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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

Babel (Genesis 11)

Picture description: Babel Tower
Picture copyright: V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

bible verse

“So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world.” (Genesis 11:8-9)

meaning

Babel implies a mess or a state of confusion. It also refers to a visionary project.

origin and application

Our present world is made up of different cultures and languages, but in the very beginning, the whole world had only one language and one common speech. Out of pride, men tried to build a tower that could rise up to the heavens so that they “may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4). Realizing their plan, God deliberately confused the language of the world and scattered them over all the earth. They had no choice but to stop building the tower, which is why it was called Babel, which sounds like the Hebrew word for “confused.”

Keywords

Babel    confusion    mess    pride    sin   

Related Information

NIV official site
Chinese Bible (???)

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