Are Biblical Allusions Lost Today?

Are biblical allusions lost today?

There are several biblical allusions in contemporary literary and cinematic works; they are discussed in this blog every week.  But with the decline of biblical literacy, are those themes even recognized any more by the reader or moviegoer?

Early 19^th Century literary works, poetry, speeches, and songs often alluded to themes from the Bible.  Having said that, the target audience of that period also attended Church more frequently and studied the Bible (and it was just the King James Bible) more often than today.  Therefore, one can infer that biblical allusions resonated with the 19^th century audience due to their shared experiences from church and Bible study.

According to several polling sources, today’s interest in faith is on the rise, but biblical knowledge has either stagnated or is on the decline:

While 92% of America owns a Bible and 25,000,000 copies are sold a year in the US

59% read the Bible

80% believe the Bible is too hard to understand

Examples of people not being able to name the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, believing Joan of Arc was married to Noah, thinking that Sodom and Gomorrah were married, only knowing 5 of the 10 commandments, and either not knowing or getting Biblical stories wrong are strewn throughout the surveys. 

So the question becomes, should writers still allude to biblical themes in their works?  Do those allusions still connect or resonate with the reader?  Do other religions or more humanist themes draw a more common thread with today’s audience?  As always I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Faith in Promises-The Bible

“The Bible:  In the beginning.” 

The first episode of The Bible takes viewers through the biblical stories of Noah, Abraham, and Moses.  The story opens with Noah consoling his family during the flood by recounting the beginnings of creation.

The Bible-A Week-by-Week Review

The Bible on the History Channel has been gathering a large following of  fans, critics, and everyone in between. Join me for a weekly breakdown and discussion of each episode.  Where will we start next Friday? Now that’s a silly question! We will be starting at The Beginning.

A Biblical Flurry

In our posts, we often discuss Biblical themes in fiction, cinema, and media.  What about when the Biblical story is the theme all by itself?  There have been books, movies, and mini-series that depict biblical stories throughout our media culture.  In fiction literature, “The Red Tent” and “The Song of Solomon” are favorites.  In cinema, biblical epics seem to come in waves each decade.  From the post World War II classics as “The Ten Commandments” and “Ben-Hur” to controversial modern day works like “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “The Passion of the Christ” there is never a lack of material in the Old Book.  The good news is if you are a fan of Biblical stories, there is about to be another surge of chronicles hitting the market (and if you are an aspiring author, this may be the next big theme)!