6.6.24
“Position Paper – Teaching Biblical Literature As a Part of English/Language Arts/Reading”
From a collaboration of English/Language Arts/Reading classroom teachers ー published on July 2, 2001
QUOTES FROM E. D. HIRSCH, JR.
To quote E. D. Hirsch, Jr. in THE DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL LITERACY (2nd edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993):
"No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible...”
“All educated speakers of American English need to understand what is meant when someone describes a contest as being between David and Goliath, or whether a person who has the 'wisdom of Solomon' is wise or foolish, or whether saying 'My cup runneth over' means the person feels fortunate or unfortunate. Those who cannot understand such allusions cannot fully participate in literate English."
"The Bible is also essential for understanding many of the moral and spiritual values of our culture, whatever our religious beliefs. The linguistic and cultural importance of the Bible is a fact that no one denies.”
“Nonetheless, elementary knowledge of the Bible has declined among young people in recent years. School authorities have felt that teaching the Bible might be offensive to some parents, and might even be illegal, in light of recent decisions of the Supreme Court disallowing prayer in the public schools."
"No person in the modern world can be considered educated without a basic knowledge of all the great religions of the world -- Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity.”
“But our knowledge of Judaism and Christianity needs to be more detailed than that of other great religions, if only because of the historical accident that has embedded the Bible in our thought and language.”
“The Bible is a central book in our culture, just as the Koran is central in other nations, whose citizens need to know more about the Koran than about the Bible. The logical conclusion is that our schools need to teach more about the Bible than about the Koran, but they have a responsibility to teach about both.”
“Far from being illegal or undesirable, teaching about the Bible is not only consistent with our Constitution; it is essential to our literacy."
FROM CLASSROOM ELAR TEACHERS
The Bible should be studied as literature in public as well as private schools of the United States. Almost all other great literature found in state-adopted textbooks refers to, contains excerpts of, or is understood better through comparison with the Bible.
Teaching the Bible as literature is no more a violation of church and state than is the teaching of Greek mythology or North and South American Indian beliefs.
Probably the strongest reason to teach the Bible as literature is that almost all of the literature which scholars consider worthy of study was written by people who knew the Bible.
The Bible's language, importance in society, and principles permeate the majority of English works that are extant today.
Shakespeare's education revolved around Bible study. Try to find one of his plays that does not contain Biblical allusions.
Charles Dickens' novels are replete with redemption allusions (e.g., "I am the Resurrection and the Life" from A TALE OF TWO CITIES).
Without Biblical knowledge, students will not understand why Chaucer's pilgrims felt compelled to make the dangerous, arduous journey to Canterbury Cathedral.
Students will not understand why Ivanhoe, Chaucer's Knight, and Richard the Lionhearted left their homes to fight in the Crusades.
Students will not comprehend why in works such as BEOWULF and HAMLET the worst and oldest crime is brother killing brother (Cain and Abel).
Without literary emphasis being placed on the Bible, students will not understand why it was the first volume to be translated into English and to be printed on the new printing press both in Germany and in England.
Without understanding the importance of the Bible in the lives of past generations, students will wonder why so much attention was placed on the language of the Bible (King James Version).
They will never see the evolution of their own language as evidenced in the Bible from the Medieval Latin all the way to modern translations of today.
How will students be able to understand the writings of religious persecution if they do not know what the Bible says and how it was being interpreted by the various groups?
How can students understand the prejudice faced by Isaac the Jew in IVANHOE if they do not have a knowledge of Old and New Testament?
Students without Biblical knowledge will wonder why Gwenevere should be condemned to be burned for committing adultery against her husband King Arthur.
What would be so important about finding the Holy Grail if students did not know the crucifixion story?
How will students feel the torment of Daniel DeFoe and of John Bunyan, whose wife's dowry was her Bible which she used to teach John how to read?
Another aspect of Biblical knowledge lies in one of the most relied upon literary analysis techniques -- comparison.
Hester Prynne, King Arthur, and Beowulf are all the more understandable when compared with stories of loyalty and abandonment found in the Bible.
When Bedevere watches the injured King Arthur being taken away to Avalon and asks, "What will become of me?" students will know what Arthur's reply will be because it mirrors Jesus' response to Peter.
