This seminar explores theological issues raised in recent best selling, prize winning fiction (Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code, Michael Cunningham's The Hours, Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Yann Martel's Life of Pi, Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, Edward P. Jones’s All Aunt Hagar’s Children, and Marilynne Robinson’s Home) against a background of earlier, theologically sophisticated literary works (T. S. Eliot's The Cocktail Party and Shusako Endo's Silence). Each work offers a unique window on the present and an opportunity to take theological bearings in a rapidly changing world. A background in theology is not required for this course, though the writings assume a basic familiarity with the Gospel.