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Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 22:24:05 EST
From:         "Spawn of a Jewish Carpenter (Cindy Smith)" <cms@DRAGON.COM>
Subject: Re: Some annotated bibliographies on the Bible as literature

                              ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY







                                                   ________ _____  __  ___
        1.  Alter, Robert and Frank Kermode, eds.  Literary Guide  to  the

            _____
            Bible.  Cambridge:  Belknap Press, 1987.



            The authors approach the Bible from the point of view that use

            of  critical  analysis  techniques  allows the reader a better

            understanding of both the text, how it related to the  culture

            of its time, and the influence of translations over the years.

            Few people  are  able  to  read  the  bible  in  the  original

            languages,  or  are familiar with the culture and customs that

            existed at the time of its writing.  Many readers are familiar

            only with the King James, which was in translated in a dialect

            that was archaic in 1611, and which was based on the Byzantine

            text  (a  Greek  text  fraught  with  errors  and  regarded by

            scholars as the least credible of  the  major  texts).   These

            factors  all  make  it  difficult to apply analysis techniques

            commonly applied to more recent texts; yet,  doing  so  allows

            the reader a deeper understanding of the Bible.  The book is a

            collection of essays organized in the form of a commentary  on

            the  Bible  as  an anthology of works of great literature, yet

            more than simply an anthology inasmuch as it has  a  narrative

            integrity and consistency which cannot be ignored.



                                 ____________  __  ___  ___  _________  __
        2.  Childs, Brevard S.   Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  as

            _________
            Scripture.  Philadelphia:  Fortress Press, 1979.



            The author explores  the  evolution  of  the  Bible  from  the

            original  manuscripts,  the  process of cannonization, and the

            changes made by various groups  and  councils.   The  critical

            implications  of  the text are reviewed in the context of both

            historical  and  theological  understanding,  and  how  recent

            discovery  of  old  texts and variants has changed the current

            understanding of the Bible.



        3.  Mays, James L., General Editor, et.  al., with the Society  of

                                      ________   _____   __________
            Biblical   Literature.    Harper's   Bible   Commentary.   San

            Fransisco:  Harper & Row, 1988.



            The editors of this volume have given a fair commentary on the

            Bible  with  emphasis  on theology and church doctrine.  I was

            surprised, however, that it contained so little information on

            literary  forms  and  how  the  genre  of  a  text affects the

            meaning, since the commentary was sponsored by the Society  of

            Biblical Literature.



                                      ____ ___ ____ ______ __ ____________
        4.  Ralph, Margaret Nutting.  "And God Said What?" An Introduction

            __  ________  ________  _____  ___  _____  ______
            to  Biblical  Literary  Forms  for  Bible  Lovers.   New York:

            Paulist Press, 1986.



            The author states that the Bible is not a single  text  but  a

            library  containing many different types of writing or genres.

            The author believes that many people  throughout  history  and


Creation in Poetry of the Bible                                          Page 17

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            today have misunderstood the meaning of different texts of the

            Bible because they have misunderstood the form in  which  they

            were  written.   Although  Ralph admits that classification of

            texts is a sometimes tricky task, it is nevertheless a  useful

            enterprise  for  understanding  content.  In her understanding

            that the Bible is  often  used  as  a  vehicle  for  spiritual

            guidance  and  prayer,  she contends that failure to recognize

            the literary genre of the text may result  in  a  prayer  life

            filled  with  self-delusion.   She  goes  on  to  discuss  the

            development of the various literary forms from their  earliest

            oral traditions (often stemming from actual historical events)

            to their final written form.  She then describes with examples

            a  selection  of  forms  found  in  the  Bible including myth,

            legend, debate, fiction, gospel, parable,  allegory,  epistle,

            and  apocalypse.   According to Ralph, just as it is better to

            teach a person how to read than to read to that person, so  it

            is  better  to  teach a person the literary forms of the Bible

            than  simply  to  hand  the  person  a  whole  Bible  with  no

            instructions.



                            ___ __ ____ ___ _____ __ ________________  ___
        5.  Ryken, Leland.  How to Read the Bible as Literature...And  Get

            ____ ___ __ __
            More Out of It.  Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan Publishing

            House, 1984.



