Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 7, No. 0086.  Thursday, 1 February 1996.

(1)     From:   Jay Johnson <
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        Date:   Tuesday, 30 Jan 1996 10:20:47 -0700 (MST)
        Subj:   Re: Shakespeare and the Bible

(2)     From:   Paul Franssen <
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        Date:   Wednesday, 31 Jan 1996 10:04:02 -0600 (CST)
        Subj:   Re Shk 7.0079 Shakespeare and the Bible


(1)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Jay Johnson <
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Date:           Tuesday, 30 Jan 1996 10:20:47 -0700 (MST)
Subject:        Re: Shakespeare and the Bible

With regard to Jeff Questad's request for information on accounts of
Shakespeare's involvement with the Bible, the most interesting treatment that I
know of is "Proofs of Holy Writ," a short story by Rudyard Kipling which
presents a fascinating image of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson working out the
details of the King James version over a bottle of wine.

 Cheers,
 Jay Johnson

(2)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Paul Franssen <
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Date:           Wednesday, 31 Jan 1996 10:04:02 -0600 (CST)
Subject:        Re Shk 7.0079 Shakespeare and the Bible

Burgess worked up his theory on Shakespeare's involvement in the composition of
Psalm 46 into a story, quite amusing, which is included in his comic novel
*Enderby's Dark Lady.* The theory is hardly tenable, however, in view of the
fact that earlier Bible translations on which the King James Bible was based
had the same words in nearly the same positions, so that a small shift was
needed to produce this coincidence. For full details, see my article "Half a
Miracle: A Response to William Harmon," in *Connotations* Vol 3 (1993/94)
Number 2, 118-22.

Paul Franssen
University of Utrecht
The Netherlands