The Bible and Poetry

The Bible and Poetry PDF Author: Michael Edwards
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1681376385
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Get Book Here

Book Description
A fresh, provocative look at the link between poetry and Christianity, both as it relates to the Bible itself as well as to Christian and religious life, by an accomplished scholar. The Bible is full of poems. In the Old Testament, there are the Psalms and the Song of Songs, the great exhortations and lamentations of the Prophets, and passages of poetry woven in throughout. In the New Testament, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven with poetic epithets such as “a treasure hid in a field,” calling the Son of God “the true vine,” “the light of the world,” “the good shepherd,” and “the way, the truth, and the life.” The Gospels reverberate with allusions to the poetry of the Old Testament; the last book of all is Revelation, a visionary poem. The Bible, in other words, asks to be read poetically from start to end, and yet readers have rarely considered what that might mean, much less heeded that call. In The Bible and Poetry, the poet and scholar Michael Edwards reshapes our understanding of the Bible and religious belief, arguing that poetry is not an ornamental or accidental feature but is central to both. He speaks personally of his early, unanticipated, transformative encounters with scripture. He offers close, insightful, and resonant readings of biblical passages. Poetry, as he sees it, is the vital and necessary medium of the Creator’s word, and the truth of the Bible is not a question of precepts and propositions but of a direct experience of its poetry, its power.

The Bible and Poetry

The Bible and Poetry PDF Author: Michael Edwards
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1681376385
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Get Book Here

Book Description
A fresh, provocative look at the link between poetry and Christianity, both as it relates to the Bible itself as well as to Christian and religious life, by an accomplished scholar. The Bible is full of poems. In the Old Testament, there are the Psalms and the Song of Songs, the great exhortations and lamentations of the Prophets, and passages of poetry woven in throughout. In the New Testament, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven with poetic epithets such as “a treasure hid in a field,” calling the Son of God “the true vine,” “the light of the world,” “the good shepherd,” and “the way, the truth, and the life.” The Gospels reverberate with allusions to the poetry of the Old Testament; the last book of all is Revelation, a visionary poem. The Bible, in other words, asks to be read poetically from start to end, and yet readers have rarely considered what that might mean, much less heeded that call. In The Bible and Poetry, the poet and scholar Michael Edwards reshapes our understanding of the Bible and religious belief, arguing that poetry is not an ornamental or accidental feature but is central to both. He speaks personally of his early, unanticipated, transformative encounters with scripture. He offers close, insightful, and resonant readings of biblical passages. Poetry, as he sees it, is the vital and necessary medium of the Creator’s word, and the truth of the Bible is not a question of precepts and propositions but of a direct experience of its poetry, its power.

Enjoying the Bible

Enjoying the Bible PDF Author: Matthew Mullins
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493421956
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Get Book Here

Book Description
Many Christians view the Bible as an instruction manual. While the Bible does provide instruction, it can also captivate, comfort, delight, shock, and inspire. In short, it elicits emotion--just like poetry. By learning to read and love poetry, says literature professor Matthew Mullins, readers can increase their understanding of the biblical text and learn to love God's Word more. Each chapter includes exercises and questions designed to help readers put the book's principles and practices into action.

Poets of the Bible: From Solomon's Song of Songs to John's Revelation

Poets of the Bible: From Solomon's Song of Songs to John's Revelation PDF Author:
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393243907
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 496

Get Book Here

Book Description
“The vividness and beauty of the language emerge in a fresh way . . . with evocative simplicity.” —Robert Alter, professor emeritus of Hebrew and comparative literature, University of California, Berkeley The world’s greatest poetry resides in the Bible, yet these major poets are traditionally rendered into prose. In this pioneering volume of biblical poets translated in English, Willis Barnstone restores the lyricism and power of the poets’ voices in both the New and Old Testaments. In the Hebrew Bible we hear Solomon rhapsodize in Song of Songs, David chant in Psalms, God and Job debate in grand rhetoric, and prophet poet Isaiah plead for peace. Jesus speaks in wisdom verse in the Gospel, Paul is a philosopher of love, and John of Patmos roars majestically in Revelation, the Bible’s epic poem. This groundbreaking volume includes every major biblical poem from Genesis and Adam and Eve in the Garden to the last pages of Alpha and Omega in Paradise.