            The author believes that the subject matter of  literature  is

            human  experience,  not  abstract  ideas.  The way one obtains

            knowledge  is  by  living  through  an  experience,  often  in

            literature.   Literature  presents experiences in images, both

            in narrative and in poetry.  Parables and psalms  give  images

            with   lasting   impact.    Poetry   has  unity  and  literary

            concreteness,  using   tangible   images   to   convey   lived

            experience.   The author uses numerous examples from the Bible

            to validate  his  claim  that  the  subject  of  all  Biblical

            literature  is  human  experience.  The primary means by which

            literature conveys human experience is concreteness in  sights

            and  sounds and vivid imagery.  He considers it important that

            the Bible conveys basic theological truths by means of stories

            and   characters  and  images  far  more  often  than  by  dry

            theological discourse.  He believes that knowing the  literary

            genre,  whether  it is narrative or poetry, visionary writing,

            proverb,  epistle,  or  satire,  can  spare  us   from   badly

            misinterpreting  the  Bible's messages.  [This book is a handy

                                _____ __ _______
            companion volume to Words of Delight.  See below.]



                            _____ __ ________  _ ________ ____________  __
        6.  Ryken, Leland.  Words of Delight:  A literary Introduction  to

            ___ _____
            the Bible.  Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Baker Book House, 1987.



            The author believes that the chief aim of Biblical  literature

            is  not  to  expositate a precept but rather to illustrate the

            precept in an example that embodies the meaning.  He  believes

            that  the  imaginative  literature  of  the Bible draws on our

            capacity to create and perceive images, especially in  poetry.

            He  believes  that  approaching  the  Bible  from  a  literary

            perspective and experiencing the images  it  creates  enhances

            our  ability to grasp its essential truths.  He then describes


Creation in Poetry of the Bible                                          Page 18

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            with examples a selection of  forms  of  the  Bible  including

            narrative,  poetry,  proverb,  and  visionary writing (such as

            prophecy and apocalyse); and  less  frequent  forms  including

            satire,   epic,  tragedy,  wedding  song,  elegy,  drama,  and

            encomium.  He says the artistry of  the  writing,  not  simply

            what  is  said  but  how  it is said, does not simply increase

            pleasure but, more importantly, intensifies the impact of  the

            images.  Literary language, such as metaphor, simile, paradox,

            illusion, or irony,  calls  attention  to  the  picture  being

            painted  and  tries  to  tell  us more than expository writing

            would.  He emphasizes throughout the book that meaning  cannot

            be  separated  from  form.   He  also  stresses  the  literary

            wholeness  of  texts  as  opposed   to   redaction   criticism

            "excavations"  or  verse by verse theological interpretations.

            He points out that God is the central protagonist in the Bible

            whose presence in every text maintains the narrative integrity

            of universal history.  He stresses the need to  experience  as

            well  as  interpret  images,  especially  in poetry.  He gives

            particular attention to the different types of psalms.



        7.  Robert Alter:  THE WORLD OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE



            The author argues in detail how important it is  to  read  the

            Bible  in  its  narrative integrity, rather than extrapolating

            its component parts, reconstructing it  differently  from  the

            inspired  editor,  and  looking  for  new  meanings in the new

            artificial constructs.  Nevertheless, in reading the Bible  as

            literature,  the  author  argues  we  must  be  aware  of  the

            circumstances under which the text was written, its  evolution

            in  the  editorial  process,  and  the  aims of the writer.  A

            problem that must be confronted is  our  Western  tendency  to

            assume  that  authorship  of  a text was based on a desire for

            fame; Biblical texts,  by  contrast,  have  authors  perfectly

            willing  to  fade  into  anonymity  for the sake of community.

            Thus, when reading the Bible, we are experiencing group memory

            as opposed to individual reflection.  He questions whether any

            one of the various strands (such as J,  E,  P,  or  the  court

            historian  in  Samuel)  can be regarded as reflecting a single

            author at a specific moment in time.  He posits that, like the

                       ________  ___  ___  ______
            Oriental   Thousand  and  One  Nights,  stories  from  various

            literary traditions can  be  molded  and  fit  into  a  single

            coherent  whole,  making  it more than a purposeful patchwork.

            He says, "....for art is after all made for an  audience,  not

            just  for the effect" (11).  He points out that our artificial

            division of prose and poetry into separate  categories  was  a

            practice  unknown  to  the  Hebrews, who tended to blend these

            categories in what, to us, seem baffling ways.  The  same  can

            be said for fiction and nonfiction, posing problems for modern

            theological readers that the original authors and the original

            audience  may  have regarded as unimportant.  He critiques the

                                                                ____ __  _
            JPS Commentary series favorably, and Harold Bloom's Book of  J

            unfavorably.  He complains that Bloom does not know Hebrew and

            makes many mistakes based on  faulty  translations.   He  also

            criticizes  Bloom's depiction of the author of J being female,

            arguing that, while the  author  may  be  female,  Bloom  does


Creation in Poetry of the Bible                                          Page 19

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            neither  adequately  supports  his argument nor gives adequate

