by Cynthia Clampitt

Northrop Frye, professor and author of literary theory and criticism wrote: “the student of English literature who does not know the Bible does not understand a good deal of what is going on in what he reads. The Bible is clearly a major element in our own imaginative tradition, whatever we may think or believe about it.” E. D. Hirsch, author of the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, is even more emphatic: “No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible.” Only reading the Bible will really give you all possible allusions, but I hope to share at least a few of them with you, as well as some common phrases and ideas that are part of our language.

Beelzebub In the Old Testament, Beelzebub is a prince of the devils. His name translated is “Lord of the Flies,” which was used as the title of a novel by William Golding. (The name also appears in shortened form in the classic John Collier short story, “Thus I Refute Beelzy.”)

A house divided against itself cannot stand When Abraham Lincoln spoke these words during the American Civil War, he was quoting a verse in the Gospel of Matthew.

Doubting Thomas Of the 12 Apostles (or, to be perfectly correct, 11 remaining apostles, as Judas was gone by this point), Thomas was the one who did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. When Jesus later appears to Thomas, Thomas immediately declares that he now believes, but Jesus said there is greater blessing for those who believe without seeing. The expression “doubting Thomas” is still used to describe people who refuse to believe anything, even from extremely reliable witnesses, unless they see it for themselves.

Going the second mile Continue reading Words And Reason: Biblical Allusions →