Alter's study is not exactly news, but it is a useful contribution to the study of literature. Most students of literature learn from teachers (or discover on their own) rather quickly that a great amount of Western civilizations literature (since the early middle ages) is profoundly influenced by Judea-Christian scriptures; even before the KJV version was on the scene, the works of writers (Dante, Shakespeare, and many more) were determined by a culture dominated by sacred texts. This fact of life about literature and culture, by the way, is one that is despised by people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, yet the atheists persist in their argument that religion is a bad influence; perhaps they should read Alter's study, or--better yet--they should read Dante, Shakespeare, Melville, Flannery O'Connor, etc.
Alter's study is not exactly news, but it is a useful contribution to the study of literature. Most students of literature learn from teachers (or discover on their own) rather quickly that a great amount of Western civilizations literature (since the early middle ages) is profoundly influenced by Judea-Christian scriptures; even before the KJV version was on the scene, the works of writers (Dante, Shakespeare, and many more) were determined by a culture dominated by sacred texts. This fact of life about literature and culture, by the way, is one that is despised by people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, yet the atheists persist in their argument that religion is a bad influence; perhaps they should read Alter's study, or--better yet--they should read Dante, Shakespeare, Melville, Flannery O'Connor, etc.
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