            credit to Richard Elliott Friedman, who originated the idea in

                 ___  _____  ___  ______
            his  Who  Wrote  the  Bible?.  He devotes an entire chapter to

            biblical poetry in which he argues that the matrix into  which

            poetry is intertwined in the text illustrates the rule of form

            relating to meaning.  He says, "We need to  read  this  poetry

            well  because  it  is  not  merely  a  means of heightening or

            dramatizing the religious perceptions of the biblical  writers

            --  it  is  the dynamic shaping instrument through which those

            perceptions discovered their immanent truth" (190).



        8.  Robert Alter:  THE ART OF BIBLICAL NARRATIVE



            The author argues that literary art plays a  crucial  role  in

            the  shaping of biblical narrative.  He makes extensive use of

            examples from the Bible to illustrate his points.   He  argues

            that  excavative analysis of the Biblical texts has its place,

            but is only a starting point towards a richer understanding of

            the  Bible  culminating  in  literary analysis.  He points out

            that the religious character of the text as revealed truth has

            sometimes  hindered this enterprise, but, in fact, analysis of

            the text  as  literature  actually  enhances  our  ability  to

            understand its religious truths.  Thus, while some may analyze

            a text in the psalms in terms of how it  was  used  in  Temple

            rituals,  a  literary  analysis reads the text in terms of its

            quality as poetry.  He complains  that  the  "notion  of  'the

            Bible  as  literature,'  though  particularly  contaminated in

            English by its use as a rubric for superficial college courses

            and for dubious publishers' packages, is needlessly concessive

            and condescending toward literature in any language"  (18-19).

            Just  as  it  would  be unwarranted to refer to "The Pilgrim's

            Progress" as literature, as if it could be anything else  even

            though  it  is more "religious" than most of the Bible, so the

            Bible itself is a piece of  literature  from  which  religious

            truths  can  be mined.  In other words, its literary qualities

            are not extraneous to the text, but rather are inherent --  we

            derive  our  theological,  moral,  and ethical vision from the

                              __
            literature, which is  literature,  not  some  dry  theological

            discourse.   He  criticizes those scholars who claim the Bible

            lacks artistic unity because of contradiction, digression, and

            repetition,  arguing  that  if  these  rules  were  applied to

            _______   ___  _____  ___  ___  _____   ________  _______
            Ulysses,  The  Sound  and  the  Fury,,  Tristram  Shandy,  and

            _________
            Jealousy,  each  of those novels would have to be relegated to

            the dustbin of shoddily  'redacted'  literary  scraps."  Alter

            also  says,  "What  we  need  to understand better is that the

            religious vision of the Bible  is  given  depth  and  subtlety

            precisely  by  being  conveyed  through the most sophisticated

            resources of prose fiction." He gives  considerable  attention

            to  prose  fiction,  scene  types,  narration  and dialog, and

            repetition techniques.


Creation in Poetry of the Bible                                          Page 20

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        9.  Robert Alter:  THE ART OF BIBLICAL POETRY



            The author initially launches into a very technical discussion

            of  biblical poetry in which he criticizes past efforts at its

            characterization.  He discusses the various uses  of  biblical

            poetry,  from celebratory song, dirge, and oratory, to oracle,

            prophecy, reflective and didactic argument, and  liturgy.   He

            argues   the   importance  of  recognizing  the  operation  of

            narrative impulse in the poems, helping us to  understand  the

            difference  between  the  typical  nonnarrative  poems and the

            occasional  poems  with  explicit  narrative  materials.    He

            discusses  parallelism and the development of imagery, as well

            as intensification in the same regard.  He believes  that  the

            shifting   semantic   relations   between   versets   can   be

            demonstrated  using  typographic   symbols   for   synonymity,

            synonymity  with  verbatim repetition, and complementarity, as

            well as focusing, heightening, intensification, specification,

            and,  finally,  consequentiality.   He discusses in detail the

            structures of intensification.  Alter spends an entire chapter

            on  Job, discussing especially the imagery in the poems of Job

            and Yahweh -- how "the most haunting of Job's lines" pray  for

            darkness,  whereas  "the most exquisite of God's lines" affirm

            light.  Job's  lines  express  a  desire  for  a  reversal  of

            creation,  whereas  Yahweh's  words  affirm  creation  and new

            birth.  He also devotes a chapter to the Psalms  in  which  he

            discusses   the  different  forms,  imagery,  and  spontaneous

            outpouring of feeling, as well as its universal appeal to  all

            people in all times.  He points out that the Psalms articulate

            deeply passionate faith that cannot be experienced in the same

            way  or  as  intensely  outside the poetic medium.  Alter says

            very well and very truly that "God manifests Himself to man in

            part  through  language,  and  necessarily  His deeds are made

            known by any one man to others, and perhaps also  by  any  one

            man  to  himself,  chiefly  through the mediation of language.

