Bible As Literature

Friedrich Nietzsche said, “It was subtle of God to learn Greek when he wished to become an author – and not to learn it better.” But the English speaking world has been blessed with the King James translation of the Bible whose language is a joy to read regardless of one’s faith or lack thereof. Emmet Fox said, “One good thing I can say for the Victorians is that they did appreciate the literary beauty of the Bible. I suppose that is the principle reason why they wrote so well. They often talked nonsense but they wrote remarkably well.
“In Victorian days, both in America and England, many of those writers who often did not believe in religion at all, still kept the Bible on their tables and read it every day for the beauty, the drama, and the color of its literature.”