My "day job" is church leadership. I'm the pastor of a church called Amsterdam50. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed T. David Gordon's Why Johnny Can't Preach.
It was recommended highly by a good friend, and indeed it's a
fascinating book about communications and ministry. One of its most
significant points is that most ministers today preach ineffectively
because they are poor students of written communication: literature and
textual criticism in particular. In effect, Gordon argues that one's
study of the Bible is considerably enhanced by one's experience with
studying the sonnets of Shakespeare or other great works of literature,
which must be digested slowly and deliberately (as opposed to the more
immediate and more practical forms of electronic communication that are
more widely used today). I don't know if I agree with everything that
Gordon has to say, but it is certainly some noteworthy food for thought:
namely, that a thorough understanding and appreciation of great
Literature enhances our study of the Bible.
I happen to agree with this particular assertion, but it also intrigues me because I've recently been considering the fact that to be an effective student (or a producer/writer) of Literature, a significant level of appreciation for the Bible is essential. In short: appreciation of the Bible and appreciation of great Literature go hand in hand.
I remember sitting in a 300-level English literature course at Bowling Green State University, examining at a cross-section of early-American literature in which repeated references were made to some place called "Pisgah." Despite the professor's leading questions -- indicating that these "Pisgah" references were an important key to understanding the overall message of the narrative passages -- the lecture hall sat in silent confusion as to the significance of what that word meant. Eventually, the professor revealed that "Pisgah" was a Biblical allusion, referring to Moses viewing of the Promised Land that he would never be privileged to enter, described in Deuteronomy 3:21-29. And indeed, when I went back to my dorm room and read the Biblical account for myself later, the early-American literature made so much more sense and carried a significantly greater emotional weight.
Ever since that discovery, I've been captivated by the literary power of Biblical allusion.
The Literary Power of Biblical Allusion
Some Biblical allusions have been so widely used that they now border on being clichéed: phrases such as "milk and honey" (referring to an idealistic description of the Israelites' Promised Land, as described in Exodus 3:7-8 and numerous other sections of the Old Testament of the Bible) or "loaves and fishes" (referring to the miracle in which Jesus' provided food for 5000 people from just five loaves of bread and two fishes, recorded in Mark 6:30-44). It's astonishing, really, to realize how many of our casual turns-of-language find their roots in the Bible. Still other examples of these common Biblical allusions include "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," or "turn the other cheek," or "the extra mile" (all three of which can be found in Matthew 5:38-42). These types of phrases are peppered throughout the English language (and, I would wager, also throughout other languages of the Western Hemisphere). However, the power of Biblical allusion runs much deeper than these standard references.
Consider, for example, two of the greatest American novelists of all time, who clearly understood the power of Biblical allusion: John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. John Steinbeck's East of Eden -- which the author considered to be his greatest work -- drew heavily upon the stories of deception, disobedience, hatred, and murder found in the Biblial accounts of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, as found in Genesis 1-4. Likewise, William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! -- often cited as the greatest novel ever written about the American South -- drew its title and its inspiration from the story of King David and his rebellious son Absalom, as found in 2 Samuel 15-18. Both of these works of literature are rooted in the great (though perhaps somewhat obscure) stories of the Bible, and they alone make a strong case for the serious student of Literature to also become a serious student of the Bible. But truthfully, Steinbeck and Faulkner are just two small examples of countless other great writers who have drawn heavily upon the narrative history of the Bible to provide their books with multiple layers of meaning. William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, George Bernard Shaw, Toni Morrison... the list goes on and on and on. Probably half of the writers who have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature have included significant elements of Biblical allusion in their most significant and celebrated works!
So indeed, I believe that appreciation of the Bible and appreciation of great Literature go hand in hand.
What's odd, however, is that my natural impression -- from knowing people who are serious students of the Bible and knowing people who are serious students of Literature -- indicates these two realms of study are often viewed as being mutually exclusive. As I've previously noted on my own website, most contemporary Christians tend to look down on fiction as being frivilous, insubstantial, and a waste of time. But it's not just the Christians who miss the boat on this one. Similarly, most contemporary enthousiasts of Literature look down on the Bible as being dogmatic, irrelevant, and boring. If you'll allow me to use yet another Biblical allusion, it's as if the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing (see Matthew 6:1-4). So how can these two disciplines be brought into more meaningful interaction?!? I wish I knew! I certainly feel challenged to step up both my study of the Bible and my study of great works of Literature; but until my Christian friends and literary friends take similar steps, I fear that I will always be looking down at the world from the vantagepoint of Pisgah...
