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I was literally told this on Reddit. Then I had to refute that with how bullshit that was. There are so many versions of the Bible and none of them really have any literary merit, I’ve read Shakespeare, Ivanhoe, most of Dickens, Austen, Little Women, Hemingway, etc. etc. etc. The Bible has nothing on them.

On the one hand, you’re absolutely right, the Bible is crap as literature. Ancient Chinese and Greek literature and Philosophy from roughly the same time period is much more sophisticated and valuable in this sense. From a literary standpoint, these make the Bible look like a comic book.

But, there are hundreds of works of literature that draw from the Bible stories and myths as archetypes, as well as dozens and dozens of phrases in our modern English lexicon that come from the King James Bible.

You don’t have to believe in the Bible to benefit from this knowledge. 

However, in order to better understand and appreciate the works of Shakespeare, Dante, Blake, etc… you should be at least somewhat acquainted with the major stories and myths in the Bible. It’s unfortunate, but the Bible greatly influenced these and many other great writers. 

Again, with very few exceptions (like Proverbs and the book of Job, which were probably plagiarized anyway) there is very little of literary value in the Bible. But some of the greatest literature in history refers back to it, and understanding those connections enriches ones experience of the really worthwhile literature on offer.

I say this as a writer, and as a post-Christian, ex-minister secular humanist.

The Bible is mostly bad writing, but a lot of good writing has been influenced by it.

Sad, but true.

(Source: atheism-shitthatblows)