Over many years, Dr. Leland Ryken has taught Paradise Lost. In this fireside chat, Ryken discusse... more Over many years, Dr. Leland Ryken has taught Paradise Lost. In this fireside chat, Ryken discusses his favorite book of the epic poem, Book 4, including the wisdom he has gained from it.
This compendium is a Christian response to the controversies and some of the texts with which und... more This compendium is a Christian response to the controversies and some of the texts with which undergraduates and postgraduates in English studies are grappling.
... concerns. Businesspeople know all about the problem of work, as Chuck Colson and Jack Eckerd&... more ... concerns. Businesspeople know all about the problem of work, as Chuck Colson and Jack Eckerd's book Why America Doesn't Work makes clear.1 Surprising as it may sound, America doesn't play any bet-ter than it works. ...
Evangelicals are witnessing a paradigm shift in how biblical scholars study and discuss the Bible... more Evangelicals are witnessing a paradigm shift in how biblical scholars study and discuss the Bible. This shift involves not only a growing awareness that much of the Bible is literature but also a tendency to use the methods of literary criticism when analyzing the Bible. Evangelicals should participate in this movement, which holds immense promise but which to date has been dominated by nonevangelicals. What is required is not only a receptivity to a literary approach but also an awareness of what constitutes a genuinely literary approach.
The aim of this article is to explore a heresy that rules vast segments of evangelical Christiani... more The aim of this article is to explore a heresy that rules vast segments of evangelical Christianity. That heresy is to defend a neglect of the imagination and the arts on the ground that believers must be busy in God's work, assuming that God's work is never artistic. Yet the Bible itself, to say nothing of the creation in which humankind lives, shows that God's work is partly artistic. One of my colleagues has several times conducted an informal poll in his art classes. He asks how many students can say that in their families any of the arts was talked about and regarded as important. The percentage of such families is exceedingly small. Then when he inquires into the matter more precisely, he finds that in the overwhelming number of cases either the families in which the arts are considered important are non-Christian families, or the affirmation of art is something that preceded conversion to Christianity. Of all people on the face of the earth, Christians have the mo...
Ryken has set out to inform and improve his reader's understanding and perception of the Bible. T... more Ryken has set out to inform and improve his reader's understanding and perception of the Bible. To this end, his opening remark in the book's Premise reveals the misconception that the author aims to correct. In his words: "The one thing the Bible is not is what it is so often thought to be-a theological outline with proof texts attached." To his credit, the author does more than just diagnose the disease, he prescribes and applies the cure of comprehension. Ryken offers both an intellectual understanding of literature and a passion to see God's Word revealed in the totality of its revelation, beauty, and nuance. Ryken defines his ultimate purpose for the book as follows: "…to make the methods of literary criticism more accessible to anyone who reads and studies the Bible." His concern is twofold. First, at the level of expectation, the author rightfully acknowledges that far too many readers of the Bible approach Scripture like a businessman picks up the Wall Street Journal. There is a certain degree of inquisitiveness, appreciation, and emotion with which the businessman searches the pages of the Journal, knowing there is valuable information hidden within its pages. Both the businessman and typical Bible reader tend to apply these same feelings to a filtering process in their reading habits. Rather than embrace the fully embellished message of the text, headlines are sought, nuggets are mined, and factoids are carried away. While all of the information gathered in such a process is accurate, it is at best incomplete and at worst, when taken out of context, misguiding. Consequently, Bible readers, more than
... The apocalyptic vision in Paradise lost. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Ryken, Leland.... more ... The apocalyptic vision in Paradise lost. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Ryken, Leland. PUBLISHER: Cornell University Press (Ithaca). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1970. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0801405467 ). VOLUME/EDITION: PAGES (INTRO/BODY): x, 239 p. ...
This article explores some of the dynamics of biblical poetry and inquires into implications of t... more This article explores some of the dynamics of biblical poetry and inquires into implications of the prevalence of poetry in the Bible for Bible teaching and preaching. Before launching into that inquiry, however, the high proportion of poetry in the Bible should be noted. Poetry is identifiable chiefly by its being written in verse form rather than prose, and by its use of a poetic idiom. Whereas English verse depends on regular meter and rhyme, the verse form of biblical poetry is parallelism-two or more lines in which the thought and usually the grammatic structure as well are at least partly parallel. It has often been observed that this verse form survives in translation, while meter and rhyme do not. The importance of parallelism has been overemphasized in recent scholarship on the poetry of the Bible. Verse is not the primary touchstone of poetry. If a poet has not expressed his or her content in a poetic idiom, the result is versified prose, not poetry. The essence of poetry ...
... Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISbN 0-8308-1451-5 (cloth: alk. paper) I. bi... more ... Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISbN 0-8308-1451-5 (cloth: alk. paper) I. bibleLanguage, styleDictionaries. 2. Symbolism in the bibleDictionaries. I. ryken, Leland II. Wilhoit, Jim. III. Longman, Tremper. IV Duriez, Colin. V Penney, Douglas, 1956-VI. ...
