“If My Answers Frighten You, You Should Stop Asking Scary Questions”: Researching Literature and Theology
“All truth is God’s truth.” — Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas’s famous claim that “all truth is God’s truth” offers a useful starting point for students researching literature and theology together. If truth ultimately belongs to God, then it may appear in many places: in Scripture, in theology, in literary criticism, and even in films that force us to wrestle with difficult questions about humanity, suffering, justice, and grace.
For new researchers, that can feel both exciting and overwhelming. Where do you begin? How do you know what kind of question is worth asking? Where do you find credible sources? And how do you incorporate those sources into your writing without letting them overwhelm your own voice?
If Aquinas is right that all truth is God’s truth, then research in literature and theology becomes a way of learning to recognize truth wherever it appears—through careful questions, credible sources, and thoughtful engagement with the stories that shape human experience.
— Jules Winnfield, Pulp Fiction
1. How Do I Know What I Need to Research?
“When you kill a cop, the cops tend to take it personally.” — Nice Guy Eddie, Reservoir Dogs
Research begins with a question, but not every question is equally useful. In literature and theology, the best questions usually arise from close reading. Start with a text—a novel, poem, film, or play—and ask what tensions, themes, or symbols keep recurring. What seems unresolved? What theological or moral issue does the story seem unable to leave alone?
For example, instead of choosing a broad topic like religion in modern literature, narrow your focus to something more manageable: how a particular text portrays grace, judgment, sacrifice, redemption, or the consequences of human pride.
- Start with a specific primary text.
- Notice repeated images, themes, or conflicts.
- Ask what theological questions the text raises.
- Narrow your topic until it becomes arguable, not just descriptive.
2. Where Do I Find Sources?
“If my answers frighten you, Vincent, then you should cease asking scary questions.” — Jules Winnfield, Pulp Fiction
Once you have a focused question, the next step is finding scholarship that helps you think more clearly about it. In literature and theology, that usually means drawing from both literary criticism and theological research.
Good places to begin include JSTOR, Project MUSE, Google Scholar, your university library databases, and—if available to you—the ATLA Religion Database. The key is to search with combinations of literary, theological, and thematic terms.
- Author or text title: Frankenstein, Flannery O’Connor, Toni Morrison
- Theoretical lens: feminist criticism, theology, ethics, sacramentality
- Theme or concept: grace, sin, redemption, justice, creation
A search for “Flannery O’Connor grace suffering theology” will usually be much more productive than simply searching “Flannery O’Connor article.”
3. How Do I Know if a Source Is Credible and Appropriate?
“I love rumors! Facts can be so misleading…” — Hans Landa, Inglourious Basterds
Not every source that sounds interesting belongs in academic writing. A source may be credible in one context and still be inappropriate for your project. In literary and theological research, the best sources are usually peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly books, and essays by established scholars.
- Is the source published in a scholarly journal or by an academic press?
- Does the author have expertise in literature, theology, or a related field?
- Does the source include citations and engage other scholars?
- Does it directly help answer your particular research question?
Credibility and relevance are not the same thing. A highly respected article on Milton may still be useless if your project is about contemporary theological themes in film. The goal is not just to gather sources but to choose the ones that actually advance your argument.
— Hans Landa, Inglourious Basterds
4. How Do I Incorporate Sources Into My Writing?
In literary studies and theology, sources should not replace your own interpretation. Instead, they should help you refine, deepen, and test your ideas. The goal is to enter an existing scholarly conversation, not to stitch together a paper out of quotations.
That usually means summarizing and synthesizing other scholars in your own words, then connecting their insights back to your reading of the text. Direct quotation can be useful, especially when a scholar says something especially precise or important, but too many long quotations can make a paper feel dependent rather than thoughtful.
In most literary studies contexts, MLA is the expected citation style. That means using parenthetical citations in the text and including a Works Cited page at the end. If your professor or discipline expects something else, follow that style consistently.
- Use quotations selectively.
- Paraphrase when possible, but do so accurately.
- Explain why each source matters to your argument.
- Keep your own voice in the foreground.
5. Where Can I Find More Information?
Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook. Useful for citation, formatting, and integrating sources in literary studies.
Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. A helpful overview of major critical approaches in literary studies.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J., Charles A. Anderson, and Michael J. Sleasman, eds. Everyday Theology. Useful for thinking about how theology engages culture, stories, and interpretation.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu. Excellent for MLA guidance, citation help, and research-writing advice.
Sources consulted for this blog post: Add the books, articles, websites, or class materials you actually used here.
Conclusion
“You know something, Utivich? I think this just might be my masterpiece.” — Lt. Aldo Raine, Inglourious Basterds
Good research rarely feels polished at the beginning. It usually starts in uncertainty, develops through better questions, and becomes clearer as sources sharpen your thinking. But eventually, if you stay with the process, the pieces begin to come together.
Research in literature and theology is ultimately a search for truth—not only factual truth, but moral, spiritual, and interpretive truth. And if Aquinas was right that “all truth is God’s truth,” then the work of research is more than a classroom exercise. It is part of the larger human effort to understand what stories reveal about God, about the world, and about ourselves.
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