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Language and Literature

Literature Department: stack of books with open book on top
"I am persuaded that without knowledge of literature pure theology cannot at all endure, just as heretofore, when letters have declined and lain prostrate; nay, I see that there has never been a great revelation of the Word of God unless He has first prepared the way by the rise and prosperity of languages and letters, as though they were. - John the Baptists. . . . Certainly it is my desire that there shall be as many poets and rhetoricians as possible, because I see that by these studies, as by no other means, people are wonderfully fitted for the grasping of sacred truth and for handling it skillfully and happily . . . . Therefore I beg of you that at my request (if that has any weight) you will urge your young people to be diligent in the study of poetry and rhetoric."
-Martin Luther (Quoted by D. J. A. Clines, "Story and Poem: The Old Testament as Literature and as Scripture," Interpretation 34 (1980): 115.)

Join us! We will fight mythological dragons, scale the heights of Mt. Olympus, set out on heroic voyages of the heart, and struggle through oceans of thought. We will find inexhaustible riches, make new friendships, and with luck experience epiphanies. Along the way, you will learn how to express yourself and discipline your mind. You may even discover yourself in the Department of Language and Literature.

We are a department where you can learn about yourself and people you never thought you would end up loving. You can encounter lofty ideas powerfully expressed. You can join students and professors who explore together their own stories and the stories of fascinating people, real in history or real in imagination. Together we can wrestle with words, fire ideas at each other, and grow in understanding.

As an English major you will learn more about understanding the Christian faith. You will read, write, listen, contemplate, talk, ponder, laugh, pray, suffer, and rejoice. You will learn about the origins and development of English; you will sample its great literature, including deeply religious and profoundly skeptical authors; you will learn how English is the same as, and different from, other languages; and you will grow in your ability to use English well.