Theological Anthropology and the Great Literary Genres

The storytelling impulse lies very deep within human cultures; indeed, it is fundamental to the very concept of human culture itself. What, then, is humankind, according to the great story types of tragedy, epic, and comedy? What do each of these genres say about us, and what transcends us? Building on critical discussions of the great genres of the Western literary tradition, Michael P. Jensen argues that each of these genres contains a “theo-anthropology”—a theological understanding of the hum