Biblical Literacy and the English King James Liberal Bible
A Twenty-First Century Tale of Capitalism, Nationalism and Nostalgia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v7i2.197Keywords:
King James Bible, Biblical Literacy, Michael Gove, Liberal Bible, Big OtherAbstract
Using the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible as a test case, this article illustrates some of the important ways in which the Bible is understood and consumed and how it has continued to survive in an age of neoliberalism and postmodernity. It is clear that instant recognition of the Bible-as-artefact, multiple repackaging and pithy biblical phrases, combined with a popular nationalism, provide distinctive strands of this understanding and survival. It is also clear that the KJV is seen as a key part of a proud English cultural heritage and tied in with traditions of democracy and tolerance, despite having next to nothing to do with either. Anything potentially problematic for Western liberal discourse (e.g. calling outsiders “dogs,” smashing babies heads against rocks, Hades-fire for the rich, killing heretics, using the Bible to convert and colonize, etc.) is effectively removed, or even encouraged to be removed, from such discussions of the KJV and the Bible in the public arena. In other words, this is a decaffeinated Bible that has been colonized by, and has adapted to, Western liberal capitalism.
References
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Crystal, D. 2010. Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Edwards, K. forthcoming. Ad Men and Eve: The Bible and Advertising. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press
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Sugirtharajah, R.S. 2003. “Loitering with Intent: Biblical Texts in Public Places.” Bible International 11: 567–578.
Žižek, S. 1989. The Sublime Object of Ideology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 1999. The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 2002. Welcome to the Desert of the Real! Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 2003. The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Žižek, S. 2008. For They Know Not What They Do: Enjoyment as a Political Factor. Second ed. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 2011. Living in the End Times. Revised edition. London: Verso.
Anonymous. 2004. The Soldier’s Bible: with special prayer and devotional section for army personnel. Nashville: Holmen Bible Publishers.
BBC. 2012. “Schools get King James Bible to mark 400th anniversary.” BBC News (15 May 2012). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18073996. Accessed 25 June 2012.
Berlinerblau, J. 2008. Thumpin’ It: The Use and Abuse of the Bible in Today’s Presidential Politics.Louisville: WJK.
Brown, W. 2006. “American Nightmare: Neoconservatism, Neoliberalism, and De-democratization.” Political Theory 34: 690–714. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0090591706293016
Cameron, D. 2011. “Prime Minister’s King James Bible Speech (December 16).” Number10 Downing Street, http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/king-james-bible/. Accessed 25 June 2012.
Crossley, J.G. 2014, Harnessing Chaos: The Bible in English Political Discourse since 1968. London and New York: T&T Clark/Bloomsbury.
Crossley, J.G. 2012. Jesus in an Age of Neoliberalism: Quests, Scholarship and Ideology. Sheffield: Equinox.
Crossley J.G. and J. Harrison 2013a.“Atheism, Christianity and the British Press: Press coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 state visit to the UK” (forthcoming).
Crossley, J.G. 2013b. “The Mediation of the Distinction of ‘Religion’ and ‘Politics’ by the UK Press on the Occasion of Pope Benedict XVI’s State Visit to the UK (2010)” (forthcoming).
Crystal, D. 2010. Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dawkins, R. 2006. The God Delusion. London: Bantham Press.
Dawkins, R. 2012. “Why I want all our children to read the King James Bible.” Observer (19 May 2012).
Doughty, S. 2010. “Pope faces atheist hate campaign in UK after top German aide says: ‘When you land at Heathrow you think you’re in a Third World country’”. Daily Mail (16 September 2010).http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1312285/POPES-UK-VISIT-Benedict-XVI-faces-atheist-hate-campaign.html. Accessed 25 June 2012.
Eagleton, T. 1996. The Illusions of Postmodernism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Edwards, K. 2012. The Messiah Wears Prada: Functions of Christ-imagery in Contemporary Popular Culture. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press.
Edwards, K. forthcoming. Ad Men and Eve: The Bible and Advertising. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press
Fisher, M. 2009. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Winchester, UK, and Washington, USA: Zero Books.
Galbraith, D. 2010. “The Author of the Bible Revealed! And it’s you.” Religion Bulletin. http://www.equinoxpub.com/blog/2010/12/the-author-of-the-bible-revealed/.Accessed 25 June 2012.
Harvey, D. 1989. The Condition of Postmodernity. Oxford: Blackwell.
Harvey, D. 2005. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jameson, F. 1991. Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. London and New York.
Jameson, F. 1994. Seeds of Time. New York: Columbia University Press.
Klein, N. 2007.The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. London: Allen Lane.
Lawson, D. 2010. “Pope Benedict... an apology.”Independent (21 September 2010). http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-pope-benedict-an-apology-2084788.html. Accessed 25 June 2012.
McCutcheon, R.T. 2005.Religion and the Domestication of Dissent: or, How to live in a less than perfect nation. London & Oakville: Equinox.
Martin, C. 2010. Masking Hegemony: A Genealogy of Liberalism, Religion and the Private Sphere. London and Oakville: Equinox.
Mirowski P. and D. Plehwe, eds. 2009.The Road from Mont Pelerin: The Making of the Neoliberal Thought Collective. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Mitchell, D. 2012. “Michael Gove’s biblical zeal is a ruse.” Observer (20 May 2012).
Moore, S.D. and Y. Sherwood. 2011. The Invention of the Biblical Scholar: A Critical Manifesto. Minneapolis: Fortress.
Plehwe, D., B.J.A. Walpen, G. Neunhoffer, eds. 2007. Neoliberal Hegemony: A Global Critique. London: Routledge.
Pyper, H.S. 2006.An Unsuitable Book: The Bible as Scandalous Text. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press.
Sheehan, J. 2004. The Enlightenment Bible: Translation, Scholarship, Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Shepherd, J. 2012.“Michael Gove’s King James Bible plan rescued by millionaire Tory donors.” Guardian (15 May 2012).
Sherwood, Y. 2006. “Bush’s Bible as a Liberal Bible (Strange though that Might Seem).” Postscripts 2: 47–58.
Sherwood, Y. 2011. “This Is Not a Bible/Ceçin’est pas une Bible.” Unpublished paper delivered to the Biblical Literacy and the Curriculum Conference, University of Sheffield, 25–28 May, 2011.
Sugirtharajah, R.S. 2003. “Loitering with Intent: Biblical Texts in Public Places.” Bible International 11: 567–578.
Žižek, S. 1989. The Sublime Object of Ideology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 1999. The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 2002. Welcome to the Desert of the Real! Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 2003. The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Žižek, S. 2008. For They Know Not What They Do: Enjoyment as a Political Factor. Second ed. London: Verso.
Žižek, S. 2011. Living in the End Times. Revised edition. London: Verso.
Published
2014-08-20
Issue
Section
Biblical Literacy (co-edited by James Crossley and I.C. Hine)
How to Cite
Crossley, J. (2014). Biblical Literacy and the English King James Liberal Bible: A Twenty-First Century Tale of Capitalism, Nationalism and Nostalgia. Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts, 7(2), 197-211. https://doi.org/10.1558/post.v7i2.197
