone. Sittler found the need for bal-ance demonstrated in the words of Joseph Conrad.Conrad described a theological world that was virtu-ous but dull, without imagination and without cre-ativity. When Literature-in-theology or Theology-in-literature attempts to stand alone, the loss of imagina-tion that results condemns theology and consequentlyhuman life to virtuous dullness. Sittler believes that

129Through the Eyes of the Artist: Joseph Sittler, Theology and Literature • Elaine Siemsen

the balance between these two challenges the rulesand guides for life that the culture has elevated be-yond question.

Virtuous dullness cannot be the goal of theologi-cal reflection according to Sittler. Utilizing the poetryof Richard Wilbur, Sittler shows that the question ofour continued human existence, through the meta-phors of nature, “points to the importance of naturefor the deepest levels of human interiority.”12 It is thishuman interiority that is of primary concern to thetheologian. In “Advice to the Prophet” Wilbur warnsthat the human culture must not ignore the inter-relatedness of the human and the non-human com-ponents of creation. The prophet speaks for the webof creation, that Sittler demands that theology recog-nize as the matrix of all human operation. “Advice toThe Prophet” is an excellent example of Sittler’s claimthat literature provides adequate language to disclosethe grace of God in the particular experience of thehuman.

The second consequence of this balance is this newvision of God’s grace that Sittler hears in the poetry ofGerard Manley Hopkins. Hopkins’ poetry struggledwith the central question of meaning. His critical vi-sion “dove” to see the inner depths of things. To de-scribe this experience Hopkins coined the term“inscape.” The great gift of Hopkins’ inscape is hiscapacity to see the grace of God deep within the wholeof creation and the particularity of each piece of it.Sittler hears, within Hopkins’ speech about God, theoutgrowth of the experience of God’s grace ferment-ing within nature. “God’s Grandeur” was evidently afavorite poem of Sittler’s, since he quotes it most of-ten. As the central thought of the poem exults, evenafter generations of uncaring human endeavors,

And for all this, nature is never spent;there lives the dearest freshness deep down thing;13

Sittler seeks expression of his concern about thediminishment of the wonder of the grace of God asthe technological society claims “miracles” for itself.Human ingenuity and technology are given credit andpraise for all the advances and successes of the society.Once again the poetry of Hopkins provides an expres-sion for Sittler’s concern. Utilizing “God’s Grandeur,”Sittler speaks of the world as “a God-haunted house.”14

The phrase seems to need some unpacking. This isnot a house empty except for some spirit trapped withinits walls. The description, as the poem suggests, ismore of a house that is infused with the presence ofGod, even though the inhabitants are unaware.

Sittler recognizes the final consequence of the bal-ance of theology and literature: critical knowledge thatcreation is the theater of God’s grace. Hopkins’ poetryprovides expression of this consequence of balance.

I say that we are woundWith mercy round and round.15

For Sittler recognition of the theater of God’s grace asboth internal and external is best expressed byHopkins.

This grace is made explicit, it is released, itlures, it is called into the open by Christ—who is the personal concentration of the graceof God. But Hopkins, a Jesuit and an artist,did not make his confession and adorationbefore grace in propositions. He wrote po-etry—and he invented a vocabulary, fashioneda strange, haunting, jagged rhythm to state hisconfession. All his life was a seeking for a wayto set forth in outer reflection the inner na-ture of things, a quest for language whereby asense of the grace of creation might be evokedfor the reader—that grace and truth whichcame incomparably in Jesus Christ.16

All in all, it would seem that Sittler’s utilization of thepoetry of Hopkins reflects the final piece of the goal oftheological reflection: the seeking of the other that isexternal to one’s self.

Affirmation and Critique

The work of Theology-in-literature and Literature-in-theology carries two warnings. First, David Jasper warnsthe theologian not to assume that what the poet andthe theologian share is always affirming. As the theo-logian embraces the critique of literature, they sharethe anguish of the language. As exemplified by Sittlerand Hopkins there is a disparate experience betweenthat which they believe to be their faith-knowledgeand the ironic critique that language makes of thatsame experience. Jasper concludes, “Language slidesinto incoherence…Words slide and slip away from the

130 Dialog: A Journal of Theology • Volume 42, Number 2 • Summer 2003

moorings of meaning and definition.”17 Even as Sittlerconstructs Theology-in-literature, all meaning cannotbe controlled.

A second warning is offered specifically to the readerof Sittler’s work. One must be wary of thinking that asimple line can be drawn between the faith of JosephSittler and the poetry and prose that he loved. To doso is to create too simple an explanation of the com-plex interaction between theology and the languageof literature. Sittler knew that the power of literaturewithin theological reflection is its ability to catch theattention of the human.

The experience of the poet and the author, chal-lenges the theologian to live life as a quarrel withwhichever medium he/she is at home in. The languageof the poet Hopkins or the author Melville reflects thefacing of this quarrel. In the final moment, the workof the artist may still fall short of the true personalexperience of the presence of God’s grace in creation.The gift that these works bring to the hearer or readeris the ironic challenge and critical imagination to lookafresh at the world and within ourselves.

Endnotes

1. Joseph Sittler, “Oral History of Joseph Sittler,” Interviewed by Dr.Robert Fischer, ELCA Archives, Chicago, Illinois, 14, September, 1978,26.

2. Bruce Heggen, “A Theology for Earth: Nature and Grace in theThought of Joseph Sittler” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1995),25. Quoting Nathan Scott, The Poetics of Belief: Studies in Coleridge, Arnold,Pater, Satayana, Stevens and Heidegger (Chapel Hill: The University ofNorth Carolina Press, 1985),171, n50.

3. Ibid., 19.

4. Bruce Heggen, 119.

5. Joseph Sittler, Gravity and Grace, edited by Linda-Marie Delloff(Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House 1986), 84.

6. Joseph Sittler, “Care of the Earth,” as found in Sermons to Intellectu-als, Franklin H. Littell (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963), 18-19.

7. Peter Bakken, “The Ecology of Grace,” (Ph D Diss. Univeristy ofChicago, 1991), Vol. 2: 232.

8. Joseph Sittler, “The Sittler Speeches,” Center for the Study of CampusMinistry Yearbook (Valparaiso, Indiana: Valparaiso University, 1977-78),44.

9. Joseph Sittler, “God’s Story” Audio cassette, Phoenix Arizona, 1983,transcribed by Elaine Siemsen, 5.

10. Joseph Sittler, The Ecology of Faith (Philadelphia: MuhlenbergPress, 1961), 18.

11. Ibid., 19.

12. Bakken, 256.

13. Joseph Sittler quoting Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”in “Called to Unity,” Currents in Theology and Mission 16, no 1 (February1989), 9.

14. Ibid., 9.

15. Sittler, Anguish of Preaching, 59.

16. Ibid., 59-60.

17. Ibid., 92.