In discussing the disciplinary apparatus that came to surround objectionable sections of the Victorian Family Bible, Mary Wilson Carpenter distinguishes between this these editorial intrusions upon the text and those practiced upon secular literature, stating that:

It is important to note that, although Bowdler's Family Shakespeare appeared in the same year as Boothroyd's New Family Bible, and although part of Boothroyd's motivation may reasonably be ascribed to the same cultural swing towards moral seriousness born of evangelicalism that lay behind Bowdler's Family Shakespeare, Boothroyd's New Family Bible is not bowderlerized. Because of its status as the foundation of English law, the Authorized Version could not be simply bowdlerized... bowderlerization or abridgement transforms it into a different thing altogether. [Carpenter 35-36]

Questions

1. Given the evangelical emphasis on universal salvation (extending even beyond the boundaries of the Empire), how did religious figures of the time respond to Family Bibles that sequestered portions of the text? Given the divine status of the entire text and the Protestant emphasis on Bible study, shouldn't the entirety of the Bible be available to women and children as souls eligible for salvation?

2. How did such editorial intrusions justify their interference with a text that was held to be the literal word of God? If God is the author, how can one claim that certain material is irrelevant or unfit for decent company?

3. If "Whatever was exotic, sensational, and alien in the bible to 'the Jews' or 'Eastern custom,'" then how does this square with the Protestant on sin and damnation ? Can such practices as sodomy, infidelity, and licentiousness truly be said to begin outside the heart of the British Empire?

4. How did the popularity of apocalyptic interpretations and discourses affect typological interpretations? Did readers regard portions of the Old or New Testament as types prefiguring the contemporary era? Could Napoleon be said to be an anti-type of Satan/the anti-Christ if one followed the "continuous historical" school of apocalyptic exposition?

5. Would you care to comment on contemporary apocalyptic literature and biblical marketing? I'm thinking of the Left Behind series of novels, and Revolve, a repackaging of the New Testament that apes style of fashion magazines aimed at teenage girls?


Last modified 3 October 2004