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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

Paul

Picture description: Portrait of Paul
Picture copyright: Saint Louis Art Museum/ public domain

bible verse

Acts 13:9

meaning

It was derived from the Roman family name “Paulus” which carries the meaning of “small” or “humble” in Latin. Paul was an important figure in the New Testament who wrote most of the epistles. He was known as Paul the Apostle who was originally named Saul and used to persecute Christians before his conversion took place on the road to Damascus where a light of Jesus Christ from heaven flashed around him. Since then, though jailed several times, Paul took great pains to spread the gospels throughout the Mediterranean till the end of his life.

gender

Male

example

Keywords

apostle    Damascus    gospel    humble    jail    Jesus    pain    Paul    persecute    prison    small   

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