Faith and Doubt in Gilead: Beyond Spiritual Dichotomies

In this article, I explore the question of faith and doubt in Marilynne Robinson’s acclaimed Gilead tetralogy: Gilead (2004), Home (2008), Lila (2014), and Jack (2020). While the central characters serve as literary symbols for faith and doubt, at a deeper level they subvert their surface symbolic import, problematizing the well-worn dichotomy between “faith versus doubt.” I argue that Robinson’s theological fiction disrupts spiritual dichotomies, which creates space for open, collegial, and constructive engagement between religious and non-religious persons.