A Brief Analysis of the Influence of Christianity and the Bible on the English Language and Anglo-American Culture.doc

浅析基督教及圣经对英美语言与文化的影响a brief analysis of the influence of christianity and the bible on the english language and anglo-american cultureabstract: christianity and the bible are the core of western civilization. hebrews “bible”, the most profound, thoroughgoing and glamorous book all over the world, the scripture of christianity, is the literary and artistic heritage of the world. till now, people still use christian civilization to symbolize western civilization. from the middle age, it becomes the pillar of western s cultural and spiritual civilization, deeply infiltrated into all fields of superstructure: literature, art, history, law, philosophy,etc. the religion doctrine and ideology gradually become the foundation stone of western culture and ideology.key words: christianity；the bible；the english language；anglo-american culture摘要：基督教与圣经是西方文明的核心。希伯来“圣经”，作为基督教经典之作文明于全球，其言词深刻而韵味深长，富有无限的艺术魅力。时至今日，人们依然用基督教文明来标志西方文明。从中世纪起，作为西方文化与精神文明的支柱，深入上层结构的方方面面：文学、艺术、历史、法律、哲学等。基督教教义和思想体系逐渐成为西方文明与意识形态的基石。关键字：基督教；圣经；英美语言；英美文化contentsi. introduction1 a. religion background introduction .21. christianity.22. bible.2b. the definition of language and culture31. language .32. culture, western culture3ii. the influence on the english language4a. language.4b. literature, music.51. literature.52. music.6iii. the influence on the anglo-american(western) culture7a. education.7b. law .8c. family unit, women9d. ideology.10e. benevolent practices in society.11iv. conclusion12works cited14 iintroductionchristianity and the bible are the core of western civilization. hebrews “bible”, the most profound, thoroughgoing and glamorous book all over the world, the scripture of christianity, is the literary and artistic heritage of the world. the religion doctrine and ideology gradually become the foundation stone of western culture and ideology. till now, people still use christian civilization to symbolize western civilization. the undeniable fact lies, that the bible, together with christianity, really formed the backbones of western philosophy and molded its culture.“no other religion, philosophy, teaching, nation, movement-whatever-has so changed the world for the better as christianity has done. its shortcomings, clearly conceded by this author, are nevertheless heavily outweighed by its benefits to all mankind” (schmidt 9).contrary to the history texts treatment of the subject, christian influence on values, beliefs, and practices in western culture are abundant and well ingrained into the flourishing society of today (schmidt 12). in the old testament book of hosea the writer states: “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” a statement that can well be applied to those today who are forgetful of the past (the reformation study bible, hosea 4.6a).christianity and bible have great influence on many fields such as society, culture, education, science and morality, etc. almost the people around the world know a book called bible and a festival named christmas. it really changed their daily life. besides, the worlds best universities which like oxford, cambridge, harvard, yale and princeton and other universities are founded by the christians for the purpose of christianity. what more, science times said that “when does science come from? it started about six centuries before christ come to the earth. with the discovery of the bible and the information of the reformation . caused by a new driving force for scientific development”. in the final analysis, christianity changed the peoples views of morality. christian love is broad. this love, not only among all the mortals, but also exist between god and human. because all the people are created equally by god, and are all equal as brothers and sisters. regardless of who is guilty of what kind of fault, as long as he is willing to sincerely repent to god and to ensure that the future will not be repeated, god will forgive him. today, christians make up over one third of the worlds population. christianity is the major religion in europe, the americas and australia. it also has followers in africa and asia. the teachings of christianity have had a lasting effect on the conduct and social relations of the western people. consequently, christianity and bible changed the world.a. religion background introduction1. christianitychristianity is the religion of the followers of jesus christ. the beliefs and practices of the first christian churches, established in the middle east and around the mediterranean sea 2000 years ago, are recorded in the new testament of the bible. they are founded on the jewish belief in one holy, powerful god. jesus referred to this god as his father and through his life and death claimed to show gods love for humanity. he taught his followers how their lives could reflect and spread this love through the world. when his followers were convinced that he had come to life again from the death and had sent the holy spirit to be with them, they started preaching the gospel, or good news of jesus christ throughout the roman empire and beyond (肖惠云 166).christianity is the religion of all christians. most christians belong to one of three major branches of christianity: the roman catholic church, the eastern orthodox churches or protestant churches. these branches have different beliefs about jesus and his teachings, but all consider jesus central to their religion. christians believe that jesus was the son of god and was sent by god into the world as the savior of mankind. 