My “day job” is church leadership. I’m the pastor of a church called Amsterdam50. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed T. David Gordon’s Why Johnny Can’t Preach.
It was recommended highly by a good friend, and indeed it’s a
fascinating book about communications and ministry. One of its most
significant points is that most ministers today preach ineffectively
because they are poor students of written communication: literature and
textual criticism in particular. In effect, Gordon argues that one’s
study of the Bible is considerably enhanced by one’s experience with
studying the sonnets of Shakespeare or other great works of literature,
which must be digested slowly and deliberately (as opposed to the more
immediate and more practical forms of electronic communication that are
more widely used today). I don’t know if I agree with everything that
Gordon has to say, but it is certainly some noteworthy food for thought:
namely, that a thorough understanding and appreciation of great
Literature enhances our study of the Bible.

I happen to agree with this particular assertion, but it also
intrigues me because I’ve recently been considering the fact that to be
an effective student (or a producer/writer) of Literature, a significant
level of appreciation for the Bible is essential. In short:
appreciation of the Bible and appreciation of great Literature go hand
in hand.

I remember sitting in a 300-level English literature course at
Bowling Green State University, examining at a cross-section of
early-American literature in which repeated references were made to some
place called “Pisgah.” Despite the professor’s leading
questions — indicating that these “Pisgah” references were an
important key to understanding the overall message of the narrative
passages — the lecture hall sat in silent confusion as to the
significance of what that word meant. Eventually, the professor revealed
that “Pisgah” was a Biblical allusion, referring to Moses viewing of
the Promised Land that he would never be privileged to enter, described
in Deuteronomy 3:21-29.
And indeed, when I went back to my dorm room and read the Biblical
account for myself later, the early-American literature made so much
more sense and carried a significantly greater emotional weight.

Ever since that discovery, I’ve been captivated by the literary power of Biblical allusion.

The Literary Power of Biblical Allusion

Some Biblical allusions have been so widely used that they now border on being clichéed: phrases such as “milk and honey” (referring to an idealistic description of the Israelites’ Promised Land, as described in Exodus 3:7-8 and numerous other sections of the Old Testament of the Bible) or “loaves and fishes”
(referring to the miracle in which Jesus’ provided food for 5000 people
from just five loaves of bread and two fishes, recorded in Mark 6:30-44).
It’s astonishing, really, to realize how many of our casual
turns-of-language find their roots in the Bible. Still other examples of
these common Biblical allusions include “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” or “turn the other cheek,” or “the extra mile” (all three of which can be found in Matthew 5:38-42).
These types of phrases are peppered throughout the English language
(and, I would wager, also throughout other languages of the Western
Hemisphere). However, the power of Biblical allusion runs much deeper
than these standard references.

Consider, for example, two of the greatest American novelists of all
time, who clearly understood the power of Biblical allusion: John
Steinbeck and William Faulkner. John Steinbeck’s East of Eden
— which the author considered to be his greatest work — drew heavily
upon the stories of deception, disobedience, hatred, and murder found in
the Biblial accounts of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, as found in Genesis 1-4. Likewise, William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!
— often cited as the greatest novel ever written about the American
South — drew its title and its inspiration from the story of King David
and his rebellious son Absalom, as found in 2 Samuel 15-18.
Both of these works of literature are rooted in the great (though
perhaps somewhat obscure) stories of the Bible, and they alone make a
strong case for the serious student of Literature to also become a
serious student of the Bible. But truthfully, Steinbeck and Faulkner are
just two small examples of countless other great writers who have drawn
heavily upon the narrative history of the Bible to provide their books
with multiple layers of meaning. William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy,
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, George Bernard
Shaw, Toni Morrison… the list goes on and on and on. Probably half of
the writers who have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature have
included significant elements of Biblical allusion in their most
significant and celebrated works!

So indeed, I believe that appreciation of the Bible and appreciation of great Literature go hand in hand.

What’s odd, however, is that my natural impression — from knowing
people who are serious students of the Bible and knowing people who are
serious students of Literature — indicates these two realms of study
are often viewed as being mutually exclusive. As I’ve previously noted on my own website,
most contemporary Christians tend to look down on fiction as being
frivilous, insubstantial, and a waste of time. But it’s not just the
Christians who miss the boat on this one. Similarly, most contemporary
enthousiasts of Literature look down on the Bible as being dogmatic,
irrelevant, and boring. If you’ll allow me to use yet another Biblical
allusion, it’s as if the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing (see Matthew 6:1-4).
So how can these two disciplines be brought into more meaningful
interaction?!? I wish I knew! I certainly feel challenged to step up
both my study of the Bible and my study of great works of Literature;
but until my Christian friends and literary friends take similar steps, I
fear that I will always be looking down at the world from the
vantagepoint of Pisgah…