17th-century 18thcentury a-wild-sheep-chase academia adventure african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation american-christianity american-literature ancient-philosophy ancient-wisdom anti-intellectualism apostasy atheism authenticity belief betrayal black-experience brotherhood catholicism character character-building character-development christian-education christian-intellectuals christian-scholarship christian-thought christianity christianity-and-culture church church-history civil-rights colonialism coming-of-age compassion contemporary contemporary-fiction conversion courage cultural-assimilation cultural-clash culture culture-clash dark-humor detective determination discrimination doubt dreams education empathy eternal-recurrence ethics evangelical-culture evangelical-mind evangelicalism existential existentialism faith faith-and-reason fantasy fiction free-will freedom god-is-dead growth harlem harlem-renaissance haruki-murakami historical-fiction history honesty human-nature humanity humility identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inner-journey inner-peace inner-strength integrity intellectual-history intellectualism intellectuallife introspection introspective invisibility isolation japan japanese-literature jazz jesuits journey knowledge leadership life-lessons literature loneliness love loyalty magical-realism martyrdom meaning-of-life meditation metaphysical mind-bending mindfulness missionaries missionary moral-compass moral-development moral-dilemma moral-philosophy moral-values morality mystery mythology nihilism novel oppression persecution perseverance personal-development personal-growth perspectivism philosophical philosophy power prejudice protestantism psychological psychology purpose quest race racism reason redemption reflection religion religious-conflict religious-education religious-persecution religious-scholarship religious-studies religious-thought resilience roman-emperor roman-philosophy romance sacrifice scandal scholarship science segregation self-awareness self-discipline self-discovery self-help self-improvement self-overcoming self-realization self-reflection self-transcendence sheep shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god social-commentary social-inequality social-injustice society spiritual-journey spirituality stoicism success suffering superman supernatural surreal surrealism symbolism theology tokyo tranquility transcendence transformation truth ubermensch unconventional values virtue virtues will-to-power wisdom übermensch