In the summer of 2016, the authors of this essay co-directed a four-week NEH Summer Seminar for faculty, titled “Postsecular Studies and the Rise of the English Novel, 1719–1897.” In this article, we explain why we think the postsecular matters, for literary studies in general and for our stories of the novel in particular. We draw heavily on our experience of the seminar: our preparations for it, the generous contributions of the participants, the points emerging from the large body of transformational material we read, and the intellectual life of our group over four weeks in Iowa.