themes to be found in the Bible. In every story there must be a conflict. The three basic conflicts in literature are: man with nature, man with man, and man with himself. These conflicts are found throughout the Bible. According to the Bible, the forces of nature are completely controlled by God.
before a fall,”2 or, “Be sure your sins will find you out.” 3 “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; Red sky in the morn ing, sailor take warning” 4- is a time-worn weather pre dictor. A favorite among moms and dads seems to be “ Spare the rod and spoil the child.” 5 These and many other sayings often used in everyday conversation are taken almost word for word from the Bible. Through the centuries, events and characters of the Bible have inspired our painters, sculptors, composers, and writers to produce masterpieces of creative expres sion. Da Vinci’s “ The Last Supper," Handel’s “ The Messiah,” and Michelangelo’s “ Pieta” are but a few examples of man’s efforts to create something higher than himself, to express through finite means a little of the infinite. Itself an all-time best seller, translated into almost every language spoken by man, the Bible also has had a great influence upon our modern literature. There have been thousands of books written to interpret the Bible and many, many translations of it have been made in an attempt to make plain the truths it con tains. Writers of historical fiction have taken advan tage of the colorful backdrop of Biblical history for the settings of some of their best stories. Some drama tists, too, have used the Bible accounts as bases for their plays. A delightful example of dramatic inter pretation is Marc Connelly’s The Green Pastures. Writ ten entirely in the Negro dialect of the deep South, this play is an attempt to present the Christian religion in the terms in which the illiterate Negroes understood it. The story is highly fictionalized and included many inaccuracies. It is therefore very amusing but of little spiritual or historical value. Within the last few years, the spectacular has enjoyed tremendous success in the motion picture industry with such productions as “King of Kings,” “The Ten Commandments,” “ Ben Hur,” and “ The Robe,” all drawn from books based on the Bible. Truly, the Bible contains a wealth of subject matter, any small part of which would be sufficient to tax the imagination of any writer. The events recorded within its pages are filled with exciting detail and sweeping action. The characters are many and varied. There are brave soldiers like Gideon, great lead ers like Moses and Joshua, rich kings like Solomon, gentle women like Ruth, people from all walks of life, people just like us with many of the same feelings, desires, and problems which we have today. Some of them were great heroes, righteous, valiant, giants among men. These stand out as timeless examples. Others were wicked men, deceitful, proud, enemies of God. They remain as solemn warnings. All the charac ters in the Bible are there for a purpose. God placed each of them there to teach us a lesson. The main emphasis is placed not on their physical existence, but on their spiritual experiences. Unfortunately, in most modern plays, novels, and movies, prime emphasis is placed on the human triumphs and failures of charac ters, almost leaving God out of the picture. This type of presentation is intended to please the public, and.it does. However, the Bible was not written to provide amusement; it was intended to stir men’s souls! With out its spiritual applications, the Bible becomes little more than a rather lengthy volume of biography and history. Though its plot may have absolutely nothing to do with Bible characters or events, every play or novel ever written has made use of one or more of the basic ~Ibid., Proverbs 16:18 Hbid., Numbers 32:23 Hbid., Matthew 16:2-3 Hbid'., Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15, 17
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth . . . and God made the beast of the earth after his kind . . . and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food . . . and a river went out of Eden to water the Garden.®
We can be sure that the garden which God planted was perfect. It had no weeds, and was amply watered. But then one day Adam and Eve sinned and God be cause He is just and righteous, had to punish them. To Adam He said:
Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, ’til thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.7
So we see that because man had sinned, he would have to work hard to wrest a living from the soil, and that ond day he would have to face death. There are many places in the Bible where God exer cised His complete control over the forces of nature in helping his people, the Israelites, or in punishing their enemies. Some of the most familiar examples are found in the account of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt to the promised Land. A short time after leaving Egypt, the Israelites came to the Red Sea. There they made camp for the night. Soon, however, they found that they were in a trap: before them was a great body of water, and behind them came marching Pharaoh’s army. Though large in number, the Israelites were no match for the well-trained, well-equipped Egyptian army. But the children of Israel had one great advantage—God was on their side. In a miraculous way, God caused the waters to be divided and His people were able to cross on dry land. When the pursuing army tried to follow, God allowed the sea to come together again, and the whole Egyptian army perished.8 This is only one example; there are countless others just as wonderful. Another basic conflict is that of man against his fellow man. The story of Cain and Abel, the first mur der mystery, is a prime example.9 The contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel is an other.10 Everyone is familiar with the story of David and Goliath.11 There are hundreds of such examples throughout the Old and New Testaments—the man of God versus the man of Satan. The third basic conflict is that of man with himself. This conflict goes on within the human mind and con science and involves inner feelings such as guilt, re morse, fear, hate, love, joy, hope, despair, and envy. I'The Holy Bible, Genesis 1:1, 25; 2:7-10. 7Ibid., Genesis 3:17-19. Hbid., Genesis 4:8-15 9 Ibid ., I Kings 18:17-41
i°/6id., I Samuel 17 1 Ibid., Exodus 14
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