LITERATURE
5 Reasons to Read The Bible as Literature
–1. The inquiring mind would want to read the Old Testament to learn about three major world religions---Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
–2. The Bible contains a symbol system uniting the temporal and the eternal; it deserves at least the careful attention we would give any "good" literature. Literature consists of a system of meaningfully created symbols.
–3. As a symbol system, the Bible challenges our minds but satisfies our hearts. No matter how little or much we follow the call of our minds and study human thought, we end up sooner or later confronted with its limitations.
–4. The Bible, tightly unified in its own controlling themes, explores all the common questions of human existence.
–5. It's unlikely that we would ever exhaust the meaning unfolding itself in the Bible.
–2. The Bible contains a symbol system uniting the temporal and the eternal; it deserves at least the careful attention we would give any "good" literature. Literature consists of a system of meaningfully created symbols.
–3. As a symbol system, the Bible challenges our minds but satisfies our hearts. No matter how little or much we follow the call of our minds and study human thought, we end up sooner or later confronted with its limitations.
–4. The Bible, tightly unified in its own controlling themes, explores all the common questions of human existence.
–5. It's unlikely that we would ever exhaust the meaning unfolding itself in the Bible.
Structured Approach to Understanding The Bible as Literature
–1. an understanding of what kinds of literature are present in The Bible, what historical period this literature represents, and a knowledge of where samples of each can be found.
–2. an overview of biblical chronology, major dates and happenings appropriate to understanding how to read the various books of The Bible.
–3. an appreciation for the major civilizations contributing to the Hebrew-Christian tradition.
–4. a repertoire of themes and subthemes important to understanding why The Bible can be viewed as a unified anthology; and, as time permits, a series of character studies which illuminate the general themes embraced by The Bible as a whole.
–2. an overview of biblical chronology, major dates and happenings appropriate to understanding how to read the various books of The Bible.
–3. an appreciation for the major civilizations contributing to the Hebrew-Christian tradition.
–4. a repertoire of themes and subthemes important to understanding why The Bible can be viewed as a unified anthology; and, as time permits, a series of character studies which illuminate the general themes embraced by The Bible as a whole.
Forms of Literature
–narrative--a recounting of events; chronological or containing a plot. An example of biblical narrative is the story of Abraham in Genesis 12 – 25.
–epic--a long narrative poem, elevated style, characters in high position, heroic, depict a development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race. Much of the Bible is epic literature accounting for the development of the Judeo-Christian world. Read Genesis 26 – 50 Isaac, Jacob, Joseph.
–short story-- a relatively brief fictional narrative in prose; contains a unity of effect, theme, character, tone, mood, and style; contains plot. Biblical examples are Ruth, Jonah, Esther.
–folk tales--short narratives handed down through oral tradition but eventually getting written down; cumulatively written. Samson in the book of Judges 13 – 16 captures the popularity of the folk hero.
–apocalypses--literature depicting an ultimate destiny (usually destructive) of the world; character of catastrophe is grandiose, imminent, unrestrained, wild; suggests final judgment. (Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament are examples of this kind of literature.) Outline of Revelation.
–poetry--exists in many forms; marked by regularity of rhythm surpassing that found in prose, basic pattern evidencing variety but returning to basic rhythm; concrete; inversions frequent; simple, sensuous, impassioned language; pleases by appealing to emotions and intellect; highly imaginative. Psalms and Proverbs both consist largely of poetry. The Psalms are devotional lyrics. Biblical poetry is noted for accent and parallelism rather than meter.
–love lyric--a type of poetry, subjective, marked by imagination, melody, emotion, single impression. The Song of Solomon is a good example.
–battle ode--public, solemn, elaborate, dignified, musical, complicated (divided into strophes, anti strophes, and epodes; directed to a single purpose and theme. An example is the song of Deborah found in Judges 5.
–epigram--a pithy saying, often antithetical, compressed; shows balance and polish. These exist in abundance in Proverbs.
–epiphanies--a showing forth of divine being; an event in which the essential nature of something--a person, situation, or object--is suddenly perceived; a grasp of reality achieved in a quick flash of recognition; sudden insight or new light.
–elegy--a sustained, formal poem setting forth a meditation on death or other solemn theme.
