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People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture
This astute and challenging work by David Lyle Jeffrey seeks to characterize illustratively the historic commitment of Christianity to the literacy and literature of Western culture.
Against postmodernist tendencies to divide the historical commitment to meaning in Western art and literature as a regressive "logocentrism," Jeffrey argues that the biblical tradition — the cultural and literary identity forged among Western Christians by virtue of being a "People of the Book" — has in fact given rise to Western literacy. Jeffrey here offers a fresh and generous look at the Christian "grand narrative" as it is reflected in Western literature, making apt use of the visual arts by incorporating a series of twenty-eight black-and-white illustrations that serves to enrich and fortify the story it tells.
Against postmodernist tendencies to divide the historical commitment to meaning in Western art and literature as a regressive "logocentrism," Jeffrey argues that the biblical tradition — the cultural and literary identity forged among Western Christians by virtue of being a "People of the Book" — has in fact given rise to Western literacy. Jeffrey here offers a fresh and generous look at the Christian "grand narrative" as it is reflected in Western literature, making apt use of the visual arts by incorporating a series of twenty-eight black-and-white illustrations that serves to enrich and fortify the story it tells.
416 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 3, 2016
This is a very fine book by David Lyle Jeffrey. What Dr Jeffrey does in this book is describe the literary culture that flows out of being a people of the book. Packed with interesting history Jeffrey waves the story of biblical literacy and cultural development., Dr Jeffrey begins the journey in the old Testament and on through the New Testament; the Christian tradition and down through the development of literature beginning with the church fathers and their attitude to pagan literature; Augustine' s doctrine of interpretation; Dante's Divine comedy; Chaucers Canteberry tales, and on through the course of English literature.
One is left it with the clear sense that adherence to the holy Scriptures created the western literary culture that we enjoy.
One is left it with the clear sense that adherence to the holy Scriptures created the western literary culture that we enjoy.
June 9, 2023
I don't say this without awareness of the gravitas of such a proclamation, but: this is a must-read. Jeffrey embarks upon a remarkably wide-ranging but consistently engaging tour de force of the history of Christianity and literature, from the Old Testament prophets to Wendell Berry. Binding it all is the thesis that Christianity sees literary texts as "sharp prompter[s] of scrutiny of conscience both for individuals and for communities" (376). On a purely historical level it's extremely fascinating, but it's essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between literary education and Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
Chapter outline:
1. Logocentrism and Scriptural Tradition: This is a very dry and technical opening chapter on contemporary literary theories—so much so that I despaired of continuing—but thankfully it gets much better. It certainly isn't a very gripping start, though.
2. Scripture Upon Scripture: A survey of the literary modes and intentions of the Bible, from the prophets' fiery convictions of the power of the word to Christ's consummation of the Great Conversation, through Paul and Augustine on typological reading. A key concept is introduced: biblical literature, and hence all Christian literature, always keeps in mind both ביום ההו which stands for both the memory of the Word and its future telos, and ביום הזה which is the "fallen" time of the here and now. A really good chapter to study for hermeneutical purposes, comparable to Leland Ryken's Words of Delight.
3. Secular Scripture, The Beautiful Captive: The church fathers on reclaiming secular literature for the glory of God and developing the concept of a "canon"—what has Athens to do with Jerusalem, etc. Further discussion of Augustine vis-a-vis ethical reading.
4. Evangelization and Literacy: I found this to be the most interesting chapter, discussing events that are little known and talked about. Jeffrey goes into the history of Britain's evangelization through the Middle Ages, and how knowledge of Scripture inevitably went hand-in-hand with the regeneration of poetry and the transformation of the heroic ethic into civilized culture and moral rule. Alcuin, Alfred the Great, Beowulf and other little-known Anglo-Saxon poetry is discussed.
5. The Book Without and the Book Within: A shorter chapter discussing Dante and other medieval mystic philosophies as a model for how literature should meld the transformation of personal experience with participation in the wider conversation.
6. Authorial Intent and the Willful Reader: John Wycliffe on biblical interpretation and how Scripture gives us a comprehensive "grammar" for self-assessment, and consequently, life. There is then a very enlightening section on Chaucer that really throws the Canterbury Tales into a richer light in the context of pilgrimage literature focused on examining the self and recognizing its fallenness in pursuit of redemption.
7. Symbolism of the Reader: Perhaps the finest chapter. Here Jeffrey breaks down a number of visual artworks centered around the concept of the faithful reader and student that help to illustrate how the classical West viewed the pursuit of sacred knowledge before the Enlightenment and Romanticism hijacked this idea. He then points to Goethe's Faust as an inversion of this traditional understanding: Faust tries to create his own logos as he strives for transcendence, rather than receiving the revelation of the Word with wonder.
8. Authentic Narrative: Here Jeffrey gets into the consequences of the Reformation on biblical interpretation and literary production. He mainly focuses on the Puritans, rightfully pointing out how their extreme emphasis on "the individual as his own church" and the testimony of the inner self ended up defeating the point of faithful reading altogether and leading toward subjectivity, even as he doesn't go all the way with "secularism is due to the Reformation" as he easily could have. There's an interesting aside on Defoe's novels as paragons of the Puritan confessional narrative, and a concluding discussion on the Romantic Coleridge and Arnold's liberal, egotistical readings of the Bible as natural consequences of turning reading into such an internal act. This chapter really helped me appreciate just how much English literature owes to the Puritan tradition, and where the seeds of modern American evangelicalism can be found.
