The Bible as Literature
In subsequent posts, I hope to explore a very simple hypothesis: the Bible can and should be read as great literature.
This Bible as literature hypothesis has opponents within religious and non-religious circles. Many religious people, who are serious about the inerrancy and divine authorship of the Bible, don't feel comfortable equating the Bible to literature as though Moses were just a really good Charles Dickens. Other intellectual communities on the other hand, don't believe in the inerrancy of the Bible and instead assume the documentary hypothesis which sees the Bible as a collection of disjointed manuscripts compiled long after the events they describe. So, I recognize that my hypothesis will meet strong opposition from both these groups. My ultimate goal of course, is to use this hypothesis to facilitate a dialog between religious and non-religious people where the question of divine authorship and whether or not Bible stories need be taken literally isn't relevant.
What does it mean to read the Bible as literature? Above all, a literary reading of the Bible is about finding the narratives compelling and the reading enjoyable. Treating the Bible as literature means not being interested in didactic messages or simplistic prescriptions for living. Treating the Bible as literature assumes that the book is well written and the words were chosen carefully. I see great literature as the set of texts which grapple with a few fundamental questions that are relevant to the human condition. This grappling takes places through an economy of images and language and narrative structure which artfully recur. Great literature is about trying to express questions and mysteries and paradoxes through recurring themes and the literary medium as though trying to reach at some basic understanding which is hard or impossible to formulate. Treating the Bible as literature is about being sensitive to themes and motifs and character development and tension and suspense. Treating the Bible as literature means entering into a conversation and confrontation with a text which we allow to inspire or horrify us.
(On this website, I deal with the more rigorous and objective side of Biblical Exegesis.)
This Bible as literature hypothesis has opponents within religious and non-religious circles. Many religious people, who are serious about the inerrancy and divine authorship of the Bible, don't feel comfortable equating the Bible to literature as though Moses were just a really good Charles Dickens. Other intellectual communities on the other hand, don't believe in the inerrancy of the Bible and instead assume the documentary hypothesis which sees the Bible as a collection of disjointed manuscripts compiled long after the events they describe. So, I recognize that my hypothesis will meet strong opposition from both these groups. My ultimate goal of course, is to use this hypothesis to facilitate a dialog between religious and non-religious people where the question of divine authorship and whether or not Bible stories need be taken literally isn't relevant.
What does it mean to read the Bible as literature? Above all, a literary reading of the Bible is about finding the narratives compelling and the reading enjoyable. Treating the Bible as literature means not being interested in didactic messages or simplistic prescriptions for living. Treating the Bible as literature assumes that the book is well written and the words were chosen carefully. I see great literature as the set of texts which grapple with a few fundamental questions that are relevant to the human condition. This grappling takes places through an economy of images and language and narrative structure which artfully recur. Great literature is about trying to express questions and mysteries and paradoxes through recurring themes and the literary medium as though trying to reach at some basic understanding which is hard or impossible to formulate. Treating the Bible as literature is about being sensitive to themes and motifs and character development and tension and suspense. Treating the Bible as literature means entering into a conversation and confrontation with a text which we allow to inspire or horrify us.
(On this website, I deal with the more rigorous and objective side of Biblical Exegesis.)
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