            Psalms, more than any other group of biblical poems, brings to

            the  fore  this  consciousness  of  the  linguistic  medium of

            religious experience." He devotes another chapter  exclusively

            to  prophetic  poetry,  remarking that the prophets cast their

            most urgent prophecies in verse precisely because of the power

            of  its  imagery  and  impact,  although  he  notes  that much

            prophecy was in fact written in prose (chiefly oracular vision

            and  dialog  between God and the prophet).  The poetry, though

            originally set in  a  particular  time,  became  timeless  and

            address us powerfully even today.



       10.  Robert B.  Coote:  IN THE BEGINNING



            The author discusses the  Priestly  source's  version  of  the

            Creation  story  as  manifest  in Genesis 1 and throughout the

            Bible  (including  the  New  Testament).   Instead  of  asking

            whether  the story of Creation in Genesis is accurate, he asks

                    _____
            what it means.  He argues that the principle interest  of  the

            author of the text was not how and when (as modern people tend

                                ___
            to ask), but rather why the creator order is  as  it  is.   He

            discusses  how issues of the present affect the description of


Creation in Poetry of the Bible                                          Page 21

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            the past, and uses this technique to  approach  his  study  of

            Creation.   The  book  is  largely  devoted  to  answering the

            question, What were the values and  political  assumptions  of

            the   P   source   authors,  and  how  does  this  affect  our

            understanding of the P Creation story?   He  contrasts  the  P

            Creation accounts with other Creation accounts in the Bible in

            an effort to show what particular order of the  world  of  the

            writer is implied by the text.



       11.  David Jasper:  The  Study  of  Literature  and  Religion:   An

            Introduction



            This is an excellent introduction to the  study  of  religious

            texts  in  general as literature.  The author suggests that "a

            rediscovery  of  theology   is   essential   to   contemporary

            reflections  on  philosophy,  literature and culture, and that

            second, theology must be prepared to be reinvigorated by these

            radical  reflections"  (3).   Jasper argues that, for too many

            years, theologians have been trapped in  rigidly  defined  and

            unmysterious   theological  explanations.   He  views  as  his

            mission a return to theology via the  vehicle  of  literature,

            recovering  much of the mystery and fluidity of interpretation

            of the original.  He  discusses  poetry  in  conjunction  with

            belief  and  devotion,  morality, beauty, truth, and goodness.

            He goes into much detail on the poetry  of  the  Resurrection.

            He  discusses  hermeneutics, literary theory and the Bible, as

            well  as  the  limits  of  formalism  and  theology  of  hope.

            Throughout   the  work  he  refers  to  four  essays  entitled

            "Religion and Literature" by T.  S.   Eliot,  Cleanth  Brooks,

            David  Hesla,  and John J.  McDonald.  In the end, he says "it

            is above  all  the  poet  in  his  process  of  invention  who

            illuminates  for  us  the  nature of God's mysterious creative

            redemptive activity." He concludes by suggesting that  we  may

            have  to  abandon forever our old poor theologizing, and begin

            our journey of faith afresh in the literary waters.



       12.  Erhard S.  Gerstenberger:  PSALMS PART I WITH AN  INTRODUCTION

            TO  CULTIC POETRY (Volume XIV:  The Forms of the Old Testament

            Literature)



            This is a highly technical work discussing in great detail the

            various  genres of cultic poetry, which pervades all layers of

            Old Testament poetry, although the author concentrates on  the

            Psalms.   He  describes  in  great detail laments, complaints,

            thanksgivings (individual and community), confessions  of  sin

            or   assertions  of  innocence,  petitions,  songs  of  praise

            (hymns),  royal  psalms,  wisdom  psalms,  and   the   various

            classifications  of  messianic  psalms.   Again,  the  work is

            highly technical and is primarily a reference tool.   Some  of

            his   classifications  are  questionable.   Nevertheless,  the

            glossary in the back is extremely useful.  He goes into  great

            detail  with each psalm in discussing its usage in both temple

            worship and later worship; the social setting,  the  language,

            and  the  theology.   All  in  all,  this  is  a  very helpful

            reference tool.
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