ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates Dickens’ “simple” unmediated spiritually that flows from the inner life through the idolatrous experience. Unlike the biblical definition of idolatry, in Dickens, idolatry involved turning to an immanent being and obtaining a spiritual experience; it is a positive pursuit and a catalyst for moral and spiritual growth in the bildungsromane David Copperfield and Great Expectations. Idolatry has remained under research in Dickens’ scholarship, and when referenced by Timothy Carens and Kathleen Vejvoda, it is with mainly an interest as a symbol of rebellion and subversive behavior. To Dickens, faith was a journey of persistent negotiation, and idolatry served as the rite to moral and spiritual maturity—the ultimate spiritual test. A deliberation of idolatrous attachments formed in Dickens’ childhood identifies his belief that suffering is essential in personal growth and the negotiation of faith. Suffering compels both protagonists to reflect on their hearts’ true motives for doing good, which are revealed to be self-seeking. Promoting a Dickensian Christianity outside structural liturgy, focused on inner transformation, grace is only accessible to those whose hearts have been reshaped by suffering and to those who can accept grace in the spirit of humility. Not all can be redeemed in the “fractured parable,” or the Gospel of Modernity, but only those who can accept this grace and return to a version of simplicity in faith.
