Blake and the Bible Hardcover – April 12, 2011

This is an important book on the English visionary poet and artist William Blake by one of the leading New Testament scholars in the world. It deserves a place next to work by Northrop Frye, Thomas Altizer and Leslie Tannenbaum, although Professor Rowland brings more extensive experience and expertise in biblical studies than previous writers. The book does a masterful job of raising Blake's profile in the history of biblical interpretation. It opens with a compelling analysis of Blake's engravings to the book of Job as "a heuristic lens to view Blake's theology and interpretation of the Bible as a whole" (15). It includes an important account of the biblical sources for Blake's idea of "defective divinity," one that draws on Professor Rowland's own ground-breaking work on Second-Temple Judaism and early Christianity. And it provides a forceful argument for establishing continuity between early and late Blake, tracing thematic patterns in the "Bible of Hell" (primarily The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and the Book of Urizen) and the later work, with special focus on the Notebook poem "The Everlasting Gospel". A key to this continuity is Blake's lifelong devotion to the antinomian or non-conformist Jesus. In this regard, one of the book's major contributions is an argument demonstrating Paul's influence on Blake, a fresh perspective handled with skill and exemplary erudition. The chapter on Paul should set the course for future study of their relationship. Another attractive feature of the book is Rowland's consistently sharp analyses of Blake's visual images, including sketches for the book of Enoch and other biblical watercolors and designs in addition to the Job plates. Written in a clear and accessible style, it reads as though a renowned but unpretentious New Testament scholar has encountered an artist who has inspired and helped free him from the strictures of his field, enabling him to take risks and branch out into new territory. It is a major achievement and should be of value to anyone interested in Blake and the history of scholarly and creative exegesis of the Bible. Professor G.A. Rosso

perfection!

a true standard for the study of W. Blake