Literature And Dogma: an Essay toward a Better Apprehension of the BIble

Literature And Dogma: an Essay toward a Better Apprehension of the BIble

Author: Arnold, Matthew, 1822-1888

Year: 1903

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) is one of the great poets and cultural critics of the 19th century. His poetry is broadly acclaimed and commonly anthologized. Arnold also wrote extensively on subjects relating to literature, politics, history, culture, and religion. The essays compiled as Culture and Anarchy and Essays in Criticism are well-known and read today. Yet it is a religious work— Literature and Dogma —that Arnold himself was most pleased with and felt would make the most impact in his lifetime and beyond. In this important prose work, Arnold brings all of his critical skills to bear on the task of recovering the deep moral meaning of the Bible too long neglected by religious dogmatists and too easily brushed aside by non-believers. Arnold takes the reader through the Old Testament and the New Testament, illuminating the narrative of God’s eternal righteousness that runs like a silver thread throughout the long journey of the Jewish people and the ministry of Jesus Christ. After this Golden Age, however, Arnold reflects on the increasing misinterpretation of the Bible’s primary message and the growth of a church dogma ever more disconnected from the original meaning of the Bibl