Eldritch theology - A comparative study of Lovecraft as theologian

Abstract

This study aims to build a cohesive and considered picture of the implicit theology present within Lovecraft’s fiction, using comparative methods of study that value the contrast between Lovecraft’s work and the work of major existential theologians. Arguing along thematic lines, the study looks at five different aspects of Lovecraft’s thought in order to develop an ‘Eldritch Theology’. This theology considers Lovecraft’s presentation of the divine and the idea of ‘Gods’ as both transcendent and fundamentally other as the base of his theology, and Lovecraft’s method of using divine characters as symbols upon which both worldbuilding and major theological beliefs are grounded. This study further considers the nature of religious experience as often confronting and fearful, both within Lovecraft’s presentation and within the experience of real believers, yet nevertheless leading to glimpses of ultimate truth. Religious experiences of this kind not only build a very distinct sense of connection to truth, but also drastically influence the lives and praxis of those individuals who undergo them. Taking into account both the reality of religious experience within Lovecraft’s work and the lives which spring forth from those experiences, the final chapters of this study consider the question of human proximity to truth. To wit, Lovecraft presents our access to truth as at once a pressing and immanent need as well as a futile endeavour which will never see fulfilment. Nevertheless, the human separation from ultimate truth as expressed within his work is a useful and powerful critique of the religiosity of Lovecraft’s day and a continually relevant dialogue partner in our own, suited for the refining and development of theology and religious thought in a pessimistic modern world.