Irish Presbyterianism must be one of the starkest religious faiths in the world. The pews are wood, there are no statues of saints or Madonnas, there is no incense, you don't kneel, there are no ecstatic visions, there are no earnest young people with guitars, you won't find a cross in any Irish Presbyterian church and there are certainly no moving/disturbing depictions of Jesus in the midst of his passion. Services can initially seem pretty dull. Psalms are sung (psalmody) followed by eighteenth century hymns and a solemn sermon, but then you get the Biblical exegesis and for me as a kid this is where things picked up. The Minister and sometimes the Elders read and analysed the King James Bible and the King James has some of most beautiful language and arresting imagery anywhere in English literature. I was thinking about this as I read Christopher Hitchens's latest piece in Vanity Fair which is a loving look at the KJB. No this isn't a deathbed conversion from the world's most famous atheist, it's an appreciation of what someone once called "the only worthwhile thing ever done by a committee." The prose of the KJB is so wonderful and rich and sturdy it has never been bettered. Even today novelists like Cormac McCarthy are largely in its thrall. I for one have no time at all for any of these modern translations and so called improvements. I mean can this be improved upon?Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
I have always liked what George Bernard Shaw puts in the ironic mouth of Henry Higgins: "Remember [Eliza] that you are a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech: that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and The Bible; and don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon."
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You can read the Hitchens piece in Vanity Fair, here.
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But you know, even the word has its limits...if you want to know how to really get people back into the churches take a look at this:
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But you know, even the word has its limits...if you want to know how to really get people back into the churches take a look at this:
22 comments:
that's the best 8 mins I've spent all day. Thanks for that, Adrian.
Yep, it's a big year for the KJV, its 400th anniversary. I edited a piece about it for my newspaper last week. Maybe I'll do a bit of reading from it today. Maybe it's just that Susan Sarandon picture, but the Song of Songs comes to mind.
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Mike
Its the church scenes from the Coen Brothers' Ladykillers.
Peter
It hasn't been surpassed. And yes there's some great stuff in the SofS.
That article is Hitchens at his best, which is to say, when he is not being wrongheaded about Iraq or mocking people in too simplistic a way about their beliefs.
I was also glad to see that we are in the same camp about Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, which I started thinking about again when he talked about Tindale and Thomas More, even before he mentioned it.
Thanks. I'm not crazy about Vanity Fair, so I wouldn't have seen that.
Love the music; that is the only way I'd ever get into a church -- if the singing was that good.
Yes, the music is great. I just got a chance to listen to it. It leaves me a bit confused, though. Word vs. gospel euphoria. Which way to turn?
Adrian: Nuthin' to do with the subject at hand, but worth a moment to check out this slideshow, which meant little to me but likely will much to you, me plate...PKL
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/article14212543.ece?a=23
Kathy
Generally its not though is it?
Seana
Ahh its a difficult choice isnt it. For me I'd pick music I think. As David Hume said reason is always the slave of the passions in the end.
Patrick
Popular meme back in Belfast. They've underplayed the depravity.
Adrian,
Great gospel music, indeed. The clip is from Lady Killers if I'm not mistaken. Haven't seen the movie yet but I always appreciate good music when I hear it. It will take more than that to get me into a church, though.
I am very interested to know about the audio version of your books. Do you have sole input as to who reads your novels? Have you listened to your own audiobooks? I am addicted to this method of reading books. I can accomplish two beloved activities and reap rewards from both as I listen on long walks daily.
Another question...has Gerard Doyle ever forgiven you for naming a character 'Touched' in DY?
Thanks for your feedback to my silly questions...I feel the need to pick your brain. ♥ Beware: More questions coming.
There was a really good piece about Gospel music and teens in NYC which I happened in on the middle of on 60 Minutes last week, which begins here. I'd be inclined to vote for music over words after this too.
Historically, great music and singers have come from African-American Baptist churches.
Think Aretha Franklin and so many more it would fill up pages on a blog.
It's interesting that in my own community, where Hitchen's book God is Not Great was a huge bestseller, I often find among otherwise literate and informed people so little knowledge of the contents of the bible, King James or otherwise. It's like they don't even want to be contaminated that far with the taint of belief, even though a huge amount of Western art and literature owes much of its life to it. I'm kind of at a loss to think of an example right now, but its come up a few times in say my book group and it always surprises me.
Trudy
Ger Doyle and I work through the books together. I do have an audible account. The last couple of books I read were Brian Greene and Sarah Waters.
Ger didnt complain about Touched but he was a bit ticked off at the use of all the Shelta dialect in Falling Glass because I had to admit that I didnt know how exactly it was pronounced which meant he had to do a ton of additional research.
Seana, Kathy
Yeah I love that stuff. As far as I'm concerned there's really no comparison between it and the church music that I grew up with which seemed much more designed to bore you into submission.
I like this personally...although the first couple of minutes are a bit slow.
little drummer boy
The only good bit from that film.
My favourite church scene has to be This one.
I think McCarthy can be a little too much in thrall of the KJV sometimes
I like Robert Alter's translation of the first 5 books of the bible; he's also a big fan of the KJV, and it shows in his translation. He's got a decent discussion of the tradeoffs in doing a translation. The grammar of Biblical Hebrew is very different from English, and one way or another something gets lost. Modern translations have really swung away from the KJV way of doing things, for better and worse.
We used the New Jerusalem Bible in our core course studies on Genesis and Job. I don't recall the language being very impressive.
Loved that scene with James Brown and the singing and dancing in The Blues Brothers, could watch that all day.
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