Damian Thompson

Bible Bashing

Evangelical Christians have an annoying habit of trying to persuade you to read Holy Scripture (and especially the Old Testament) by pretending that it is as exciting as a thriller. ‘It’s got everything – battles, murders, betrayals, beautiful women,’ they chirp. ‘Just give it a try!’ And so, bored to tears in some American motel, you pull out the Gideon Bible. (Incidentally, I wonder what the ratio of stolen fluffy towels to stolen Bibles is. Astronomical, I should think, even in the Midwest.) Where to start? Well, it’s all good stuff, say your born-again Christian friends, so you pick the first Old Testament chapter you come to. Like this one, from the First Book of Kings, which is where my Bible has just fallen open:

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • 'The 19th-century German sage is not my idea of a pleasant travel companion' goes hiking with Friedr… ,
    • If you want ideas about what to read next, sign up to our free email newsletter, and get book reviews, archive mate… ,
    • 'The heroic male nude could not, I think, be used today to signify civic pride and glory', as Michelangelo’s 'David… ,
    • 'Munch’s later works show us a man liberated from the torments that gave rise to some of the best-known early works… ,
    • 'We read from left to right and from start to finish. Or do we?' Stuart Hannabus considers the merits of reading i… ,
    • Domestic scandal, sexual abuse and serial killers are on the menu in April's crime round-up. revie… ,
    • What did Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, James Boswell and Edmund Burke all have in common? Clare Bucknell reveal… ,
    Follow Us