the bible in psych

I’ve just had the pleasure of watching the 10th episode of the 4th season of Psych, a detective TV show.  The principal characters are Shawn and Gus.  At one point, they go off on a tangent and start talking about the name Samson and what sort of person would have the name Samson.

Shawn suggests that Samson might be the name of a film noire detective or a tiny talking mouse.  Gus, suggests that it might instead be the name of a certain famous biblical judge.  No, says Shawn, that’s ridiculous–all the Bible people had names like Ben Hur or Prometheus.  At this point, Gus accuses Shawn of having never read the Bible.  Shawn denies the allegation and proceeds to name Genesis, Exorcist, Leviation, and Do-good-deeds the Right Thing.  The skit proceeds a little longer, but it was a little bit of a shock when I suddenly realized that it was the guy who didn’t know the Bible that was being ridiculed.

Hm.  That does seem a positive sign;  perhaps a small admission that our biblical illiteracy is not a good thing.

Related Posts:

• The Snare of Wealth and the Barn-Builder
• Adam and the Enslavement of Humanity, Part 1
• Tragicomedy, Slavery, and the Bible: a Look at the Metanarrative
• The Two Houses of Israel — Reconsidering Isaiah 8:14
• Pre-Interesting, Interesting, and Post-Interesting — A Proposed Trisection of History and its Implications