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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 still small voice (1 Kings 19:12)

Picture description: Elijah
Picture copyright: Daniele da Volterra / public domain

bible verse

“And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1Kings 19:12)

origin and application

Elijah is a prophet who has been very zealous for the Lord. As dedicated as he is, he still suffers from emotional setbacks. While he was persecuted by Jezebel, the queen of Israel, he retreated into a cave and spent the night there. God sought him out, and asked him to go out and stand on the mountain to see the Lord pass by. So he stood, and a great wind tore apart the mountains and rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind was the earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the quake was the fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. Then came a still small voice from the Lord that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
From the story above, we see that whenever we seek God’s guidance, God may not appear in thunders or something big as we thought. Rather, God may guide us through a still, small voice that whispers in our quiet time.

Keywords

Elijah    still    voice   

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