The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-07-22
LITERARY ASPECT OF THE BIBLE
THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE-lTS
INFLUENCE ON OTHER LlTERA-
TURE, PARTICULARLY ENGLISH.

TURE, PARTICULARLY ENGLISH.
God has deigned to reveal Himself
in three ways, or under three lights
the light of reason, the light of faith,
and the light of glory. The knowl-
edge of God acquired through the light
of reason is clarified and augmented
by the light of faith, and both shall
be perfected by the light of glory here
after. Accordingly, there are, so to
speak, three books that tell us of God
and His wondrous ways the book of
nature, the book of grace, and the book
of glory The book of nature is the
visible universe, of which this globe
of ours is but a tiny part; the book
of grace is the Bible; the book of glory
is the book of life. The first and Sec
ond are intended for this world; the
third is reserved for the next. The
first and last are books in tropical
sense; the second is a book in literal
sense, and of this l am about to treat
My theme is "The Bible and Litera-
ture." 81
Before dealing directly with my sub
ject, writes the Rev. P. J. Cormican,
S. j., in the Irish Catholic" let me
answer an objection which may have
occurred to some of my readers. The
objection is this: rs it not species
of proclamation to treat the Bible as
literature? The Bible is sacred and
all other literature by comparison is
profane. Holy writ was never intend
ed to refine our literary taste or i'm
prove our literary style. It was given
for the sole purpose of leading man
heavenward."
| grant it. That is the primary OBJ
| ject of the Bible, of the Church, and
the whole scheme of redemption.
| But I am going to show that the
Bible, as matter of fact and history,
has purified literary taste, elevated
thought and chastened style. might
also remind my imaginary objector
that a taste for good literature of any
kind renders incalculable service in
the spiritual life. 1t garrisons the mind
against temptation (for a vacant hour
L
topics for conversation, and thus rem
ders it less necessary to discuss our
Ineighbor's faults, whether real or imag-
mary; it elevates character; develops
manhood, and purifies taste; it re-
moves our prejudices, broadens our
judgment and makes our piety more
attractive; it heightens our spiritual
standing and adds a cubit to our intel
lectual stature; it lends an additional
grace to private life and enables us to
find at home a recreation which we
else should seek abroad. If our read
ing be directly spiritual, the gain to
our soul is evident. Spiritual books
excite pious affections, feed and foster
prayer, correct our judgments Of men
and things, undo the influence of the
world around us and make sorrow and
trials more endurable by reminding
us that the labor is short but the
recompense unending, that no cross
means no crown, and the greater the
cross. the greater the crown. If that
be true of spiritual books in general
it is doubly true of the inspired writ
ings.
l shall first view the Bible as a lit
erature in itself, and then consider
it's influence on other literatures, par
ticularly on English. In doing so
shall have to mention few elementa
ry notions which | should take fol
granted if I were addressing a elias:
of bellies lettres or body of Orien
tal scholars.
Most of you know the Bible through
a translation, either English, or Ger
man, or French, as the case may be
Now, a good translation should com
bine two qualities; it should be faith
full and idiomatic-that is, it shoulC
: give the exact sense of the origina
in the proper idiom of another Ian
} guage. To unite these two requisites
requires thorough knowledge of boil
languages, and because different Ian
| guages have different powers of ex
preston and way peculiar to them
selves of expressing certain ideas
translations are test of scholarl.
precision and are as. rare as accurate
scholarship. Frequently one qualit,
: has to be sacrificed to the other Il
/ Itranslating purely literary works
: where the manner is more importan
) than the matter, an elegant rendering
is the chief aim of the translator. Oh
the other hand, in work like tn
Bible, the matter is of primary an
! the style of secondary importance
J Hence the translators of the Bible pre-
! ferred precision to elegance, fidelity t
: idiom, whenever the two qualities wer
e. deemed to be incompatible.
: And yet, in spite of occasional trace
S of foreign idiom, the Bible stands pre-
t eminent among the literary master
q pieces of the world. 1t contains beal
E tiful specimens in every department c
! literary activity. Unhappily, thes
: several specimens of literary compos
ton do not speak to the eye. TIL
e Bible is said to be the worst printe
Ii book in the world. Imagine tn
t speeches of Webster, the essays {
S Macaulay, the plays of Shakespeare
) the poems of Tennyson, the historic
> of Bancroft, all printed in the sam
o. volume, with verse printed as pros
: all divided into chapters without muc
- regard to natural cleavage, and thes
chapters split up into verses-and the
Il you get some idea of how the Bib