Rethinking the Secular Origins of the Novel: The Bible in English Fiction 1678–1767

• Published in: Bunyan studies no. 26; pp. 120 - 124
• Main Author: Seager, Nicholas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Newcastle Upon Tyne Northumbria University, Department of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences 01.01.2022
• Subjects: 18th century; Bible; Bunyan, John (1628-1688); Cultural change; Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731); Ethics; Fiction; Fielding, Henry (1707-1754); Novels; Reading; Reading acquisition; Religion; Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768); Text analysis; United Kingdom > UK; England

[...]it presents a cultural history of the Bible during the long eighteenth century (chapters 3-5), which contends that Scripture retained authority and high visibility as a 'prop of the state' and an instrument of intimate personal devotion. The textual analysis, especially in the second...