A History of the English Bible as Literature (2000) (A History of the Bible as Literature)

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Plates......Page 11
Preface......Page 13
Abbreviations......Page 14
THE CHALLENGE TO THE TRANSLATORS......Page 15
LITERAL TRANSLATION: ROLLE’S PSALTER AND THE WYCLIF BIBLE......Page 19
Introduction......Page 24
Love for ‘the sweet pith within’......Page 26
Luther and Erasmus......Page 31
Tyndale, Thomas More and English......Page 33
JOHN CHEKE AND THE INKHORN......Page 40
MYLES COVERDALE......Page 43
OFFICIAL BIBLES......Page 49
The Geneva Bible......Page 53
The Rheims-Douai Bible......Page 55
The Martin–Fulke controversy......Page 63
DOES THE VERBAL FORM MATTER?......Page 67
THE EXCLUDED SCHOLAR: HUGH BROUGHTON......Page 70
RULES TO MEET THE CHALLENGE......Page 74
THE PREFACE......Page 77
BOIS’S NOTES......Page 84
CONCLUSION......Page 86
EPILOGUE: BROUGHTON’S LAST WORD......Page 87
PRESENTATIONS OF THE TEXT, 1525–1625......Page 90
JOHN LOCKE’S CRITICISM OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE TEXT......Page 101
THE DEFEAT OF THE GENEVA BIBLE......Page 103
Ambrose Ussher......Page 108
Commonwealth attempts at revision......Page 109
QUOTING THE GOOD BOOK......Page 117
John Selden and dirty ears......Page 121
Robert Boyle against the wits......Page 124
‘FIDELITY RATHER THAN POETRY’......Page 129
‘A GREAT PREJUDICE TO THE NEW’......Page 135
AN ASIDE: VERSE EPITOMES OF THE BIBLE......Page 139
IDEAS OF BIBLICAL POETRY......Page 140
THE SIDNEY PSALMS......Page 142
GEORGE WITHER AND THE PSALTER......Page 145
Thomas Becon and ‘the glorious triumph of God’s most blessed word’......Page 154
Manuals of rhetoric......Page 158
Eloquence and divine inspiration......Page 159
DIVINE INSPIRATION......Page 161
JOHN DONNE......Page 164
CONQUERING THE CLASSICS......Page 166
CONFLICT OVER THE BIBLE AS A MODEL FOR STYLE......Page 170
THE BIBLE ‘DISPUTED, RHYMED, SUNG AND JANGLED’......Page 179
WIT, ATHEISM AND THE SAD CASE OF THOMAS AIKENHEAD......Page 181
‘THE BEST MATERIALS IN THE WORLD FOR POESY’......Page 188
JOHN MILTON......Page 189
JOHN BUNYAN......Page 197
The superior language......Page 202
Longinus and Boileau......Page 205
The growth of a commonplace......Page 208
JOHN HUSBANDS......Page 216
ANTHONY BLACKWALL......Page 221
A standard......Page 224
The common people......Page 253
ROBERT LOWTH’S DE SACRA POESI HEBRAEORUM......Page 258
Anthony Purver and archaic words......Page 269
Revision gets a bad name......Page 278
THE INFLUENCE OF POPULAR FEELING......Page 282
LOWTH AND THE ENGLISH BIBLE......Page 285
MYTHS ARISE......Page 287
GEORGE CAMPBELL AND THE KJB AS A LITERARY EXAMPLE......Page 289
THE KJB IN LITERARY DISCUSSIONS OF THE BIBLE......Page 291
REVISION OR ‘SUPERSTITIOUS VENERATION’......Page 299
RANCOROUS REASON AND BROUHAHA......Page 302
THE FAKER AND THE MADMAN......Page 312
WILLIAM BLAKE AND ‘THE POETIC GENIUS’......Page 315
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW LITERARY SENSE OF THE BIBLE......Page 319
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE AND ‘THE LIVING EDUCTS OF THE IMAGINATION’......Page 321
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY AND ‘SCRIPTURE AS A COMPOSITION’......Page 327
AN INFIDEL AND THE BIBLE: LORD BYRON......Page 330
A BIBLE FOR THE ROMANTIC READER......Page 332
CHARLOTTE BRONTË AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE KJB......Page 335
THE PIOUS CHORUS......Page 339
AN INSPIRED TRANSLATION......Page 349
THE KJB AS A LITERARY INFLUENCE......Page 352
PARALLELISM REVISITED......Page 359
GEORGE GILFILLAN AND ‘THE LESSON OF INFINITE BEAUTY’......Page 363
RULES FOR THE REVISION......Page 367
THE PREFACE TO THE NEW TESTAMENT......Page 372
EVIDENCE FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT REVISERS......Page 375
AN ENGLISH ACCOUNT OF CHANGES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT......Page 376
THE NEW TESTAMENT REVISERS AT WORK......Page 379
THE RECEPTION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT......Page 381
THE PREFACE TO THE OLD TESTAMENT......Page 384
AN AMERICAN ACCOUNT OF CHANGES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT......Page 387
NOTES FROM THE FIRST REVISION OF GENESIS......Page 389
CONCLUSION......Page 391
AN ASIDE: DIALECT VERSIONS......Page 392
THE BIBLE ‘AS A CLASSIC’ : LE ROY HALSEY......Page 398
THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION AND SCHOOL BIBLE READING......Page 403
MATTHEW ARNOLD......Page 408
RICHARD MOULTON AND LITERARY MORPHOLOGY......Page 411
ANTHOLOGISTS......Page 416
PRESENTING THE TEXT AS LITERATURE......Page 421
TESTIMONIES FROM WRITERS......Page 427
FUNDAMENTALISTS AND THE GOD-GIVEN TRANSLATION......Page 437
MODERN AVOLATRY......Page 440
THE SHAKESPEAREAN TOUCH......Page 444
DISSENTING VOICES......Page 447
THE HEBREW INHERITANCE AND THE VIRTUES OF LITERALISM......Page 460
AIMS......Page 470
RECEPTION......Page 479
A PRINCELY EPILOGUE......Page 492
Bibliography......Page 496
General Index......Page 503
Biblical Index......Page 511