Shakespeare has “more wisdom and insight about our lives” than the Bible, theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn has claimed.
Sir Trevor said that the 16th century playwright is a “hundred times” better at teaching people about forgiveness and understanding than the Christian scriptures.
However, The Daily Telegraph said God “choosing to live and suffer as one of his creations” could be seen as proof that the Bible does understand the human condition.
Live
Speaking to the same paper, Sir Trevor – who wants to direct all 37 Shakespeare plays – explained that the Bard “is my religion”.
He said: “Shakespeare has more wisdom and insight about our lives, about how to live and how not to live, how to forgive and how to understand our fellow creatures, than any religious tract.
“One hundred times more than the Bible. I’m sorry to say that.
Suffer
“But over and over again in the plays there is an understanding of the human condition that doesn’t exist in religious books.”
The Telegraph responded in an editorial: “One could make the counter-argument that the New Testament is all about the human condition – God choosing to live and suffer as one of his creations.”
“In truth”, the paper added, “Christian virtues and values permeated Shakespeare’s world, as they do our own”.