–gospels--found solely in the New Testament; form was invented by author of Mark and imitated by the later Gospel writers; record the story of Jesus as it was known by his contemporaries; not simple histories of the life of Jesus but further exemplifying the view that history is an arena in which the divine makes itself known; actually speak of things beyond history, addressing meaning; intention of writers is to produce faith.
–biography-- a written account of a person's life, a life history.
–letters--notes and epistles, correspondence. Paul's letters were immediate and direct, addressing the needs of particular Christian communities, giving spiritual direction; they continue to have a universal dimension, a timelessness, in that what was true for the people of these communities continues to be true for people of contemporary times. Paul's letters to the Galatians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and Romans are excellent examples of the epistle.
–law--a binding custom or practice of a community; a prescribed rule of conduct or action which is enforced by a controlling authority. The Old Testament, in particular, assumes human behavior is under Yahweh's authority as well as one's relationship with neighbors. The beginning of law for the Hebrew people is expressed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Exodus 20:22 – 23:19 contains absolute, conditional, ritual, moral, and religious laws. The materials from Exodus 35 to Numbers 10 (including all of Leviticus) have to do with laws. Israel's religious tradition is deeply embedded with the notion that Yahweh rewards obedience and punishes disobedience. A special relationship exists between the law of the Old Testament and the New Law or covenant of the New Testament. One must understand the human situation in the Old and New Testaments is that of alienation from God. This alienation is caused by sinned or willful rebellion or disobedience to divine law. Both the Jews and the Gentiles are alienated by their measures, whether Law or heart; the New Testament emphasizes faith rather than obedience as the means whereby the individual is to be reconciled with God. As seen in the New Testament, the Law defines sin; it is not the cause of sin.
–sermons--a religious discourse delivered as part of a service. Paul's sermon at Antioch is a good example (Acts 13: 15 – 41); another example is the Sermon on The Mount in Matthew 5.
–Codes--a system of principles or rules. Leviticus, a book of worship, is filled with codes detailing how the Levitical priests were to minister in the sanctuary; it contains codes for dealing with sacrifices, setting forth the distinction between clean and unclean foods, describing the ritual for the ceremony of the atonement, and laws governing Israel's life as a holy people.
–puns--plays on words based on the similarity of sound between two words and divergent meaning. Matthew 23:24 (You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!...(NASB)) contains an example: galma for gnat and gamla for camel.
–liturgy--performed as part of a worship service. Again, Leviticus provides several examples.
–parables--short, illustrative stories teaching a lesson. A true parable parallels, detail for detail, the situation that calls forth the parable for illustration. Christ told many parables--Luke 15:11 – 32 provides an example in the prodigal son.
–songs--from the beginning, there was not the written but the spoken word; there was not literature but singing and reciting. The Old Testament contains many songs, often older than the text surrounding them. These were often quite short and were sung, during dancing, to the accompaniment of musical instruments.
Examples are: Exodus 15:20 – 21; Numbers 21:17; 1st Samuel 18:6 – 7. People sang will at work: Numbers 21:17 – 18, Jeremiah 25:30 and 48:33, Amos 6:4, Isaiah 5:11 and 22:13, Isaiah 28:8, Genesis 31:27, 2nd Kings 2:23, Isaiah 23:15 – 16, Judges 5:12, and 2nd Kings 2:12 and 13:14.
–proverbs--briefly and memorably express some recognized truth about life; these are found in abundance in proverbs.
–laments--poetry expressing grief. The book of Lamentations is a small Psalter of communal laments over Jerusalem, following its destruction by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.
–hymns--poems expressing religious emotion and intended to be sung by a chorus; many of the psalms fit this definition.
–acrostics--compositions usually in verse which are arranged in such a way as to spell words, phrases or sentences. Lamentations contains an example: the first four chapters contain stanzas for each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the fifth has the same numbers of verses as the alphabet.
–oracles--hidden or divine knowledge revealed through utterance, usually poetic; a wise, authoritative decision or opinion. Isaiah 6 – 9 consists of oracles set in their own historic context. Oracles contain Yahweh's answer to questioners seeking advice and help.
–epic--a long narrative poem, elevated style, characters in high position, heroic, depict a development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race. Much of the Bible is epic literature accounting for the development of the Judeo-Christian world. Read Genesis 26 – 50 Isaac, Jacob, Joseph.
