The Bible and Literature

aeo Provides an accessible introduction to the study of the biblea s importance for Western literature. aeo Offers students the opportunity to study the intertextual relations between literature and the bible. aeo Contains a section of additional suggested reading and a full bibliography. 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. There is no book more important for our culture than the Bible, and it is fundamental to the study of English literature and language.