{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1883"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1883","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Triptych 1","abstract":"The goal of these three stories is to bear witness to American Christian life in the 21st century, to give weight and texture to the virtues and contradictions of what Cornel West called \"the most absurd and alluring mode of being in the world.\" Borrowing from the traditions of psychological realism, Christian existentialism, and American minimalism, these stories attempt to craft credible accounts of Christian belief and doubt. The stories follow a woman estranged from her family who begins caring for her ailing pastor; a young couple as they try to get back to the basics of their faith; and an older man who travels to Mexico in search of catharsis. Organized as a triptych, each story attempts to depict the tension embodied by the prayer, ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”","abstract_html":"The goal of these three stories is to bear witness to American Christian life in the 21st century, to give weight and texture to the virtues and contradictions of what Cornel West called "the most absurd and alluring mode of being in the world." Borrowing from the traditions of psychological realism, Christian existentialism, and American minimalism, these stories attempt to craft credible accounts of Christian belief and doubt. The stories follow a woman estranged from her family who begins caring for her ailing pastor; a young couple as they try to get back to the basics of their faith; and an older man who travels to Mexico in search of catharsis. Organized as a triptych, each story attempts to depict the tension embodied by the prayer, ”Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cummings, Calvin"],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Balazs, Thomas P.","Babine, Karen, 1978-; Guy, Matthew","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-31T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-05-31T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:47:13Z","subjects":["Belief and doubt in literature","Christianity in literature","Faith in literature"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/711","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Balazs, Thomas P.","Babine, Karen, 1978-; Guy, Matthew","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cummings, Calvin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-31T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Belief and doubt in literature","Christianity in literature","Faith in literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/711"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of English","M. 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