–short story-- a relatively brief fictional narrative in prose; contains a unity of effect, theme, character, tone, mood, and style; contains plot. Biblical examples are Ruth, Jonah, Esther.
–folk tales--short narratives handed down through oral tradition but eventually getting written down; cumulatively written. Samson in the book of Judges 13 – 16 captures the popularity of the folk hero.
–apocalypses--literature depicting an ultimate destiny (usually destructive) of the world; character of catastrophe is grandiose, imminent, unrestrained, wild; suggests final judgment. (Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New Testament are examples of this kind of literature.) Outline of Revelation.
–poetry--exists in many forms; marked by regularity of rhythm surpassing that found in prose, basic pattern evidencing variety but returning to basic rhythm; concrete; inversions frequent; simple, sensuous, impassioned language; pleases by appealing to emotions and intellect; highly imaginative. Psalms and Proverbs both consist largely of poetry. The Psalms are devotional lyrics. Biblical poetry is noted for accent and parallelism rather than meter.
–love lyric--a type of poetry, subjective, marked by imagination, melody, emotion, single impression. The Song of Solomon is a good example.
–battle ode--public, solemn, elaborate, dignified, musical, complicated (divided into strophes, anti strophes, and epodes; directed to a single purpose and theme. An example is the song of Deborah found in Judges 5.
–epigram--a pithy saying, often antithetical, compressed; shows balance and polish. These exist in abundance in Proverbs.
–epiphanies--a showing forth of divine being; an event in which the essential nature of something--a person, situation, or object--is suddenly perceived; a grasp of reality achieved in a quick flash of recognition; sudden insight or new light.
–elegy--a sustained, formal poem setting forth a meditation on death or other solemn theme.
–gospels--found solely in the New Testament; form was invented by author of Mark and imitated by the later Gospel writers; record the story of Jesus as it was known by his contemporaries; not simple histories of the life of Jesus but further exemplifying the view that history is an arena in which the divine makes itself known; actually speak of things beyond history, addressing meaning; intention of writers is to produce faith.
–biography-- a written account of a person's life, a life history.
–letters--notes and epistles, correspondence. Paul's letters were immediate and direct, addressing the needs of particular Christian communities, giving spiritual direction; they continue to have a universal dimension, a timelessness, in that what was true for the people of these communities continues to be true for people of contemporary times. Paul's letters to the Galatians, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and Romans are excellent examples of the epistle.
–law--a binding custom or practice of a community; a prescribed rule of conduct or action which is enforced by a controlling authority. The Old Testament, in particular, assumes human behavior is under Yahweh's authority as well as one's relationship with neighbors. The beginning of law for the Hebrew people is expressed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Exodus 20:22 – 23:19 contains absolute, conditional, ritual, moral, and religious laws. The materials from Exodus 35 to Numbers 10 (including all of Leviticus) have to do with laws. Israel's religious tradition is deeply embedded with the notion that Yahweh rewards obedience and punishes disobedience. A special relationship exists between the law of the Old Testament and the New Law or covenant of the New Testament. One must understand the human situation in the Old and New Testaments is that of alienation from God. This alienation is caused by sinned or willful rebellion or disobedience to divine law. Both the Jews and the Gentiles are alienated by their measures, whether Law or heart; the New Testament emphasizes faith rather than obedience as the means whereby the individual is to be reconciled with God. As seen in the New Testament, the Law defines sin; it is not the cause of sin.
–sermons--a religious discourse delivered as part of a service. Paul's sermon at Antioch is a good example (Acts 13: 15 – 41); another example is the Sermon on The Mount in Matthew 5.
–Codes--a system of principles or rules. Leviticus, a book of worship, is filled with codes detailing how the Levitical priests were to minister in the sanctuary; it contains codes for dealing with sacrifices, setting forth the distinction between clean and unclean foods, describing the ritual for the ceremony of the atonement, and laws governing Israel's life as a holy people.
–puns--plays on words based on the similarity of sound between two words and divergent meaning. Matthew 23:24 (You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!...(NASB)) contains an example: galma for gnat and gamla for camel.
–liturgy--performed as part of a worship service. Again, Leviticus provides several examples.