FROM EXPERIENCED SENIOR ENGLISH TEACHERS
To quote an experienced senior English teacher in the public schools of Texas:
"In all the years I have been teaching Biblically based literature, I have never been accused of teaching religion. Students value the added information about the Bible which helps them to internalize the literature at hand.”
“The only difficulties that have arisen in this area are for students who have no Judeo-Christian knowledge.
Asian students and students whose families did not participate in religious training in the home are the students who have come to me after class asking if I could recommend a 'quick fix,' a 'self-help guide for Biblical training.' They tell me that they feel ostracized by their lack of knowledge and do not want to be left behind academically.
None was in fear of being religiously brainwashed. They understood that most of our literature is Biblically based.
WHY WITHOLD BIBLE FROM STUDENTS?
If the Bible as literature were included in every student's curriculum, no student would feel left out or ignorant.
Why should the Bible which has been a planetary best seller for centuries be withheld from today's students?
ADVANCED PLACEMENT
Most state school boards have endorsed Advanced Placement (AP) courses because of their rigor and academic excellence.
These AP courses have well-established content requirements designed by the Educational Testing Service.
High school AP teachers must follow these content requirements to prepare their students to place high on the AP tests.
If students make a three, four, or five on their AP exams, the students receive credit on their transcripts for a certain number of college hours.
AP exams cover Biblical allusions and literary archetypes. AP students must recognize these, and students cannot learn all of these Biblical references in one or even two years.
K-8 teachers need to weave important Biblical references into their curriculum in order to prepare students for 9-12 literature courses.
EXAMPLES OF ADVANCED PLACEMENT TEACHER-PREPARATION MATERIALS – BIBLICAL ARCHETYPES
The Journey -- The journey sends a hero in search of some truth or information necessary to restore fertility to the kingdom such as is found in THE CANTERBURY TALES.
The Fall -- This archetype describes a descent from a higher to a lower state of being. The experience involves a defilement and/or loss of innocence and bliss as is found in Adam and Eve and PARADISE LOST.
The Quest -- This motif describes the search for someone or some talisman which, when found and brought back, will restore fertility to a wasted land, the desolation of which is mirrored by a leader's illness and disability such as in Galahad searching for the Holy Grail in IDYLLS OF THE KING.
Battle between Good and Evil -- This is the battle between two primal forces such as between Satan and God in PARADISE LOST.
Heaven vs. Hell -- This is the belief by man that parts of the universe are not accessible to man such as are found in the diabolic forces in PARADISE LOST, THE DIVINE COMEDY.
Supernatural Intervention -- God intervenes on the side of man as found in THE BIBLE.
Fire vs. Ice -- Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth while ice represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death such as is found in Dante's INFERNO.
The Hero -- The life of the protagonist is clearly divided into a series of well-marked adventures which strongly suggest a ritualistic pattern. The hero's mother is a virgin, the circumstances of his conception are unusual, and at birth some attempt is made to kill him. These archetypes are seen in such Biblical characters as Joseph, Moses, Elijah, and Jesus Christ.
The Devil Figure -- The evil incarnate character who offers worldly goods, fame, or knowledge to the protagonist in exchange for possession of his soul is found in the Bible and is called Satan.
The Woman Figure (The Platonic Ideal) -- This woman is a source of inspiration and a spiritual ideal (e.g., the Virgin Mary).
IMPORTANT THEMES, CONCEPTS, AND SYMBOLS BASED UPON BIBLICAL LITERATUREThe Trinity
The Cross
Temptation/Sin
Forgiveness/Redemption
Obedience/Punishment
Creation
God as a Power
Angels/Devils
Heaven/Hell
Twelve (tribes, apostles)
Self-sacrifice
Good/Evil
Forbidden Knowledge
Courage in the face of great danger
Value of Suffering
Prejudice (racial, political, and religious)
Human Nature
Faith in Human Nature
Triumph from Adversity
Poetic Justice
PARTIAL LIST OF IMPORTANT BIBLICAL REFERENCES
The following is a partial list of the Biblical references with which students must be familiar to be considered well-educated:
BEOWULF -- Grendel born of Cain, "God must decide who will be given to death's cold grip," hell, battle between good and evil
MORTE D'ARTHUR --Trinity, Sunday, Jesus, Holy Cross
THE CANTERBURY TALES -- Pardoner contrasted to corrupted church, Christ's gospel, forgiveness of sins, Holy Sacrament, Fiend, common enemy, perdition, story of Adam, Herod, John the Baptist
SIR GAWAIN -- confession, penance
EVERYMAN -- morality play, "I hanged between two, it cannot be denied"; "Thorns hurt my head."
