Blake’s theology of the imagination

Abstract This article explores one of Blake’s most striking theological tenets: his identification of God with the human imagination. Through a detailed examination of some of the key texts in Blake’s poetry and prose where this identification appears, its purpose is to show why this claim is by no means as wild or discordant as is often assumed. On the contrary, it is argued that Blake’s deification of the creative faculty is entirely consistent with its lofty portrayal throughout his writings. In this case, Blake’s painstaking exposition of the imagination’s divinity challenges us to revise our conception of the human, every bit as much as our understanding of the divine.