I happen to agree with this particular assertion, but it also intrigues me because I've recently been considering the fact that to be an effective student (or a producer/writer) of Literature, a significant level of appreciation for the Bible is essential. In short: appreciation of the Bible and appreciation of great Literature go hand in hand.
I remember sitting in a 300-level English literature course at Bowling Green State University, examining at a cross-section of early-American literature in which repeated references were made to some place called "Pisgah." Despite the professor's leading questions -- indicating that these "Pisgah" references were an important key to understanding the overall message of the narrative passages -- the lecture hall sat in silent confusion as to the significance of what that word meant. Eventually, the professor revealed that "Pisgah" was a Biblical allusion, referring to Moses viewing of the Promised Land that he would never be privileged to enter, described in Deuteronomy 3:21-29. And indeed, when I went back to my dorm room and read the Biblical account for myself later, the early-American literature made so much more sense and carried a significantly greater emotional weight.
Ever since that discovery, I've been captivated by the literary power of Biblical allusion.
The Literary Power of Biblical Allusion
Some Biblical allusions have been so widely used that they now border on being clichéed: phrases such as "milk and honey" (referring to an idealistic description of the Israelites' Promised Land, as described in Exodus 3:7-8 and numerous other sections of the Old Testament of the Bible) or "loaves and fishes" (referring to the miracle in which Jesus' provided food for 5000 people from just five loaves of bread and two fishes, recorded in Mark 6:30-44). It's astonishing, really, to realize how many of our casual turns-of-language find their roots in the Bible. Still other examples of these common Biblical allusions include "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," or "turn the other cheek," or "the extra mile" (all three of which can be found in Matthew 5:38-42). These types of phrases are peppered throughout the English language (and, I would wager, also throughout other languages of the Western Hemisphere). However, the power of Biblical allusion runs much deeper than these standard references.
Consider, for example, two of the greatest American novelists of all time, who clearly understood the power of Biblical allusion: John Steinbeck and William Faulkner. John Steinbeck's East of Eden -- which the author considered to be his greatest work -- drew heavily upon the stories of deception, disobedience, hatred, and murder found in the Biblial accounts of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, as found in Genesis 1-4. Likewise, William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! -- often cited as the greatest novel ever written about the American South -- drew its title and its inspiration from the story of King David and his rebellious son Absalom, as found in 2 Samuel 15-18. Both of these works of literature are rooted in the great (though perhaps somewhat obscure) stories of the Bible, and they alone make a strong case for the serious student of Literature to also become a serious student of the Bible. But truthfully, Steinbeck and Faulkner are just two small examples of countless other great writers who have drawn heavily upon the narrative history of the Bible to provide their books with multiple layers of meaning. William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, George Bernard Shaw, Toni Morrison... the list goes on and on and on. Probably half of the writers who have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature have included significant elements of Biblical allusion in their most significant and celebrated works!
So indeed, I believe that appreciation of the Bible and appreciation of great Literature go hand in hand.
What's odd, however, is that my natural impression -- from knowing people who are serious students of the Bible and knowing people who are serious students of Literature -- indicates these two realms of study are often viewed as being mutually exclusive. As I've previously noted on my own website, most contemporary Christians tend to look down on fiction as being frivilous, insubstantial, and a waste of time. But it's not just the Christians who miss the boat on this one. Similarly, most contemporary enthousiasts of Literature look down on the Bible as being dogmatic, irrelevant, and boring. If you'll allow me to use yet another Biblical allusion, it's as if the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing (see Matthew 6:1-4). So how can these two disciplines be brought into more meaningful interaction?!? I wish I knew! I certainly feel challenged to step up both my study of the Bible and my study of great works of Literature; but until my Christian friends and literary friends take similar steps, I fear that I will always be looking down at the world from the vantagepoint of Pisgah...
No comments:
Post a Comment