Dr. Gary North has written a book called The Biblical Structure of History. This work will inform the Western Civ literature curriculum I’m building. He writes:
Biblical history is structured in terms of this pattern: the transition from grace to wrath, followed by the transition from wrath to grace. My book offers this thesis: the transition from wrath to grace applies to all history, not just Bible history.
The Biblical Structure of History
This insight has a clear analogue in literature.
In literature, the plot that moves from grace to wrath is called TRAGEDY.
The plot that moves from wrath to grace is called COMEDY.
Pagan literature prizes TRAGEDY. Christian literature prizes COMEDY.
An application: Macbeth moves from GRACE to WRATH, the grace extended to Macbeth from Duncan to the wrath poured out on Macbeth by Malcolm and Macduff.
There’s so much more to say here. Obviously tragedy does not disappear in a Christian culture. It is, however, transformed. It is temporary. The tragedy of the cross leads to the comedy of the resurrection. The tragedy of the fall leads to the comedy of redemption.
I’ll be hard at work pursuing the implications of this insight…
Experiments in Criticism 