Nerdbound, I don’t deny the Bible has had a vast impact on many important works of art and in that sense the Bible is indisputably artistically influential. You could quite possibly make an objective case that the Bible, which has influenced works ranging from the Kushiel books to Bach’s music to the Jack webcomic to Buffy the Vampire Slayer television episodes, is the most influential book in the history of humanity to date.
But this doesn’t make the Bible good art, just good marketing.
Ecclesiastes… okay, I concede that Ecclesiastes is beautiful. Wrong, but beautiful. The Song of Solomon likewise qualifies as real art. Both are way out of character for the rest of the Bible. (The Orthodox Jewish “allegorical” translations of the Song of Solomon are hysterical.) The Bible contains works by many authors and some of the later additions are not a total wash. But Jacqueline Carey at her best is better than the Bible at its best—even for piety!
Doug, I also liked the Kushiel series, enough to hold it up as an example of successful deep wisdom.
Selfreferencing, see What is Evidence? and A Priori.
Nerdbound, I don’t deny the Bible has had a vast impact on many important works of art and in that sense the Bible is indisputably artistically influential. You could quite possibly make an objective case that the Bible, which has influenced works ranging from the Kushiel books to Bach’s music to the Jack webcomic to Buffy the Vampire Slayer television episodes, is the most influential book in the history of humanity to date.
But this doesn’t make the Bible good art, just good marketing.
Ecclesiastes… okay, I concede that Ecclesiastes is beautiful. Wrong, but beautiful. The Song of Solomon likewise qualifies as real art. Both are way out of character for the rest of the Bible. (The Orthodox Jewish “allegorical” translations of the Song of Solomon are hysterical.) The Bible contains works by many authors and some of the later additions are not a total wash. But Jacqueline Carey at her best is better than the Bible at its best—even for piety!