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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

John

Picture description: John the Baptist preaches
Picture copyright: Cook Communications Ministries

bible verse

Matthew 3:1

meaning

It is an anglicised form of the Latin name Iohannes which came from the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes) originating from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan). The name carries the meaning of “God is gracious”. Two famous characters in the New Testament bore the name—John the Baptist and John the Apostle. The former was a prophet and forerunner of Jesus Christ. To fulfill all righteousness, Jesus asked John to baptise him. The latter was the youngest disciple of Jesus, who wrote the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation while living in exile.

gender

Male

example

Keywords

apostle    Book of Revelation    disciple    exile    Jesus    John the Baptist   

Related Information

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