Holy Bible Poetry: Popular Biblical Passages in Rhyme

Holy Bible Poetry: Popular Biblical Passages in Rhyme PDF Author: Gary W. Parker
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781796615746
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Get Book Here

Book Description
Holy Bible Poetry is a book of 176 poems, each of which includes a popular Biblical passage word for word. A limited number of additional words and phrases are inserted in and around the passage to produce a rhyming poem with consistent timing and meter. The additions are intended to clarify or enhance the message as well. From Genesis through Revelation, 46 of the 66 books in the Bible are represented by at least one poem. Examples include Genesis 1: 1-2 (In the Beginning), Psalm 23 (The Lord Is My Shepherd), Matthew 17: 20 (Grain of Mustard Seed), Luke 6: 27-29 (Love Your Enemies) with 172 other popular passages/poems.

An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books

An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books PDF Author: C. Hassell Bullock
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 1575674505
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 334

Get Book Here

Book Description
The poetic books of the Old Testament--Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon--are often called humankind's reach toward God. The other books of the Old Testament picture God's reach toward man through the redemptive story. Yet these five books reveal the very hear of men and women struggling with monumental issues such as suffering, sin, forgiveness, joy, worship, and the passionate love between a man and woman. C. Hassell Bullock, a noted Old Testament scholar, delves deep into the hearts of the five poetic books, offering readers helpful details such as harmeneutical considerations for each book, theological content and themes, detailed analysis of each book, and cultural perspectives. Hebrew is a language of "intrinsic musical quality that naturally supports poetic expression," says Bullock in his introduction. That poetic expression comes from the heart of the Old Testament writers and reaches all of us exactly where we are in our own struggles and joys.

Old Testament Wisdom Literature

Old Testament Wisdom Literature PDF Author: Craig G. Bartholomew
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830898174
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
Craig G. Bartholomew and Ryan P. O'Dowd provide an informed introduction to the Old Testament wisdom books Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job. More than an introduction, however, this is a thoughtful consideration of the hermeneutical implications of this literature.

Poetry, My Bible, and Me

Poetry, My Bible, and Me PDF Author: Raymond K Huff
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1440194548
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 113

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Poetry, My Bible and Me" is a unique written book of poetry, because many of the poems are Derived directly from scripture, love and life, and provides a new and fascinating way of being understood. The poems in this book, are not just words, but they have been inspired by the gifted author thru prayer, and spirit revelation, and lifetime experiences. Never will you see such a widely fashion of poetry combined in one book, that provides, knowledge, humor, and thought provoking conversations about the topics inside. The author has been preaching and teaching the gospel for years, and was led from within to put many scriptures, and experiences in a modern form of poetry, that has already inspired many who has heard his innovative style of writing. Trust me, it will be hard to pick a favorite, and hard to stop reading the same poems over and over again, as each line takes you on ride that will keep you enthused, intrigued and excited about what's coming next. A book, you will read more than once, and you will definitely share with others. "It's so hard to pick a favorite, because many of them reach you in different ways, and you just want to read them over and over again" -T. Fisher "His poems reach across race, religion and its content is suitable for all ages" -S. Conyers "There is a healing in his poetry, that reaches the very essence of your mind and soul..." -R. Trotter "Once you start to read a poem, you are fascinated, and intrigued by what's coming next" -E. Chatman "When I read one of the poems regarding scripture, I then want to go and read the passage of scripture he writes about" -D. Conyers

Divine Inspiration

Divine Inspiration PDF Author: Robert Atwan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195093518
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 629

