The Impact of Religion and Spirituality on Literature: A Systematic Review

The influence of religion on literature has been debated for more than a decade, and yet, there remains a lack of consensus about the nature of this relationship. In an effort to bring some clarity to this area, this study assesses the role of religion and religious faith in literature by using a methodological approach to reviewing a body of literature that is new to the social sciences—the systematic review (SR).The discussion of literature and religion is a wide-range topic, and the entrance perspective into this argument, in turn, is controversial. It has been prevalent in writings revolving around literature and religion to study the impact of religion on literature, and accordingly literature has been considered as a means of transferring religious issues.

But the influence of religion on literature is an interesting and delicate debate. Literature in a superficial division can be examined at three levels of religious literature, secular literature, and implicit literature. In the Encyclopedia of Iliad which is considered a religious encyclopedia, Antonio Cua believes that the right justification for classifying literature in religious studies is a historical justification. Because in all high-cultural systems, the literary relation has grown in close relation with ideas, institutions, practices, and religious institutions; so according to Antonio Cua, , the 25,00-year-old European literature without considering Greek myths , Hebrew precepts and Christian institutions is not cognizable.