--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Bible is literature, not dogma." description: "\"The Bible is literature, not dogma.\" — George Santayana" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png" --- # The Bible is literature, not dogma. ![“The Bible is literature, not dogma.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png) > “The Bible is literature, not dogma.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature offers insight without imposing belief; the Bible can be read as art, not doctrine. **In simple terms:** Read the Bible as a story. Key Takeaway Appreciate literary value over dogma. Themes religion literature critical thinking culture Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education curricula - personal study - interfaith dialogue Key Concepts humanism interpretive analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does reading sacred texts as literature affect belief? - Can faith and critique coexist? A Different Perspective Some may view this as disrespectful to faith. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Bible Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible-literature-1836012/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dogma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogma/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Dogma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-dogma-5091305/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [Whether you interpret the Bible as literature or as the final word of whatever God may be, Christianity has given us an image of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/whether-you-interpret-the-bible-as-literature-or-as-the-final-word-of/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [To know that the Bible is the literature of a barbarous people, to know that it is uninspired, to be certain that the supernatural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/to-know-that-the-bible-is-the-literature-of-a-barbarous-people-to/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [For this reason, to study English literature without some general knowledge of the relation of the Bible to that literature would be to leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lafcadio-hearn/for-this-reason-to-study-english-literature-without-some-general/) [Lafcadio Hearn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lafcadio-hearn/) > [ I wasn't reading it \[the Bible\] as literature. I was reading it as literature, and as history, and as a moral guide, and as… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-plotz/i-wasn-t-reading-it-the-bible-as-literature-i-was-reading-it-as/) [David Plotz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-plotz/) > [I think that the Bible as literature should be a compulsory part of the national curriculum.. you can't understand English literature and culture without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-think-that-the-bible-as-literature-should-be-a-compulsory-part-of/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I soon realized that a student of English literature who does not know the Bible does not understand a good deal of what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/i-soon-realized-that-a-student-of-english-literature-who-does-not/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [“Fusing the doctrines of Plotinus and Proclus with the creeds and beliefs of Christianity, Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite combined the Neo-Platonic conviction of the fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-panofsky/fusing-the-doctrines-of-plotinus-and-proclus-with-the-creeds-and/) [erwin panofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-panofsky/) > [Here, you can walk into a bookstore and pick up a Bible or Christian literature and learn. Over there, they are lucky if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/here-you-can-walk-into-a-bookstore-and-pick-up-a-bible-or-christian/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [English literature is a glorious inheritance which is open to all - there are no barriers, no coupons, and no restrictions. In the English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/english-literature-is-a-glorious-inheritance-which-is-open-to-all/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There is a quiet revolution going on in the study of the Bible. 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Worthless matter, such as the religions, philosophies, literatures, arts and sciences of the tribes infesting the regions lying due south from Boreaplas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/rubbish-n-worthless-matter-such-as-the-religions-philosophies/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [How can I trust that the Bible is reliable?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-horton/how-can-i-trust-that-the-bible-is-reliable/) [Michael Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-horton/) > [When you put your hand on the Bible, you are saying something much stronger than just telling your peers that you're going to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-greenwood/when-you-put-your-hand-on-the-bible-you-are-saying-something-much/) [Lee Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-greenwood/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Bible quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) > [“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, Sergeant,’ Anthony Payne replied. ‘That is from The Merchant of Venice, but it holds great truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arnold/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-sergeant-anthony-payne/) [Michael Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arnold/) > [When you put your hand on the Bible, you are saying something much stronger than just telling your peers that you're going to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-greenwood/when-you-put-your-hand-on-the-bible-you-are-saying-something-much/) [Lee Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-greenwood/) > [“Scripture also teaches that human beings are morally responsible creatures”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-peterson/scripture-also-teaches-that-human-beings-are-morally-responsible/) [Robert A. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-peterson/) > [“The wife of a junior officer cooped up in a horrible canvas partition in steerage for five months wrote: "I had enjoyed much peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-taylor/the-wife-of-a-junior-officer-cooped-up-in-a-horrible-canvas-partition/) [Stephen Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-taylor/) > [O Word of God incarnate . . . It is the golden casket Where gems of truth are stored; It is the heaven-drawn picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walsham-how/o-word-of-god-incarnate-it-is-the-golden-casket-where-gems-of-truth/) [Walsham How](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walsham-how/) > [How can I trust that the Bible is reliable?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-horton/how-can-i-trust-that-the-bible-is-reliable/) [Michael Horton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-horton/) > [Every plant which my heavenly father has not planted with be uprooted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesus-christ/every-plant-which-my-heavenly-father-has-not-planted-with-be-uprooted/) [Jesus Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesus-christ/) > [Where I come from you're not raised to think on your own. It's not that you're pushed to read the Bible. The Bible is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-ferrara/where-i-come-from-you-re-not-raised-to-think-on-your-own-it-s-not/) [Abel Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-ferrara/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [What comes to mind when you think of heaven? 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They came together the first day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-macarthur/the-definition-of-a-church-is-crystal-clear-in-the-new-testament-we/) [John MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-macarthur/) [Browse all 8,465 Bible quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Bible is literature, not dogma.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Santayana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bible" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/george-santayana-478_bible_the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma-224265_2242655.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Bible is literature, not dogma.” — George Santayana", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Santayana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Bible is literature, not dogma.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-bible-is-literature-not-dogma/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```