On the Art of Reading · Chapter
Lecture VIII: On Reading the Bible (I) explained
The lecturer argues against reading the Bible merely to contradict or confute, asserting that the Bible is both a majestic literary monument and a living spiritual inheritance.
What happens
The lecturer argues against reading the Bible merely to contradict or confute, asserting that the Bible is both a majestic literary monument and a living spiritual inheritance. He warns against treating it as 'mere literature' or 'fine writing,' emphasizing that literature cannot be divorced from life or the authors who wrote it. He discusses the powerful emotional effect of the Authorised Version's cadences and phrases, shaped by centuries of association and memory, and laments that the Education Act of 1870 has discouraged family Bible reading, replacing it with state-led schooling and Sunday newspapers.
Themes in this chapter
The Bible as Literature
The chapter centrally argues that the Bible is both a literary masterpiece and a living spiritual text, rejecting the notion of 'mere literature' or 'fine writing.'
Reading and Life
The lecturer insists that literature cannot be separated from life or the authors who wrote it, using the Bible as a prime example.
Critique of Modernity
The Education Act of 1870 is criticized for undermining family Bible reading and replacing it with state schooling and Sunday newspapers.
Characters to notice
- Bacon
Quoted at the opening: 'Read not to Contradict and Confute' from his essay on studies.
- Milton
Used as an example of the interdependence of author and work; wrote Paradise Lost.
- Isaiah
Mentioned as a biblical author whose cadences in English are supplied by translators.
- Jesus
Referenced as the speaker of the Parables and Sermon on the Mount; his meaning, not his cadences, is what martyrs died for.
- Cardinal Newman
Quoted at length on the sui generis style of Shakespeare, the Protestant Bible, and other English authors.
- Gibbon
Listed by Newman as an example of a distinctive English style; noted as an infidel.
- Pope Adrian VI
Mentioned by Newman as a Roman Catholic author; his style is noted as sui generis.
- Dr. Johnson
Listed by Newman as an example of a distinctive English style.
Key passages
“Read not to Contradict and Confute”
Do not read in order to argue or disprove.
Opening advice from Bacon, applied to Bible reading.
“There is in fact, Gentlemen, no such thing as 'mere literature.'”
Literature cannot be reduced to mere aesthetic ornament; it is always tied to life and meaning.
Central thesis rejecting the concept of 'belles lettres' or 'fine art' as applied to the Bible.
“How real a creation, how sui generis, is the style of Shakespeare, or of the Protestant Bible and Prayer Book, or of Swift, or of Pope, or of Gibbon, or of Johnson!”
The style of these authors is a unique and powerful creation in its own right.
Quotation from Cardinal Newman emphasizing the distinctive power of English literary styles.
