Description
Book SynopsisThis Companion volume offers a sweeping survey of the Bible as a work of literature and its impact on Western writing. Underscoring the sophistication of the biblical writers'' thinking in diverse areas of thought, it demonstrates how the Bible relates to many types of knowledge and its immense contribution to education through the ages. The volume emphasizes selected texts chosen from different books of the Bible and from later Western writers inspired by it. Individual essays, each written specially for this book, examine topics such as the gruesome wonders of apocalyptic texts, the erotic content of the Song of Songs, and Jesus'' and Paul''s language and reasoning, as well as Shakespeare''s reflections on repentance inKing Lear, Milton''s genius in writingParadise Lost, the social necessity of individual virtue in Shelley''s poetry, and the mythic status of Melville''sMoby Dickin the United States and the Western world in general.
Trade Review'… a wide-ranging volume, which will undoubtedly stimulate further discussion concerning the relation of the Bible to literature.' Eryl W. Davies, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Table of ContentsList of contributors; List of abbreviations; 1. Literature of the Ancient Near East and the Bible Steve A. Wiggins; 2. The primary narrative (Genesis through 2 Kings) Thomas L. Brodie; 3. Reading biblical literature from a legal and political perspective Geoffrey P. Miller; 4. Biblical law and literature Calum Carmichael; 5. Kings, prophets, and judges Graeme Auld; 6. Prophetic literature Victor H. Matthews; 7. Wisdom literature James Crenshaw; 8. The Gospels Jeannine K. Brown; 9. Paul's Letters Todd D. Still; 10. Apocalyptic literature Meghan Henning; 11. Shakespeare's King Lear and the Bible William J. Kennedy; 12. The Bible and John Milton's Paradise Lost Gordon Teskey; 13. The Bible, Shelley, and English Romanticism Jonathan Fortier; 14. Herman Melville and the Bible Ruth Blair; 15. The Song of Songs and two biblical readings Emily O. Gravett; Index
