Bible and English literature – Cross-Reference
I've been in contact with various agencies over the last year or so on the issue of the realtionship between the Bible and various streams of Western culture. I have an abiding interest in how the Bible – its compilation and translation, and how it has been understood and nuanced at different stages in history – completely affects Western culture. The Bible is often neglected by people who think it's only relevant to religious people, but without knowing something about the main themes and stories of the Bible, you'll have a limited understanding of English literature (and art, music, law, and language).
One place where the connections are being made is Cross-Reference, a website devoted to joining up the dots between the Bible and English literature. It's aimed at A-level students, although if you're feeling a tad clueless about the BIble at degree level, it's not a bad place to start. The home page is searchable; here are some sample pages on Chaucer and the Metaphysical Poets. And if you subscribe to the blog you'll be kept up to date with new additions to the site.
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
This is Maggi’s bestselling book of daily readings for each day of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Advent is the beginning of the Church year, and marks the anticipation of the coming Messiah. These readings explore how beginnings and endings in our own lives are illuminated by the different Gospel narratives of Christ's coming.
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And if I jumped on the train in Paris, I could be in Cambridge in four hours… (three is optimistic. Trust me)
Maggi, be sure if you get fed up with pictures, eventhough amazing, you are very welcome in my castle