BLAKE READS THE BIBLE

Bishop Richard Watson’s An Apology for the Bible was published in 1796 and annotated by Blake in 1798.

When Blake annoted Watson's Apology for the Bible he expressd his unorthodox, inclusive views. He argued that man should realize he has direct access to God through the faculty of the imagination. He urged his reader to look within for the work of God in his own life and to be receptive to God's gifts.

Annotation to an Apology for the Bible (Bishop Watson)
E 615
"That the Jews assumed a right to the benefits
of God. will be a lasting witness against them. & the same will
it be [of] against Christians"

E 615
"The Bible or Word of God, Exclusive of Conscience
or the Word of God Universal, is that Abomination which like the
Jewish ceremonies is for ever removed & henceforth every man may
converse with God & be a King & Priest in his own house"

E 615
"It is strange that God should speak to man formerly & not
now. because it is not true"

E 615
"The Bible tells me that the plan of Providence was Subverted
at the Fall of Adam & that it was not restored till [we
in] Christ [?made ?restoration]"

E 616
"He who writes things for true which none could write. but
the actor. such are most of the acts of Moses. must either be the
actor or a fable writer or a liar. If Moses did not write the
history of his acts, it takes away the authority altogether it
ceases to be history & becomes a Poem of probable impossibilities
fabricated for pleasure as moderns say but I say by Inspiration."

E 617
"look over the events of your own life & if you do not find that
you have both done such miracles & lived by such you do not see
as I do True I cannot do a miracle thro experiment & to
domineer over & prove to others my superior power as neither
could Christ But I can & do work such as both astonish &
comfort me & mine"

E 617
"a Prophet is a Seer not an Arbitrary Dictator.
It is mans fault if God is not able to do him good. for he gives
to the just & to the unjust but the unjust reject his gift"

E 617
"for the facts are such as none but the actor
could tell, if it is True Moses & none but he could write it
unless we allow it to be Poetry & that poetry inspired"

Blake's heart was touched by man's failure to open the doors of perception. It grieved him that man had built walls to separate himself from the Divine. He showed us that the manacles we endure are forged in our own minds.


Book of Urizen, Plate 27, (E 83)
"5. And their children wept, & built
Tombs in the desolate places,
And form'd laws of prudence, and call'd them
The eternal laws of God"


Image from
Book of Urizen, Plate 26
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Learn more about Blake's annotation in this review of Blake's Margins: An Interpretive Study of the Annotations, by Hazard Adam (Reviewed by Morton D. Paley on 2010-05-22).