9. The Bible and the American Myth: Here Jeffrey gets into a bit more controversial territory and takes on a more abrasive tone that doesn't really fit with the work. He talks about the American prosperity gospel and its impoverished materialistic religion that warps the classical identity of people of the book. Examples of subversive or affirmative literature that counter this false message and expose its emptiness include the works of Hawthorne, Melville, Percy, O'Connor, Berry, and even Atwood's Handmaid's Tale.
10. Literary Theory and the Broken-Hearted Reader: "Literary theory" as a discipline may be misguided since it seeks to privatize and intellectualize the domain of literature rather than seeking to understand it on its own terms. Jeffrey points to the archetype of the redemption narrative (i.e. Crime and Punishment) as the kind of consoling literature that is belittled in the contemporary university but which requires no "theory" to assimilate: only a humble willingness to be convicted by the Word and the power of universal narrative.
Chapter outline:
1. Logocentrism and Scriptural Tradition: This is a very dry and technical opening chapter on contemporary literary theories—so much so that I despaired of continuing—but thankfully it gets much better. It certainly isn't a very gripping start, though.
2. Scripture Upon Scripture: A survey of the literary modes and intentions of the Bible, from the prophets' fiery convictions of the power of the word to Christ's consummation of the Great Conversation, through Paul and Augustine on typological reading. A key concept is introduced: biblical literature, and hence all Christian literature, always keeps in mind both ביום ההו which stands for both the memory of the Word and its future telos, and ביום הזה which is the "fallen" time of the here and now. A really good chapter to study for hermeneutical purposes, comparable to Leland Ryken's Words of Delight.
3. Secular Scripture, The Beautiful Captive: The church fathers on reclaiming secular literature for the glory of God and developing the concept of a "canon"—what has Athens to do with Jerusalem, etc. Further discussion of Augustine vis-a-vis ethical reading.
4. Evangelization and Literacy: I found this to be the most interesting chapter, discussing events that are little known and talked about. Jeffrey goes into the history of Britain's evangelization through the Middle Ages, and how knowledge of Scripture inevitably went hand-in-hand with the regeneration of poetry and the transformation of the heroic ethic into civilized culture and moral rule. Alcuin, Alfred the Great, Beowulf and other little-known Anglo-Saxon poetry is discussed.
5. The Book Without and the Book Within: A shorter chapter discussing Dante and other medieval mystic philosophies as a model for how literature should meld the transformation of personal experience with participation in the wider conversation.
6. Authorial Intent and the Willful Reader: John Wycliffe on biblical interpretation and how Scripture gives us a comprehensive "grammar" for self-assessment, and consequently, life. There is then a very enlightening section on Chaucer that really throws the Canterbury Tales into a richer light in the context of pilgrimage literature focused on examining the self and recognizing its fallenness in pursuit of redemption.
7. Symbolism of the Reader: Perhaps the finest chapter. Here Jeffrey breaks down a number of visual artworks centered around the concept of the faithful reader and student that help to illustrate how the classical West viewed the pursuit of sacred knowledge before the Enlightenment and Romanticism hijacked this idea. He then points to Goethe's Faust as an inversion of this traditional understanding: Faust tries to create his own logos as he strives for transcendence, rather than receiving the revelation of the Word with wonder.
8. Authentic Narrative: Here Jeffrey gets into the consequences of the Reformation on biblical interpretation and literary production. He mainly focuses on the Puritans, rightfully pointing out how their extreme emphasis on "the individual as his own church" and the testimony of the inner self ended up defeating the point of faithful reading altogether and leading toward subjectivity, even as he doesn't go all the way with "secularism is due to the Reformation" as he easily could have. There's an interesting aside on Defoe's novels as paragons of the Puritan confessional narrative, and a concluding discussion on the Romantic Coleridge and Arnold's liberal, egotistical readings of the Bible as natural consequences of turning reading into such an internal act. This chapter really helped me appreciate just how much English literature owes to the Puritan tradition, and where the seeds of modern American evangelicalism can be found.
9. The Bible and the American Myth: Here Jeffrey gets into a bit more controversial territory and takes on a more abrasive tone that doesn't really fit with the work. He talks about the American prosperity gospel and its impoverished materialistic religion that warps the classical identity of people of the book. Examples of subversive or affirmative literature that counter this false message and expose its emptiness include the works of Hawthorne, Melville, Percy, O'Connor, Berry, and even Atwood's Handmaid's Tale.
10. Literary Theory and the Broken-Hearted Reader: "Literary theory" as a discipline may be misguided since it seeks to privatize and intellectualize the domain of literature rather than seeking to understand it on its own terms. Jeffrey points to the archetype of the redemption narrative (i.e. Crime and Punishment) as the kind of consoling literature that is belittled in the contemporary university but which requires no "theory" to assimilate: only a humble willingness to be convicted by the Word and the power of universal narrative.
December 29, 2017
I believe this to be a good book but I also believe that literary criticism is to me rather boring and tedious, especially when I am unfamiliar with the major works discussed by the critic.
Want to Read
February 3, 2018Some of this book (e.g., p. 78) made it into this article.
See Donnelly's "Poetic Theory of John Dennis" in Christianity and Literature (54.2): "Jeffrey interrogates, and then offers an alternative historical account to, the presumed meaning of 'logocentric' that enables the self-depictions of modern and postmodern theory to occlude Christian interpretive ethics" (255n3).
See Donnelly's "Poetic Theory of John Dennis" in Christianity and Literature (54.2): "Jeffrey interrogates, and then offers an alternative historical account to, the presumed meaning of 'logocentric' that enables the self-depictions of modern and postmodern theory to occlude Christian interpretive ethics" (255n3).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews