The salvation plot: Protestantism and the genesis of the novel (Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Samuel Richardson, Sarah Fielding)

By understanding the properties of a narration that shows a persons struggle for salvation, we uncover fascinating similarities between religious and fictional writing that go beyond historical coincidence. In analyzing early Protestant writing, a comparison is made between religious salvation narratives and plot formations in a variety of novels. What emerges is the existence of the “salvation plot,” which is created out of the tension between law and spirit that lies at the heart of Martin Luther's Reformation writings.; Central to the construction of the “salvation plot” are the treatment of agency and authority. Solafideism, or justification by faith alone, also requires a reconsideration of human agency. The crux of the problem rests on the fact that good works can be shown through action, whereas faith requires a subversion of the will, depicted by restraint and control, or by passivity and stasis. This presents a difficulty in narrating a personal story of salvation, since the willful actions of the “protagonist” cannot work positively to bring the story to the desired conclusion, which is salvation.; The study analyzes John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, Samuel Richardson's Clarissa, and Sarah Fielding's David Simple as salvation stories that illustrate a similar plot structure because they share a similar theological message. These three salvation stories present a journey, and along that journey the wayfarer surrenders all material things.; The passive actor becomes an observing protagonist in subsequent novels of sentiment. Sarah Fielding's The Governess points the way to this emphasis on the importance of hearing and interpreting other stories within the framed sentimental narrative. In Sir Charles Grandison, also by Samuel Richardson, the issue of spirit vs. law comes into play, as do matters concerning the rejection of parental authority, the value of worldly prosperity and the necessity of having exemplary Christians in society to show us all the way to happiness.