Episode 128: "The Bard and the Bible" with Bob Hostetler

For the past year or so, I've been reading in a daily devotional titled the The Bard and The Bible. In it each day is a quote from William Shakespeare, a related passage from the King James Bible and a witty and wise reading of how they might relate to us today.

With Shakespeare, and of course anything related to the Bible, increasingly banned from American school curriculums, we are losing touch with these cornerstones of our western culture. The Victorians celebrated Shakespeare and the Bible as the twin moral underpinnings of British civilization. And when American pioneers headed west in their covered wagons, the two books that they brought with them were the King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare.

Joining me to talk about their importance is Bob Hostetler, the author of The Bard and the Bible and a font of interesting and fun facts. In particular, Shakespeare, once you get used to his language, is a surprising antidote to today's toxic politics.

Shakespeare distrusted the abstract, and disliked theory. He was in no sense an intellectual. His plays are essentially about people, not ideas. And despite the efforts of "critical theory" types, they are not remotely political in the left/right modern sense, which is why I find them such a breath of fresh air.

Join me as Bob and I explore the many reasons why the Bible and Shakespeare are by far the most quoted texts in the Western World. You don't need to know much about either to learn a lot and love this show.

How can you not be interested in a guy who wrote these stage directions:

'Enter three Murderers' and "Exit, Pursued By A Bear'

And who wrote this lines:

"All the world's a stage"

"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

"Talkers are no good doers"

"How many fond fools serve mad jealousy!"

and

"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of "sound and fury",

Signifying nothing."