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Why are Jesus’ words so compelling? What does it mean that Paul and Silas spoke boldly? It’s true that we have much to learn from the content of the Bible’s greatest authors—David and Solomon, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Paul and Peter—but what can we learn from the method of their writing? In How to Write: A Handbook Based on the English Bible, Charles Baldwin examines the rhetoric of the greatest speeches and stories of the Bible in order to learn patterns of argumentation, the ability to persuade and convince, and the elegance of biblical prose. How to Write makes the Bible available for everyone. Although famous literary figures have used the Bible as a source of inspiration—John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, for example—the Bible is not primarily meant for professionals. It’s meant for “plain people.” It’s as accessible to the literati as it is to commoners. This universal familiarity makes the Bible the perfect guide for writing and style. It can be used to instruct anyone in the practice of speaking and writing well, because the doctrine of good writing, says Baldwin, “is equally sanctioned by all faiths.” Baldwin shows the importance of not only studying the Bible, but also studying the method of its writers. The literary force—and the historical importance—of the Bible consists in its sincerity, in the power of the writers and speakers to convince, argue, and educate. Biblical writers use imaginative language and descriptive terms. They employ concrete words which display emotion, words which kindle the imagination and heighten the senses. In order to write well, says Baldwin, we must familiarize ourselves with the kind of writing that has stood the test of time. How to Write makes this possible.
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