Do the rich descriptions and narrative shapings of literature provide a valuable resource for readers writers philosophers and everyday people to imagine and confront the ultimate questions of life Do the human activities of storytelling and complex moral decisionmaking have a deep connection What are the moral responsibilities of the artist critic and reader What can religious perspectivesfrom Catholic to Protestant to Mormoncontribute to literary criticism Thirty well known contributors reflect on these questions including iterary theorists Marshall Gregory James Phelan and Wayne Booth philosophers Martha Nussbaum Richard Hart and Nina Rosenstand and authors John Updike Charles Johnson Flannery OConnor and Bernard Malamud. Divided into four sections with introductory matter and questions for discussion this accessible anthology represents the most crucial work today exploring the interdisciplinary connections between literature religion and philosophy.