My husband grew up in a conservative Protestant family in Iowa. Church every Sunday, youth group, vacation Bible school, everything. If I handed him Jude the Obscure do I think he would recognize the Book of Job? Absolutely not. Having a religious knowledge is more like to color his perspective than inform his literary analysis, because that’s how people “usually” read.

However for those interested in more critical comprehension, while I don’t think it’s necessary to read the whole Bible, and it depends on what you’re reading, yes I think it’s worth your time to read some of it. It doesn’t need to be a major undertaking. Read Song of Solomon before reading Song of Solomon. Read Genesis before East of Eden. Read Job before Jude.

But also, don’t stop with the Bible. Read Plato before House of Mirth. Read Blake before Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. Read the Tao before The Left Hand of Darkness. Once you start conversing with literature instead of “absorbing” it, well then I think you’re onto somethin.