基督教传统中绝望与拯救的观念及其在英美文学中的体现

《圣经》和基督教传统中的绝望和拯救两者之间有着密切的关系:绝望可以摧毁人对自己过分的信心,让人充分认识到自己内心的罪,从而在精神上向上帝开启,接受神的拯救。这一观念在中世纪到20世纪英美文学中都有所体现,在近代基督教衰落之后,又经历了种种演变:存在主义作家拒绝接受基督教的拯救观念,但是却继承了基督教传统的绝望意识;另外一些现代作家则从爱或者自我尊严感中寻求拯救或慰籍。尽管基督教传统中的绝望与拯救观念的宗教色彩在现代逐渐淡漠,然而在作家们表现的绝望和痛苦的后面,分明还传来对于超验的拯救的期盼和呼唤。

Despair and Salvation in Chritianity and Their Expression in British and American literature

In Christian tradition,despair and salvation,rather than irrelevant to each other,are closely related: despair is able to destroy human beings' overconfidence in themselves,and by leading people to a full awareness of the sin that lurks in their minds,despair opens them to divine grace and makes them recipients of God's salvation.This concept finds its expression in British and American literature from medieval ages to the present time.After the decline of Christianity in modern times,the concept,not entirely pushed away,has undergone some changes: existentialist writers inherit the sense of despair from Christian tradition,although they reject Christian pattern of salvation;some other modern writers feel the need of salvation,but they seek it by means of love or self-esteem. Although the Christian concept of despair and salvation is losing its impact in modern times,we can still sense the longing for spiritual salvation from the despair and agony expressed by many western modern writers in their works.