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

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

by David Norton (Author)

Synopsis

Revised and condensed from David Norton's acclaimed A History of the Bible as Literature, this book, first published in 2000, tells the story of English literary attitudes to the Bible. At first jeered at and mocked as English writing, then denigrated as having 'all the disadvantages of an old prose translation', the King James Bible somehow became 'unsurpassed in the entire range of literature'. How so startling a change happened and how it affected the making of modern translations such as the Revised Version and the New English Bible is at the heart of this exploration of a vast range of religious, literary and cultural ideas. Translators, writers such as Donne, Milton, Bunyan and the Romantics, reactionary Bishops and radical students all help to show the changes in religious ideas and in standards of language and literature that created our sense of the most important book in English.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 496
Edition: Rev Ed
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 29 May 2000

ISBN 10: 0521778077
ISBN 13: 9780521778077
Book Overview: This book, first published in 2000, explores 500 years of religious and literary ideas contained in the King James Bible.

Media Reviews
'A most instructive and fascinating work.' Expository Times
'David Norton's long book fills a large gap very well: so well, in fact, being comprehensive and especially well written, that one hears of it being recommended to classes, by default, as a history of translations. His story is remarkable. It is compelling reading as a study of literary positions in successive centuries.' Reformation
'The clarity and drive of Norton's own writing happily matches the fulness of his material: though too well-mannered to raise his voice, he successfully challenges the now-fashionable dismissal of the English Bible from history.' Oxford Academic Journals
'The clarity and drive of Morton's writing happily matches the fulness of his material ... he successfully challenges the now-fashionable dismissal of the English bible from history.' The Journal of Theological Studies
In a volume this detailed, a nod in the direction of the enormous vogue for such interpretation of the Bible since about 1960 would be appropriate. Accessible and recommended for undergraduate and graduate collections that do not own the two-volume edition. Choice
This edition of the two-volume History of the Bible as Literature (1993) cuts down the material to more manageable proportions by confining the focus to the English Bible, reducing the number of examples, and omitting the appendices. Theology Digest
Norton's magisterial study...is a treasure trove for anyone who is interested in the cultural imapct of the Bible in the English-speaking world. Religious Studies Review
This is a very good book indeed...Norton's volume is filled on every page with the true scholar's eye for detail and understanding of the whole field...Norton's fine book does a good deal to begin to restore the Bible to its proper place in English language cultural history. Theology Today