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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

After one’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14)

Picture description: David
Picture copyright: V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

bible verse

“the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people…”(1 Samuel 13:14)

meaning

A person after your own heart thinks the same way as you.

origin and application

King Saul was only thirty when he became king of Israel. Anointed by God’s chosen prophet Samuel, he did not totally obey God’s command, but rather sought to act on his own judgment at times. Seeing this, Samuel rebuked Saul and told him that the Lord has chosen someone else who thinks the same way as God to rule the people of Israel. That person was the famous King David in the history of Israel.

example

He is a friend after my own heart.

Keywords

David    friend    heart    Saul   

Related Information

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