MACBETH -- Golgatha, cherubim, Fallen Angel, common enemy of man
HOLY SONNET 10 -- Donne -- entire poem
HOLY SONNET 14 -- Donne -- "Batter my heart, three-personed God"
ON MY FIRST SON -- Jonson -- "Child of my right hand"
PARADISE LOST -- Milton -- Adam, Eve, Heavenly Muse, Sinai, Beelzebub, Seraphim, Tarsus, Leviathan
WHEN I CONSIDER HOW MY LIGHT IS SPENT -- Milton -- Parable of Talents (Matt. 25:14-30)
THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS -- Bunyan -- Vanity Fair, Celestial City, Beelzebub, Legion, temptation of Christ, Promised Land, I Corinthians 5:10, Prince of Peace
THOUGHTS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY -- Addison -- "I consider the great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries and make our appearance together."
THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER -- Coleridge -- forgiveness, penance, blessing, Wedding Guest, Bridegroom
JANE EYRE -- Bronte -- salvation; Helen Burns as a symbol of suffering, redemption (Christ-like figure); Mr. Rochester's punishment, "valley of shadow of death," remorse, repentance, reconcilement to his maker
CROSSING THE BAR -- Tennyson -- "I hope to see my Pilot face to face."
PROSPICE -- Browning -- arch fear, fiend
RECESSIONAL -- Kipling -- Psalms 51:17, Romans 2:14
THE HOLLOW MEN -- Eliot -- "For thine is the kingdom"
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN -- Twain -- King Solomon, "pray in the closet"
THE SCARLET LETTER -- Hawthorne -- Divine Maternity
A TALE OF TWO CITIES -- Dickens -- "Recalled to life," sacrifice, redemption, Carton as the Christ-like figure (John 11:25), blood, forgiveness, power of lov
LE' MORTE D'ARTHUR – Pentecost
MORTE D'ARTHUR -- Tennyson -- "The light that led the holy Elders with the gift of myrrh."
MERLIN -- Muir -- "The furrow drawn by Adam's finger" -- Genesis 1-5
WATERSHIP DOWN -- Adams -- The Creation, Noah's Ark
OLD MAN AND THE SEA -- Hemingway -- Santiago (Christ-like figure), the mast, three days at sea
THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER -- Irving -- Old Scratch, the Devil
THE GRAPES OF WRATH -- Rose of Sharon, Exodus from Oklahoma, Noah's Ark
THE SECOND COMING -- Yeats -- birth of Christ, Bethlehem
THE PEARL -- Steinbeck -- Hail Mary, tithe
HUSWIFERY -- Taylor -- God's grace
THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS -- Malamud -- allusion to Genesis 29
THE BURNING OF OUR HOUSE -- Bradstreet -- Job 1:21, Ecclesiastes 1:2
SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD -- Jonathan Edwards
THE MASQUE OF RED DEATH -- Poe -- "out-Heroded Herod," “a thief in the night”
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD -- Lee --"take this cup from you," the parable of the good Samaritan, "Who is your neighbor?"
BIBLICAL ALLUSIONS TAUGHT AS A PART OF SPANISH ADVANCED PLACEMENT
LA CELESTINA --Fernando de Rojas
El CANTOR DE MÍO -- epic poem of Spain
DON QUIJOTE DE LA MANCHA -- Miguel de Cervantes
LAZARILLO DE TORMES -- author unknown
APOCALIPSIS --Marco Denevi
EL EVANGELIO SEGÚN MARCOS -- Jorge Luis Borges
LOS DOS REYES Y LOS DOS LABERINTOS -- Jorge Luis Borges
SONETO A CRISTO CRUCIFICADO -- anonymous
UNA CARTA A DIÓS -- Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes
LA LEYENDA DE SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA
GENESIS -- Marco Denevi
SAN MANUEL BUENO, MÁRTIR -- Miguel de Unamuno
CONCLUSION – BIBLE AS LITERATURE
The study of the Bible as literature is fundamental to a student's education.
Biblical allusions exist in the classics as well as in modern literature.
Including the study of the Bible gives students a broader understanding of the major works that they will read in school and later in life.