The problem with [Michael] Gove’s plan to revive the literary canon in schools is that a generation entirely ignorant of the Christian faith is going to find it incredibly difficult ”” probably impossible ”” to get to grips with large chunks of our most famous literature.
How can you enjoy the wonderful poems of someone such as George Herbert without knowing the psalms on which they are based? How can you understand Milton if you know absolutely nothing of the Bible?
And that’s just the literature. When it comes to art, the iconography of our most famous paintings is even more suffused with Christianity. Listening to a few hymns on a CD and appearing in a nativity play are not going to imbue our children with the cultural tools they need to unlock Britain’s greatest writers and artists.
Didn’t want to subscribe but I think her point is moot. When you’re a classroom teacher, you have a roomful of students of various backgrounds, faith experience (or none at all), and cultures. Literature is not taught in a vacuum. A good teacher provides rich lessons about the historical, social, and, when pertinent, religious backdrop. Some students already understand; for others, it’s a rich revelation.
I think it is NOT moot by any means. The diversity of the students is not an issue, giving the students the tools by which western literature can be understood, is. Mills argument is as obvious as it is essential.
I have taught The Bible as Literature for years, and I can tell you that (a) getting such a course in place was worth your life (and your job) when dealing with Superintendents and school committees who have no grasp of the connection of the Bible and western literature (or any literature for that matter), and (b) once such a course is in place, it is SO easy to teach for there is so much material that there is never enough time. And some kids hear the hypnotic, memorable music of the King James language for the first time and are astounded at its power and beauty, especially if you play a recording of daily adolescent speech for comparison. It is easy to get kids to memorize Ecclesiates because even average students feel the force of his declarations. Larry
Larry,
In support of your point, I believe Madeleine L’Engle stated that her first encounter with Sacred Scripture was through “The Bible as Literature” (though possibly in college rather than in high school).
I agree. If you give kids the Bible to study as literature, it will lead them on to Milton and Browning. If you give them Milton and Browning (or even Dickens) to study, they will be led to the Bible. Either way, we should encourage the spread of literature by every means possible – it is part of our Anglican tradition.
It was said in the Dark Ages that if you met a man who knew Greek, he must be Irish. Such was the reputation of the British church for learning. We should foster any increase in literature and learning – it will inevitably lead to the scriptures and to truth.
#2 — You seem to have missed my point, which was that the writer says they can’t return to the classics because so many students don’t have Biblical knowledge. That’s simply not true. Good literature — and good instructors — fill in those gaps and do indeed open up a whole new world to the students.