Christian History Home > Issue 43 > The Bible on our Lips
The Bible on our Lips
posted 7/01/1994 12:00AM
We use phrases from the Bible, especially the King James Version, more often than we imagine. Princeton Seminary scholar Bruce Metzger creatively shows us one way the Bible has subtly influenced Western culture:
A person may be said to behave like the great I Am (Exod. 3:14), or to have "the mark of Cain" (Gen. 4:15). People are tempted to eat forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:1 7), desire the fleshpots of Egypt (Exod. 16:3), and give up something worth having for a mess of pottage (Gen. 25:29-34).
Yet "one does not live by bread alone" (Deut. 8:3), and finally each must go the way of all flesh (cf. Gen. 6:12; Josh. 23:14) and return to the dust (Gen. 3:19). For the moment, those who find themselves "at their wits' end" (Ps. 107:27) may still escape by the skin of their teeth (Job 19:20), but others find themselves in the position of a scapegoat (Lev. 16.8-10). Nevertheless, "a soft answer turns away wrath" (Prov. 15:1).
Unfortunately, a leopard cannot change its spots (jer. 13:23). The wicked sow ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
|
If you ARE a member
of ChristianHistory.net…
Please login:
| |
If you are NOT a member
of ChristianHistory.net…
Please click here to see our membership options. As a member, you will be able to have access to all of the content on ChristianHistory.net.
|
|
Browse More ChristianHistory.net
Home | Browse by Topic | Browse by Period | The Past in the Present | Books & Resources
| |
|