2. biblethe bible is a collection of religious writings comprising two parts: the old testament and the new testament. the former is about god and the laws of god; the latter, the doctrine of jesus christ. the word “testament” means “agreement” namely, the agreement between god and man（王佐良 52）. the bible, as the only collection of writings of christianity that persisted through the history, really did have a huge impact on the western culture.the word, bible, is comparatively new. it was invented in the fourth century by john chrysostom, the patriarch of constantinople, who referred to the general collection of holy books of tile jew as the “billie” or the “books”. this collection had been growing steadily for almost a thousand years. with a few exceptions, the chapters had all been written in hebrew. but hebrew was no longer a spoken language when jesus was born. aramaic had taken its place and several of the prophetic utterances of the old testament were written in the language (hedrick willem van loon 7，8). the bible not only has had a great influence on western culture, including western literature, but also has been considered a work of high literary quality in its own right, both in its original languages and in translation. so it is not surprising that a survey of the bible and its influence is often considered an important part of an english language or literature curriculum. bible is much more than a religious book, reflectingmostextensivelywestern ideas and culture. the bible is really an encyclopedia. all in one, it is history; it is literature, it is record of great minds. it has left an enormous influence on the human race. the bible has tremendous influence. though there is no other book on earth that has been as hated, as attacked, as resisted, as the bible, there yet remains no other book that has been read, published, and distributed more than the bible.b. the definition of language and culture1. languagethe system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country; the use by humans of a system of sounds and words to communicate; a particular style of speaking or writing; a way of expressing ideas and feelings using movements, symbols and sound (oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary 6th edition). 2. culture, western culturesince the term culture is one of the central in this discussion, it deserves particular attention and definition. even though the concept behind the word is ancient, and it is used frequently in many different contexts, its actual meaning is elusive and often confusing. culture does not refer to a particular level of life. this level, sometimes referred to as “high culture” is certainly an integral part of the definition, but it is not the central focus. for example, “the arts” are frequently identified with culture in the minds of many. more often than not there is qualitative difference between what is a part of “high culture” and other segments of culture, but these distinctions are not our concern at this time.t.s. eliot has written that culture “maybe described simply as that which makes life worth living.” emil brunner, a theologian, has stated that “culture is materialization of meaning.” donald bloesch, another theologian, says that “culture is the task appointed to humans to realize their destiny in the world in service to glory of god.” an anthropologist, e.adamson hoebel, believes that “culture is the integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which are not the result of biological inheritance.” all of these definitions can be combined to include the world views, actions, and products of a given community of people.western culture refers to the culture that has developed in the western world, while traditional western culture is said to have been created by three main historical factors: ancient greece, the roman empire, and christianity. the term “western culture” is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies. it is a biblical-christian cultural influence in spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions, around post-classical era.the concept of western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of western world. in this definition, western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic and philosophical principles which set it apart from other civilizations. much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the western canon. ii. the influence on the english languagea. language christianitys influence on language, literature, and the arts is often overlooked and even taken for granted. without the bible much of what we enjoy today would be non-existent. the english language incorporates many words and phrases taken from the bible when first translated. in 1380 john wycliffe translated the scriptures in its entirety and from it appears many of the words we still use today including the words adoption, ambitious, cucumber, liberty, and scapegoat among others. william tyndale translated the first english translation from the original texts. a gifted linguist skilled in eight languages with impeccable insights into hebrew and greek, tyndale was eager to translate the bible so even “the boy that drives the plow” could know the bible. some familiar words and phrases of his include: “let there be light (genesis 1.3),” “the powers that be (romans13.1),” “a law unto themselves (romams2.14),” and “fight the good fight (1 timothy 6.12)”. the influence of tyndale on the english language was solidified in the publication of the 1611 king james bible which retained about 94 percent of tyndales work. a renowned scholar on the literature of the bible, alistair mcgrath notes, “without the king james bible, there would have been no paradise lost, no pilgrims progress, no handels messiah, no negro spirituals, and no gettysburg