Introduction
When RS Thomas writes about praying for forgiveness and the death of Christ, it is an example of the poet expressing his feelings of religion, and in particular, God. He does this regularly and is keen to articulate his feelings.
This shows Thomas was principally a religious writer, but his recognition of God's power is often ambiguous. On occasions, it seems that he is a firm believer in God and a true Christian. It appears, however, that Thomas has a contradictory view on God, as several occasions throughout his poems, he shows a distinct lack of faith, and can often be found looking for God.
This shows it is unclear what Thomas's level of faith was. By studying his works, it could help in get a better understanding of what his true views of God were. This presentation will look at both the negative and positive aspects of Thomas's thoughts of God.
R. S. Thomas
The Nasrani Menorah also known as the Mar Thoma sl...
English: St. Thomas Church, Kottakkavu, North Paru...RS Thomas was a strong Welsh nationalist, and had very firm beliefs on religious issues. He was an Anglican priest who served the Church of Wales as a parish vicar in several churches.
One of Thomas's most blatant writings about God is in a short poem entitled Lord Have Mercy', Thomas writes:
'Because we are full of price in our humility and full we belief in our disbelief, Lord have mercy,
'Because we protect ourselves from ourselves to the point of destroying our ourselves, Lord have mercy'
Thomas repeats the last three words of this line right the way through the poem, to emphasise that we should seek forgiveness from God for our problems, not blame him.
Thomas also appears to take this view in 'The Island'. This is a poem about the building of a church on a small island, supposedly by God. The author writes:...