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:
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)…
Your
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'Perhaps, rather than having diagnosed a real societal malaise, she has merely projected onto an entire generation a neurosis that actually affects only a small number of people.'
@HoumanBarekat on Patricia Lockwood's 'No One is Talking About This'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/culturecrisis
*Offer ends in TWO days*
Take advantage of our February offer: a six-month subscription for only £19.99.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/literaryfebruary/
'Nourished on a diet of exceptionalism and meritocracy, millennials internalised the harmful falsehood that hard work necessarily yields success. The very least they should settle for is a "cool job", one that ... is the focus of their "passion".'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/workers-twerkers