Over many years, Dr. Leland Ryken has taught Paradise Lost. In this fireside chat, Ryken discusse... more Over many years, Dr. Leland Ryken has taught Paradise Lost. In this fireside chat, Ryken discusses his favorite book of the epic poem, Book 4, including the wisdom he has gained from it.
This compendium is a Christian response to the controversies and some of the texts with which und... more This compendium is a Christian response to the controversies and some of the texts with which undergraduates and postgraduates in English studies are grappling.
... concerns. Businesspeople know all about the problem of work, as Chuck Colson and Jack Eckerd&... more ... concerns. Businesspeople know all about the problem of work, as Chuck Colson and Jack Eckerd's book Why America Doesn't Work makes clear.1 Surprising as it may sound, America doesn't play any bet-ter than it works. ...
Evangelicals are witnessing a paradigm shift in how biblical scholars study and discuss the Bible... more Evangelicals are witnessing a paradigm shift in how biblical scholars study and discuss the Bible. This shift involves not only a growing awareness that much of the Bible is literature but also a tendency to use the methods of literary criticism when analyzing the Bible. Evangelicals should participate in this movement, which holds immense promise but which to date has been dominated by nonevangelicals. What is required is not only a receptivity to a literary approach but also an awareness of what constitutes a genuinely literary approach.
The aim of this article is to explore a heresy that rules vast segments of evangelical Christiani... more The aim of this article is to explore a heresy that rules vast segments of evangelical Christianity. That heresy is to defend a neglect of the imagination and the arts on the ground that believers must be busy in God's work, assuming that God's work is never artistic. Yet the Bible itself, to say nothing of the creation in which humankind lives, shows that God's work is partly artistic. One of my colleagues has several times conducted an informal poll in his art classes. He asks how many students can say that in their families any of the arts was talked about and regarded as important. The percentage of such families is exceedingly small. Then when he inquires into the matter more precisely, he finds that in the overwhelming number of cases either the families in which the arts are considered important are non-Christian families, or the affirmation of art is something that preceded conversion to Christianity. Of all people on the face of the earth, Christians have the mo...
Ryken has set out to inform and improve his reader's understanding and perception of the Bible. T... more Ryken has set out to inform and improve his reader's understanding and perception of the Bible. To this end, his opening remark in the book's Premise reveals the misconception that the author aims to correct. In his words: "The one thing the Bible is not is what it is so often thought to be-a theological outline with proof texts attached." To his credit, the author does more than just diagnose the disease, he prescribes and applies the cure of comprehension. Ryken offers both an intellectual understanding of literature and a passion to see God's Word revealed in the totality of its revelation, beauty, and nuance. Ryken defines his ultimate purpose for the book as follows: "…to make the methods of literary criticism more accessible to anyone who reads and studies the Bible." His concern is twofold. First, at the level of expectation, the author rightfully acknowledges that far too many readers of the Bible approach Scripture like a businessman picks up the Wall Street Journal. There is a certain degree of inquisitiveness, appreciation, and emotion with which the businessman searches the pages of the Journal, knowing there is valuable information hidden within its pages. Both the businessman and typical Bible reader tend to apply these same feelings to a filtering process in their reading habits. Rather than embrace the fully embellished message of the text, headlines are sought, nuggets are mined, and factoids are carried away. While all of the information gathered in such a process is accurate, it is at best incomplete and at worst, when taken out of context, misguiding. Consequently, Bible readers, more than
... The apocalyptic vision in Paradise lost. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Ryken, Leland.... more ... The apocalyptic vision in Paradise lost. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Ryken, Leland. PUBLISHER: Cornell University Press (Ithaca). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1970. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0801405467 ). VOLUME/EDITION: PAGES (INTRO/BODY): x, 239 p. ...
This article explores some of the dynamics of biblical poetry and inquires into implications of t... more This article explores some of the dynamics of biblical poetry and inquires into implications of the prevalence of poetry in the Bible for Bible teaching and preaching. Before launching into that inquiry, however, the high proportion of poetry in the Bible should be noted. Poetry is identifiable chiefly by its being written in verse form rather than prose, and by its use of a poetic idiom. Whereas English verse depends on regular meter and rhyme, the verse form of biblical poetry is parallelism-two or more lines in which the thought and usually the grammatic structure as well are at least partly parallel. It has often been observed that this verse form survives in translation, while meter and rhyme do not. The importance of parallelism has been overemphasized in recent scholarship on the poetry of the Bible. Verse is not the primary touchstone of poetry. If a poet has not expressed his or her content in a poetic idiom, the result is versified prose, not poetry. The essence of poetry ...
... Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISbN 0-8308-1451-5 (cloth: alk. paper) I. bi... more ... Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISbN 0-8308-1451-5 (cloth: alk. paper) I. bibleLanguage, styleDictionaries. 2. Symbolism in the bibleDictionaries. I. ryken, Leland II. Wilhoit, Jim. III. Longman, Tremper. IV Duriez, Colin. V Penney, Douglas, 1956-VI. ...
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