Begin your exploration of outside sources for the analysis of your biblical fiction here: further resources may be added throughout the quarter. If you have any questions or difficulties with these resources, please contact the professor.

 

 

There are many modern translations of the Bible into English. You should try to read a common translation of the Bible that is easily understandable. An older, but more established translation like the King James Version may be helpful in hearing "echoes" of biblical speech in a biblical fiction, but it might also make it more difficult for you to understand the biblical source text.

 

Some recent, decent  translations of the Bible include:

 

the RSV (Revised Standard Version)

the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version)

the NIV (the New International Version)

the NASB (the New American Study Bible)

the NJKV (the New King James Version)

 

There are a plethora of translations, some accurate, some so inaccurate as to be paraphrases instead of translations.

 

This website attempts to preform an analysis of the "literalness" of various modern, English translations of the Bible using a few verses from the New Testament as "test cases." Remember: literalness does not always mean accuracy. The best translations probably fall somwhere in the middle of this analyst's chart. The translations at the top are so literal as to be less useful to the casual reader who does not know Hebrew or Greek; the "translations" at the bottom are really not translations at all, but rather interpretations or paraphrases.

 

This website gives generally sympathetic views of four "types" of translations: "Formal Equivalence," "Intermediate Adult," "Dynamic Equivalence," and "Paraphase." The first two "types" are appropriate for this class, the latter two are not.

 

It may be useful for you to purchase a Study Bible, which is a modern translation that includes notes and other helpful information to help you understand the biblical text. One inexpensive, reliable study Bible is the HarperCollins Study Bible.

 

 

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/

Online RSV (recent, reliable translation): browse books of the Bible, conduct searches

 

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kjv/

Online King James Version (may be useful in analyzing fictions drawing on more traditional biblical style): also browsable and searchable

 

http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/

Noncanonical Homepage: contains various ancient texts drawing on the characters and plots of the Old Testament

 

http://www.ntgateway.com/multibib.htm

All-in-one Biblical Resources Search: useful for finding texts, commentaries, and translations of the Bible

 

 

 

 

[Links to databases have been removed for the archive version of this webpage.]

 

http://www.imdb.com/

Internet Movie Database: search by character, actor, name of production (cinema or television); also useful to browse the various user forums and reviews, or find out information about a production

 

http://www.amazon.com/

Online bookseller: can be very useful to find reader reviews, especially of recent works

 

http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/ ([link removed])

Lexis-Nexis Database of newspaper and magazines from around the world: useful in finding reviews, analyses, particularly of recent films or plays or novels

 

http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=ucriver&access=ucriver163&db=atla-set-c&adv=1 (L[link removed])

Religion Index: Online database of religious studies periodicals, very useful for finding scholarly articles and essays on biblical subjects (to research both the biblical "source text" as well as the biblical fictions themselves)

 

http://avalon.unomaha.edu/jrf/

Journal of Religion and Film: excellent resource for general and specific scholarly analyses

 

http://biblefilms.blogspot.com/

Bible Films Blog: "Looking at film interpretations of the stories in the bible - past, present and future as well as current film releases with spiritual significance, and odd bits and pieces on the bible." In addition to regular posts and a handy search function, this weblog also contains links to other digital resources and articles on the Bible in film.

 

 

 

Useful volumes in Rivera library (more added during the quarter, hopefully):

 

Richard Campbell and Michael Pitts, The Bible on Film: A Checklist (1897-1890).

Stephen J. Lang. The Bible on the Big Screen: A Guide From Silent Films to Today's Movies.

David Noel Friedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary and Anchor Bible Commentaries

Shooting scripts: You can find dozens of official "shotting scripts" for recent films in Rivera in PN1997

Brian MacFarlane (author of one of our last readings) has also authored multiple books on the art of film adaptation, most of which can be found in PN1997.85