{"product_id":"2940014487092","title":"Wit and Humor of the Bible","description":"PREFACE.\u003cbr\u003eWhile \"many have taken in hand to set forth in order\" the pathos and\u003cbr\u003ePage 1\u003cbr\u003eWit and Humor of the Bible\u003cbr\u003esublimity of the Bible, those literary elements comprised under the\u003cbr\u003etitle\u003cbr\u003eof this book have rarely been mentioned. Feeling that here was a field\u003cbr\u003euntraversed, the author of this little volume began an investigation\u003cbr\u003ewhose\u003cbr\u003eresults were originally embodied in an article published some years\u003cbr\u003eago in\u003cbr\u003ean Eastern review. That article is given in \"Poole's Index\" as the\u003cbr\u003eonly\u003cbr\u003eone extant upon the subject. Since its publication, additional study\u003cbr\u003ehas\u003cbr\u003ebrought to light other examples of the use of Wit and Humor by the\u003cbr\u003ewriters\u003cbr\u003eof the Bible. These later results were embodied in a course of\u003cbr\u003electures\u003cbr\u003edelivered last winter before the students of Lombard University,\u003cbr\u003eGalesburg, Ill. They are now given to the public in the present\u003cbr\u003evolume. It\u003cbr\u003ewould be presumptuous to claim that these few pages exhaust the\u003cbr\u003esubject.\u003cbr\u003eSuch a claim the author does not wish to make. Further research would\u003cbr\u003eno\u003cbr\u003edoubt bring to light instances that have escaped him. It is hoped,\u003cbr\u003ehowever, that these studies may be sufficiently complete to awaken\u003cbr\u003einterest in a long-neglected side of our sacred literature.\u003cbr\u003eMARION D. SHUTTER.\u003cbr\u003eMinneapolis, Minn., Dec. 24, 1892.\u003cbr\u003eFirst Universalist Church.\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTORY.\u003cbr\u003e\"There is still one question before us. If humor be what we have\u003cbr\u003eclaimed\u003cbr\u003efor it, not a mere farce, but the depicting of the whole of human\u003cbr\u003elife,\u003cbr\u003ethen we should expect that the highest literature should be found to\u003cbr\u003econtain it. We should expect to find it everywhere; that it should\u003cbr\u003esatisfy\u003cbr\u003eall that desire which a reading in theology, or philosophy, or\u003cbr\u003escience, or\u003cbr\u003ehistory, or a study in art, has created in man. Are there, then, any\u003cbr\u003egreat\u003cbr\u003ebooks, or still more any great forces in human life which seem devoid\u003cbr\u003eof\u003cbr\u003eit? Is there any humor in the gospels? This is a dilemma that must be\u003cbr\u003efaced; for if humor be life itself, how can human life in its highest\u003cbr\u003ePage 2\u003cbr\u003eWit and Humor of the Bible\u003cbr\u003edevelopment dispense with it?\"--_Shorthouse._\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTORY.\u003cbr\u003e\"Even St. Paul could invent and enjoy a humorous pun; the proof of\u003cbr\u003ewhich see Galatians V:12, in the original; so there is high\u003cbr\u003eauthority\u003cbr\u003efor jesting.\"--_Kirke._\u003cbr\u003eThe title of this book will no doubt affect many persons unpleasantly\u003cbr\u003eat\u003cbr\u003efirst. \"Flat blasphemy!\" I can hear some one exclaim, \"We have already\u003cbr\u003ehad\u003cbr\u003ethe authority of the Bible undermined by critics, and here is a\u003cbr\u003eflippant\u003cbr\u003erogue who goes still farther, and assures us that it is nothing more\u003cbr\u003ethan\u003cbr\u003ea jest-book! This is the very climax and culmination of godless\u003cbr\u003efolly.\"\u003cbr\u003eThe author makes haste, therefore, to disclaim any intention of\u003cbr\u003eirreverence. To cheapen or degrade sacred things, to \"depreciate the\u003cbr\u003emoral\u003cbr\u003ecurrency,\" is at the farthest remove from his intention. It is easy\u003cbr\u003eenough\u003cbr\u003eto take the language of Scripture and use it for coarse and vulgar\u003cbr\u003epurposes, and such use deserves the severest censure. It is not to be\u003cbr\u003etolerated. Passages that have been light and guidance to multitudes,\u003cbr\u003ethat\u003cbr\u003ehave brought strength to the tempted, certainty to the doubting and\u003cbr\u003econsolation to the bereaved; that have been bread of life to those who\u003cbr\u003ehave hungered for righteousness, inspiration to the purposeless and\u003cbr\u003ehelp\u003cbr\u003eto the needy,--have been turned into sources of merriment to freshen\u003cbr\u003eexhausted wit, and season the insipid discourse of stupidity. Persons\u003cbr\u003ewhose brains are barren of pleasant conceits find no difficulty in so\u003cbr\u003eperverting a Scriptural expression as to make the \"groundlings\" laugh.\u003cbr\u003eIn\u003cbr\u003eno such motives has this volume originated. The title has been chosen\u003cbr\u003eand\u003cbr\u003ethe work which it covers has been done in the spirit of one who loves\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003eGreat Book, and who would secure for it an additional claim upon human\u003cbr\u003eaffection. The studies of the writer have led him into fresh fields\u003cbr\u003eand\u003cbr\u003epastures green, where he has gathered many things out of the ordinary\u003cbr\u003ethat\u003cbr\u003ehave given the Bible a larger place in his own heart.\u003cbr\u003ePage 3\u003cbr\u003eWit and Humor of the Bible\u003cbr\u003eNo; the Bible is not a collection of jests; nor do we characterize it\u003cbr\u003eas a\u003cbr\u003ejest-book when we say that it contains Wit and Humor. These elements\u003cbr\u003eare\u003cbr\u003ein the Bible, and with good reason. They are not introduced to amuse.\u003cbr\u003eThey\u003cbr\u003eare not intended to dissipate the weariness of an idle hour. They are\u003cbr\u003enot\u003cbr\u003edesigned to produce convulsions of laughter. They are subsidiary to\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003emain theme. They are incidental to the development of religious\u003cbr\u003ehistory\u003cbr\u003eand religious thought. They help reveal in their true light the\u003cbr\u003echaracters\u003cbr\u003ewho from time to time appear; they show the absurdity of the opposing\u003cbr\u003eerror and sharpen the arrows with which folly is","brand":"All classic book warehouse","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47165558194416,"sku":"2940014487092","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014487092_p0.jpg?v=1763609639","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014487092","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}