address”. despite the hostility and persecution towards the christians in the early centuries under nero and domitian and later under the catholic church prior to the reformation the scriptures were meticulously copied by the priests and monks which in later years were translated into the languages of the common people even under threat of punishment. tyndale first worked in secret and when later betrayed and about to be burnt at the stake he called out, “lord, open the king of englands eyes.” within a year king henry allowed english bibles to be distributed. two million english bibles were distributed throughout a country of just over six million nearly seventy-five years after tyndales death.b. literature, music1. literaturewriters, artists, and musicians over the centuries have been greatly influenced by the bible. over the ages, writers have loved to mine the bibles narrative riches, taking a bible story and retelling it in a new form: a long novel, a stage play, a musical, an opera, or a screenplay. one of the examples which i have shared with my students is the story of joseph and his brothers from the old testament book of genesis. in the twentieth century this story was adapted by andrew lloyd webber for one of his earliest broadway productions, joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat. the success of this musical with urbane new yorkers is a testament to the power of this 4,000-year-old story.sometimes, a writer uses a bible story as a starting point and then expands it with new characters and events not in the original. an example of this is the short story, “the other wise man” (which was later made into the film the fourth wise man), based on the story of the visit of the magi to jesus and his parents in bethlehem, found in the gospel of matthew. the most abundant kind of inspiration that the bible has provided for western literature is, of course, the many themes to be found in its stories and teachings. often the use of a biblical phrase in the title of a novel or play will indicate the presence of such a theme. other times, there is no explicit reference in the particular literary work, yet those familiar with the bible will recognize the source of the themes. even works that seem to be in direct opposition to certain biblical concepts have none the less been influenced by the biblical material. biblical symbols and christian philosophies appear very frequently in literature works. traditional english drama has its fountainhead in the enactment of biblical narrative, and usually the central theme also has a strong biblical connotation, i.e. every life has its own value. modern, even contemporary english literature still has frequent symbolic reference to the bible, for example, although the author never admitted it, hemmingways the old man and the sea has a huge number of “coincidental” timeframe clashes with the bible, which literature critics argue that “undeniably reflects the authors philosophy that everyone in himself is a christ”. in addition, the old testament also ranks top one in the most influential books of all-time, according the many sources. from dante to milton to fyodor dostoyevsky, the words and themes found in the scriptures have made their way into much of the literature we study and enjoy today. other great writers in the history of western civilization include chaucer, william shakespeare, john donne, nathaniel hawthorne, herman melville, william blake, t.s. eliot, and william faulkner; to name a few .it is generally accepted that the bible have great influence on western literature.2. music music is viewed by the church as another way of carrying gods message to man, and thus numerous composers have written large number of hymns that definitely have biblical references, and some operas that have biblical themes, for example, the messiah. these operas are still performed in a regular basis in the contemporary west, although it probably is largely due to their aesthetic values rather than religious importance. art depicting biblical scenes was made popular especially during the renaissance with artists such as raphael, michelangelo, and rembrandt. johann sebastian bach, one of the most famous composers, was greatly influenced by the scriptures. his magnificent was written for the christmas service of 1723 at st. thomass church in leipzig(schippe237). the cantata, a genre of vocal music in the baroque period and a key part of the german lutheran service, was primarily used in bachs music. many other forms of music known today have christian roots such as the sonata, the symphony, and the oratorio. most forms of music began as psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and the outgrowth from there progressed as the monks and churches spread throughout the ages. ambrose first had members of his congregation sing psalms antiphonally and allowed all people to participate in the morning and evening church services by setting the words of his hymns to “an easy metrical form, the iambic diameter”. biblical stories were dramatized and performed in song as early as ninth century. a well-known church drama in the tenth century was visitatio sepulchri. there is good reason to believe the opera evolved out of church drama that appeared five hundred years before the renaissance. the works of handel, beethoven, mozart, and mendelssohn among others have greatly been influenced by the words of the bible; oftentimes the music itself directly reflected that influence.iii. the influence on the anglo-american (western) culturea. education contrary to popular opinion, christians are not anti-education. the bible instructs us to teach our children. the real issue is not eliminating education, but