Human Nature in the Bible

Excerpts: Everyone who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated; and no other learning or culture, no matter how extensive or elegant, can, among Europeans and Americans, form a proper substitute. Western civilization is founded upon the Bible; our ideas, our wisdom, our philosophy, our literature, our art, our ideals, come more from the Bible than from all other books put together. It is a revelation of divinity and of humanity; it contains the loftiest religious aspiration along with a candid representation of all that is earthly, sensual and devilish. I thoroughly believe in a university education for both men and women; but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible. For in the Bible we have profound thought beautifully expressed; we have the nature of boys and girls, of men and women, more accurately charted than in the works of any modern novelist or playwright. You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York. CONTENTSIntroductionI. The Creation and the Flood II. Four Great Personalities-Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph III. Moses and the Ten Commandments IV. Famous Fighters in Canaan V. Ruth, Eli, Samuel, Jonathan and King Saul VI. King David VII. Solomon in all His Glory-The Romantic Figure of Elijah VIII. The Prophet Elisha IX. Downfall of Israel and Judah-The Patriotic Stories of Daniel and Esther X. The Apocrypha XI. Wisdom and Philosophy-Proverbs and Ecclesiastes XII. Human Nature Revealed in Poetry-Job, Song of Songs, Psalms, Isaiah