The Bible and Literature: A Reader [Paperback]

David Jasper (Editor), Stephen Prickett (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0631208577 | ISBN-13: 978-0631208570 | Publication Date: December 4, 2007 | Edition: 1

There is no book more important for our culture than the Bible, and it is fundamental to the study of English literature and language.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The three introductory essays they provide are approachable, authoritative and full of meat. The selections from scripture are annotated freshly and stirringly; the commentaries which introduce the literary extracts are models of compression, expanding at a later stage in the mind of the reader, as good teaching should" Julian Thompson, Tutor in English, RPC Oxford

"Each biblical passage is carefully introduced, and there is a bibliography for each section. An excellent book!" International Review of Biblical Studies

"A welcome addition to our resources at a time when there is an increasing emphasis on literary reading and narrative theology." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

From the Back Cover

There is no book more important for our culture than the Bible, and it is fundamental to the study of English literature and language. But the Bible is actually little read and its resonances in poetry, plays, and fiction are becoming forgotten and lost.

This book is designed primarily, though not exclusively, for students of English, giving a collection of some of the most important passages from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, with introductions and commentaries, and selections of texts from literature which use and incorporate these passages in different ways. It explores how closely the Bible is linked with some of the great imaginative literature in English, beginning with the creation stories in Genesis and moving through to the visions of the End in Revelation.

There are extensive introductory essays and full reading lists.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (December 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631208577
• ISBN-13: 978-0631208570
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bible and Literature, November 14, 2000

By 

A. Gilmore (Lancing, West Sussex) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bible and Literature: A Reader (Hardcover)

The target audience is teachers of English who have grown up without the basic Bible knowledge expected of every educated person a couple of generations ago. A secondary market must be biblical scholars and teachers who suffer similar deficiencies when it come to English literature.

Familiar Bible passages and relevant extracts from English literature therefore find themselves side by side without any attempt to relate the one to the other, thus providing a resource of considerable value to both parties. In each case we have a few pages of commentary on the biblical passages with a brief explanation as to why each of the liteary passages was chosen, followed by a selection of literary material without commentary. Literary sources include Milton, Chaucer, Augustine, Kirkegaard, T S Eliot, D H Lawrence, C S Lewis, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Dylan Thomas, Bunyanm, Dryden, Shakespeare, Umberto Eco, Oscar Wilde, Shaw, Wordsworth, James Joyce and Derrida.

Two meanings of the Bible in literature are differentiated: the one which treats the Bible simply as a collection of secular writings and the other which sees a literary understanding of the Bible not as a subsititute for its religious content but as an adjunct to it.