Stephen and Religion

Throughout this novel, we see Stephen constantly changing his relationship with the Catholic Church. He constantly bounces back and forth between being an extreme believer and being a sinner until he finally lets go of religion.
In the very beginning, Stephen seems to be very devout and is known for his religiosity by his schoolmates. Every night, he visits the chapel to do his evening prayers. Then, right before he climbs into bed, he goes through another small prayer. He thinks “God bless my father and my mother and spare them to me” and repeats this for his siblings, Dante, and Uncle Charles. Stephen’s religion permeates all aspects of his life. It plays a crucial role in his home and school life, he thinks about becoming a priest (as we learn later), and he uses religious imagery to describe important moments in his life.
Then, Stephen gets this obsession with sin and impurity. I think that this is partly due to the Christmas dinner scene. As his father and Dante argue, Stephen realizes that the authority of the church can be challenged. His whole life, Stephen had looked up to his father as a role model. But, now, there he was criticizing the church and its involvement in Irish politics.
By the time chapter 3 begins, Stephen is repeatedly committing sins of impurity, even while he is aware that it is wrong. Throughout this entire “phase,” Stephen is conscious of the fact that he is breaking several of the church’s rules, but doesn’t seem to care. In fact, it seems that he he takes pride in being a sinner. Stephen is arrogant and proud of the fact that he is the biggest sinner ever (at least in his mind). However, Stephen does not reject God or his faith because he is a sinner. This can be seen through his continued used of religious imagery and language. Even though he is committing sins, he describes it with religious ideas. Stephen thinks that if he is going to be a sinner, he must be the worst one possible. He becomes completely fascinated with all the religious “laws” that he has broken.
But, this changes as chapter 3 progresses. When he listens to the sermon at school, it really affects him. The intense, physical descriptions of hell really get through to him. Stephen begins to feel guilty because he still believes in the Christian doctrines and he realizes that he will be punished for eternity. This pushes him to immediately confess his sins and ask for forgiveness. Once again, he turns into the super religious Stephen we recognize from earlier in the book. But, this time it feels forced. He only understands the logistics of religion and not the parts that matter, such as God’s love. Instead of truly believing in God, it seems like he’s just praying so he doesn’t go to hell.
Then, later in the same chapter, a priest asks Stephen if he would like to become a priest. At first, it seems like the perfect opportunity for Stephen. He is attracted to the pride and power priesthood would bring him. But, Stephen finally realizes it is not priesthood is not right for him. If he became a priest, Stephen would not be able to enjoy life outside the chapel or simple things such as art and music. This scene signifies Stephen’s move away from church and instead towards the life of an artist.

By the end of the book, Stephen has finally realized where he stands with religion. When he crosses the bridge in the last chapter, he runs into the Christian brothers. When he sees them, Stephen hides his face because he realizes that he is no longer devout. This scene clearly symbolizes Stephen’s loss of faith in his religion. While the Christian brothers walk one way, Stephen walks away from them. We see Stephen finally realize his relationship with religion. By the end of the book, Stephen completely leaves school, his family, country and the church.

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