Salvation, Doom, and Romans 8 in Alan Paton’s Too Late the Phalarope
Critics of Too Late the Phalarope have often misread the novel’s biblical language as well as the many ironies it contains. In particular, Alan Paton juxtaposes the unforgiving language of the Immorality Act with the promise in Romans 8 that nothing can separate one from the love of God. Paton uses...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Christianity & literature
Year: 2022, Volume: 71, Issue: 1, Pages: 40-54 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Paton, Alan 1903-1988, Too late the phalarope
/ Bible. Römerbrief 8
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| IxTheo Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture HC New Testament KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history NBK Soteriology |
| Further subjects: | B
Romans 8
B Forgiveness B Salvation B Sexual exploitation B doom B Racism B Too Late the Phalarope |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Critics of Too Late the Phalarope have often misread the novel’s biblical language as well as the many ironies it contains. In particular, Alan Paton juxtaposes the unforgiving language of the Immorality Act with the promise in Romans 8 that nothing can separate one from the love of God. Paton uses Romans as a leitmotif in the novel to distinguish between the positive law of human beings and the divine law in which grace supersedes fate. Because of the multiple characters who announce to Pieter van Vlaanderen the compassion of friends and family as well as God’s forgiveness, he is able to avoid the Sophoclean doom that threatens to overwhelm his life. Critics have also rightly pointed to the sexual exploitation of Stephanie and her exclusion from the circle of human grace, but the novel’s Pauline frame opens the even more important prospect for her of divine redemption. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-5666 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/chy.2022.0002 |