THE BIBLE AS LITERARY MODEL

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 508, 15 May 1909, Page 9

THE BIBLE AS LITERARY MODEL

. An English periodical, "Sunday at Home," recently sought the opinion of .'leading scholars and writers concerning '-'the most magnificent passage" in the Bible." Naturally, the prophets,, especially, Isaiah, ranked, highest in the 'lisfrj. ''l'ho' 40tli chapter of Isaiah was a favourite with many:'' Canon Driver coupled it with the 38th and 39th chapters of Job. Mr. William Watson, too, voted for Isaiah, though he thought David's lament for Jonathan "the most perfect elegy in all 'literature," and the song' of Deborah and "Barak, "tho most superb, expression of. the intoxication of triumph."! 'Indeed,'' Mr. Watson is a strong admirer ; of tho Bible on its literary-side, going , so far as to say that "every, ; kind of literary,' magnificence is supremely exemplified in the Bible." . Such tributes to the Biblo as literature have long; been commoif. ..Macaulay's praisa of the passage in Romans, beginning, "Who shall separate'us fromV:the:love of Christ?", is typical. It may bo difficult for the critic to clear Ins . judgment of inbred or, remombercd'emotion, in passing-upon the style ot tho. Bible. How much : of the responses which he finds himself'making to the appeal of certain Biblical passages, is duo to a calm estimate, end'ho-.v much to the'awe and mystery which'were associated with the sacred words in . childhood,, and .'still cling -to • them, indissolubly? But makiiig every allowance, there can bo no quostion of-the sincerity of those expert in English—authors, and teachers a.nd ■ amateurs—who; . .are enthusiastic over the literary glories of ..the English Bible. Vet these may be admitted and held to the heart without conceding all that_ is often urged, even by college '.teachers, in beha.lf of tho Biblo as a model of style. .■V-For'winged' words, for verbal felicity, for phrases ;that havc-.passed into tho life-blood of English literature/wo must, of course, go on sending our ,youth' to the "Bible. It is doubtless a great' quickener of tho imaginations .As an introducer of young minds to majesty, of /thought and ■ expression, 'to the senso of mystery, to grandeur of soul, nil

that is assorted for it by enthusiastic teachcrs may bo readily granted. But' when we talk of literary models, wo do not mean only thoso for poots anil prophets. Wo do not oxpect all our young men and women to learn to write in tho grand stylo. It is tho simpler qualities of good composition of which they aro most in need, and for thoso it is: a mistako to command tho Bible so highly and universally as sorno college authorities do. If, for example, v/o wero asked in what kinds of writing it is most dcsirahlo that the generation now coming upon tho stago should acquire skill, we- should say in orderly exposition of complex matters, • in c!oso_ and sound reasoning, in accurate (rescript ion. Yet in nono of theso things does tho Biblo excel. It is to put no slight upon the : genius of the Hebrews who wroto the Bible tq say that their talents did not lio in tho directions we have just mentioned. ■ Their worlc was other and higher, but not that. Yet what can he more important, to-day, than for a young lawyor or "newspaper man, to bo able to tako a vast and intricate subjcct, having to do with public business, and tear - the heart out of it ? , What other .form of mastery is more necessary than that of condensed and clear explanation of tangled masses of fact ? Ono has hut to recall Governor Hughes's extraordinary powers of N that sort in order to. seo what they signify. s"et _ the man who took tho Biblo alone for . his literary guido, would got Jittlo aid in meeting this most indispensable need of a modern writer. That kind of thing simply is not to bo encountered in- tho Scriptures. To find examples of this ability to marshal facts and compel figures to yield up their meaning, we must go to one of tho liidian orations of Burke, or a budget-speech by Gladstone, or the legal argument of a man like the jiew Secretary of War, Mr. Dickinson, before tho Alaska Arbitration Court. ; We spoke,above of convincing- argumentation, and minutely correct description, as objects which the instructor in writing should constantly have in mind. Hero, too, but small help will como to him from the'hills of tho Bible. / Its forte is not powerful reasoning of; the kind that' appeals to the modern intellect. The- 'Epistle to the Romans has been said :td bo logic set on firo with emotion, but, to. judge by tho number and variety of commentaries,' the fira burned up many iof the links of . tho logic. Nor is : close' observation and accurate picturing of cither man or nature congenial to the spirit of the Biblical writers. They are .'vague, suggestive, leaving dim outlines to be filled up; they do not have that intense gaze at the fact, and that photographic fidelity in reproducing it in language; which add so much to the best writing to-day. - 'Ike case is still clearer if we press oil to ' questions- of literary structure, . There are, of course, - splendid passages in the Bible, ■ built up with something better than fino artistry; but, in general, the style—wo are not , speaking of .the words or the thought . —is the . unskilled, writing of untrained men. Tho message may be. all-important, but its' outward form_ is not < carefully /wrouglit--not a style,- :in a word, ... which ' anybody should be.'set to imitate. - This, is .'perfectly natural, and. as it should be. -It is really no more startling than the fact, so long a scandal to. some good souls, that the Greek of .the Now: t'festament- is .not up to Attic standards. The translation, of the languagp of : lishermen and , artisans, • into however glorious an English verbal dress, could not be; if faithful to' the original.-.structufe, distinguished for literary workmanship. Consider what long tracts in the New Testament consist of, verse after, and sentence after sentence, beginning with "and." It is a'style perfectly .fitting tho simplo men who first used'it;."it -is npt- a ,style which any nian, seeking. literary distinction would dream of sedulously aping. In many such respects,,- wo. think, they aro on the wrong track who prescribe tho Bible as' a complete literary , model.—New .YoA.''Post."