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The Bible has been the most influential text in all of Western culture. It's difficult to understand medieval or early modern or much of modern literature without knowing it...

Prof. Barbara Newman, Northwestern University
from 2006 Bible Literary project

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It's not that it's impossible to read some writers without a Biblical background, but that you would miss a whole dimension to their work.

Prof. Steven Goldsmith, University of California at Berkeley
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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I can only say that if a student doesn't know any Bible literature, he or she will simply not understand whole elements of Shakespeare, Sidney, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth

Prof. Robert Kiely, Harvard University
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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...there is truth in the remark. "without Tyndale[Bible translator], no Shakespeare"...

Prof. David Daniell, University College London
from The Bible in English

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You can't really study Western literature intelligently or coherently without starting with the Bible.

Prof. Gerald L. Bruns, University of Notre Dame
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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...a familiar understanding of Christian doctrine in historical perspective thus contributes to a fuller appreciation of Shakespeare's art, but Shakespeare's art

Prof. Roland M. Frye
from Shakespeare and the Christian Doctrine

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In English tradition and also for an American tradition begun by Puritan writers, a knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is even more crucial than classical references.

Prof. Ulrich Knoefplmacher, Princeton University
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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

Prof. David Jasper and Prof. Stephen Prickett
from the Bible and literature

A happy heart is the best medicine (Proverbs 17:22)

Picture description: Singing
Picture copyright: Cook Communications

bible verse

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22)

meaning

Happiness leads to good health.

origin and application

Medical research has often shown that a cheerful heart can speed up the recovery of patients, especially cancer patients. This saying is not new to Bible readers, because the Proverbs already tells us so: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
This verse is popular in literature on patient care. In my service with the Hospital Chaplain, patients often find a lot of comfort and encouragement upon reading this verse at their lowest point in life.

Keywords

happy    heart    joy    medicine    praise   

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