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Bible is by far the leading source of inspiration for Western literature, and in particular, the life of Jesus has drawn the attention of artists and writers throughout the ages. Now, in a volume of astonishing range and originality, Robert Atwan, George Dardess, and Peggy Rosenthal present 280 remarkable poems from world literature focusing on Jesus's life and teaching. Readers accustomed to the predictable inclusions of many anthologies will be surprised and delighted by the diversity of poets represented here, from Aquinas, Dante, de Guevara, Donne, and Sor Juana, to D.H. Lawrence, Gabriela Mistral, Wole Soyinka, Margaret Atwood, Gwendolyn Brooks, Czeslaw Milosz, and Leopold Senghor. Perhaps no other thematically organized anthology could have brought together writers as different as Jorge Luis Borges, Thomas Merton, Alice Walker, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Jack Kerouac. Indeed, simply to turn the page in Divine Inspiration is an adventure in itself. And in terms of form, style, modulations of tone and perspective, the variety here is as unparalleled as it is unpredictable. The editors of Divine Inspiration have done a masterful job of unifying this vast assortment of poems. Organized chronologically around the life of Jesus, the book is divided into nine sections--from Birth and Infancy, through Healings and Miracles, to the Resurrection-- and presents passages from the Gospels followed by the poems they inspired. This structure gives readers the dual pleasures of a strong narrative pull punctuated by moments of lyric intensity. Our familiarity with the life of Jesus is thus enlivened, deepened, and in some cases wholly transformed by the imaginative power of the poems. In the largest section of the book, on the Passion of Jesus, we find an array of poems by Anna Akhmatova, Antonio Machado, Thomas Hardy, Miguel de Unamuno, Charles Baudelaire, R.S. Thomas, Andrew Marvell, Frederico Garcia Lorca, and Denise Levertov, among others. To see the Passion of Jesus refracted through the lenses of such poets is to see it anew, or more vividly than before. And to encounter Chinese, Korean, Nigerian, Arab, Latin American, Scandinavian, Hungarian, and Greek poets alongside English, French, and German is a testimony both to the editors' devoted scholarship and to the power of Jesus's life to inspire great poetry across a spectrum of cultures and eras. An invaluable sourcebook for students, scholars, and general readers alike, Divine Inspiration should prove equally satisfying to readers with a strong interest in religion and to all lovers of poetry.

Words and Values

Words and Values PDF Author: Peggy Rosenthal
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761831020
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book is a collection of biographical sketches of some of the leading figures of our time, though the figures aren't people but configurations of words. Proposing that such words constitute an active force that can lead us into certain attitudes and behavior with realizing it, Rosenthal shows how our leading language acquired such power and suggests ways to escape its control.

The Great Poems of the Bible

The Great Poems of the Bible PDF Author: James L. Kugel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 145168908X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the Psalms to the Prophets, from job to Ecclesiastes, much of the Bible is written in poetry. The poems of the Bible include some of its best known and most beloved passages: "The Lord is my shepherd," "Let justice roll down like waters," "By the rivers of Babylon," "Remember your Creator," "Arise, shine, for thy light is come!" These poems live in the hearts of those who are familiar with the Bible and offer rich rewards to anyone who is approaching the world's greatest book for the first time. In The Great Poems of the Bible, Harvard scholar James Kugel presents original translations of the most beautiful and important poems of the Scripture. Taken together, these poems represent the very essence of the Hebrew Bible. Reading them one after another is like taking a guided tour through Scripture, meeting firsthand some of its most important teachings and opening the way to an understanding of the Bible as a whole. Each poem is accompanied by an eloquent and accessible explanation of the poem's language, and a reflection on its meaning. These learned, compact essays introduce readers to the broader spiritual world of ancient Israel. What did people in biblical times believe about God? Where is a person's soul located and what does it do? Is there an afterlife? How does one come to "know" God? Why wasn't Eve meant to be Adam's "helpmate" (Kugel shows how this was just a translator's slip-up), and what does the Bible have to say about the role of women? Kugel's sparkling translations of the poems, together with the fascinating insights that accompany them, distill the very best that the Bible and modern scholarship have to offer. Kugel brings new life to some of history's greatest poems, and offers a new look at a Bible we thought we already knew. Here, in one volume, is a "Bible's bible" that belongs in every home.