Samuel Johnson was a deeply religiousAman and he came to depend on his Christian faith as the principal means by which to endure the pain of existence. He sought throughout his life to render himself worthy of salvation, but the difficulties which he experienced in trying to maintain a high degree of religiousAdiscipline - as well as his doubts about God's ultimate concern for man and his fears of hisAown spiritual unworthiness - led him into periods of madness and a perpetual dread of damnation.

Charles Pierce examines the effect of Johnson's religous concerns upon the formation of...