Teaching theological anthropology through English literature set texts in Catholic secondary schools and colleges

Abstract

Catholic schools and colleges are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain and sharpen their distinctiveness in a climate of secularism, indifference to religion and the shortage of practising Catholics. This article argues that one method of bolstering Catholic schools’ mission integrity is to highlight one important feature of its identity – theological anthropology – and shows how curriculum delivery outside Religious Education syllabuses might contribute to its teaching. I take examples from two popular set texts in A-level English Literature to highlight how they might be used creatively to stimulate discussion of a defining feature of personhood within the Christian tradition, imago Dei.