ignore the body and daily life For example saints and religious teachers ask people to give up the pleasures of the world But Lawrence rejects this He says I who am man alive am greater than my soul or spirit or body I am man alive He believes that man is complete only when he is man alive Religion makes man into a fragment but the novel keeps man whole Religion and Dead Absolutes Lawrence also attacks religion for believing in absolute values like absolute truth absolute goodness or absolute spirit According to him these are lifeless ideas Religion kills the living man by forcing him to follow rigid ideals Lawrence says life is never fixed It always moves and changes Religious rules and abstract values cannot guide living beings because they are dead and unchanging Saints vs Man Alive In the essay Lawrence directly mentions saints as examples of how religion makes life narrow He says that saints are respected because they give up normal human joys and passions But in his eyes this is not greatness it is death Lawrence says that the message or teaching of the philosopher or the saint is not alive He compares this teaching to a radio message He says That the so-called spirit the message or teaching of the philosopher or the saint isn't alive at all He argues that if the philosopher or the saint can reach another living person and that person feels something maybe he changes or grows or feels inspired then this is because that person is alive not because the message itself is alive So for Lawrence being a man alive is more important than religious teachings The Novel against Religion For Lawrence the novel stands against religious teachings Religion speaks of eternal truth but the novel shows the truth of daily life Religion speaks of spirit but the novel shows body soul thought and feeling together In the novel characters are alive in all their weaknesses and strengths That is why he calls the novel a bright book of life Lawrence writes The novel is the one bright book of life The novel is a literary form that captures the totality of human existence The novel teaches us to recognize when people are really alive and when they are not In this way it is closer to life than religion In conclusion Lawrence s attitude toward religion in Why the Novel Matters is clearly critical He believes religion limits human life by praising only the soul and denying the body For him the real truth lies in living fully as man alive The novel not religion teaches us to value the wholeness movement and richness of human life