But I could apply the same logic to a great many works of writing.
I adore Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. So much that I even went so far as to major in it at university. There are so many phrases, and words even, that we use today which were created by William Shakespeare and yet most people aren't even aware of this fact. Why, just the other day I was talking to someone and just to be sort of witty and silly I agreed with her comment by saying, "Aye, there's the rub." She looked at me and went 'Huh!?' As shocking as it is for you, Russ, that some people do not know the bible (and therefore, according to your own personal logic, do not know themselves) I have to say I was utterly shocked that she had no idea what I was referencing: the "To Be or Not To Be" soliliquy from
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, of course. You don’t need to be a Shakespeare buff to know that one! Or so I thought.
So
Do you know what effect an understanding of the Bible has on a person? Please tell me if you know.
By the same token, do
you, Russ, know what an understanding of Elizabethan and Jacobean literature has on a person? I do know and I could arguably say it’s an enlightenment of sorts. Indeed, so profound are some of the works which I’ve not only read but studied (for a mark in school mind you), from
The White Devil by James Webster to
As You Like It by William Shakespeare, not to mention works by Thomas Middleton and many others, that I’d say it’s through these literary endeavors alone that I have come to learn a greater understanding of myself. The philosophies and lessons about life written now centuries ago are still ripe with meaning and portent, as useful and applicable to today’s world as it was to 16th and 17th century England. Your bible on the other hand – a work of art which I am in no way discrediting – is only partially applicable to today’s living standards. Much of it was written for desert faring peoples of a much bygone era. It’s not applicable 100% to today’s world and as such I am far more likely to “know myself” through the philosophical excerpts of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries than any religious scripture. Or if not "far more likely" than at least no more or no less. The bible is but one piece of work. It is not
the piece of work.
I do know myself. And I'm getting to know him a little more each day.