–parables--short, illustrative stories teaching a lesson. A true parable parallels, detail for detail, the situation that calls forth the parable for illustration. Christ told many parables--Luke 15:11 – 32 provides an example in the prodigal son.
–songs--from the beginning, there was not the written but the spoken word; there was not literature but singing and reciting. The Old Testament contains many songs, often older than the text surrounding them. These were often quite short and were sung, during dancing, to the accompaniment of musical instruments.
Examples are: Exodus 15:20 – 21; Numbers 21:17; 1st Samuel 18:6 – 7. People sang will at work: Numbers 21:17 – 18, Jeremiah 25:30 and 48:33, Amos 6:4, Isaiah 5:11 and 22:13, Isaiah 28:8, Genesis 31:27, 2nd Kings 2:23, Isaiah 23:15 – 16, Judges 5:12, and 2nd Kings 2:12 and 13:14.
–proverbs--briefly and memorably express some recognized truth about life; these are found in abundance in proverbs.
–laments--poetry expressing grief. The book of Lamentations is a small Psalter of communal laments over Jerusalem, following its destruction by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.
–hymns--poems expressing religious emotion and intended to be sung by a chorus; many of the psalms fit this definition.
–acrostics--compositions usually in verse which are arranged in such a way as to spell words, phrases or sentences. Lamentations contains an example: the first four chapters contain stanzas for each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the fifth has the same numbers of verses as the alphabet.
–oracles--hidden or divine knowledge revealed through utterance, usually poetic; a wise, authoritative decision or opinion. Isaiah 6 – 9 consists of oracles set in their own historic context. Oracles contain Yahweh's answer to questioners seeking advice and help.
Historical Criticism
Biblical Criticism...
Criticism as applied to the Bible simply means the exercise of judgment. Both conservative and and non-conservative scholars practice two forms:
Lower criticism deals with the Scripture and attempts to determine what the original text said.
Higher Criticism treats the source of Scripture and raise the following questions: who said it, when, where and why was it written.
Higher Criticism...
Higher Criticism is typically divided into two types:
(1) Negative (destructive) and
(2) Positive (constructive).
Negative Criticism, evident in the following 5 methods, typically denies the authenticity of much of the biblical record and usually is associated with an anti-supernatural presupposition: (1) Historical, (2) Source, (3) Form, (4) Tradition, and (5) Redaction
Historical Criticism is a broad term that covers techniques to (1) date documents and traditions, (2) to verify events reported in these documents, and (3) to use the results in historiography to reconstruct and interpret.
Source Criticism attempts to discover and define literary techniques used by biblical writers. It seeks to (1) uncover underlying literary sources, (2) classify types of literature, and (3) answer questions relating to authorship, unity, and date of Old and New Testament materials.
Form Criticism studies literary forms, such as essays, poems, and myths, since different writings have different forms. Form critics concentrate on the process involved in transmitting what Jesus said and did to the primary sources.
Redaction Criticism generally accepts the tenets of source and form criticism. They also believe that the Gospel evangelists altered the traditions they received to make their own theological emphases. They viewed the writers not simply as compilers of the church’s oral traditions but as theologians who adapted the material for their own purposes.
Literary Criticism...
This approach analyzes the Scriptures in terms of its literary structure, emphases, and unique internal features. It seeks to understand the Scripture as a piece of literature by examining how the writer wrote (structured) it. This is a widely accepted positive approach among evangelicals.
Criticism as applied to the Bible simply means the exercise of judgment. Both conservative and and non-conservative scholars practice two forms:
Lower criticism deals with the Scripture and attempts to determine what the original text said.
Higher Criticism treats the source of Scripture and raise the following questions: who said it, when, where and why was it written.
Higher Criticism...
Higher Criticism is typically divided into two types:
(1) Negative (destructive) and
(2) Positive (constructive).
Negative Criticism, evident in the following 5 methods, typically denies the authenticity of much of the biblical record and usually is associated with an anti-supernatural presupposition: (1) Historical, (2) Source, (3) Form, (4) Tradition, and (5) Redaction
Historical Criticism is a broad term that covers techniques to (1) date documents and traditions, (2) to verify events reported in these documents, and (3) to use the results in historiography to reconstruct and interpret.
Source Criticism attempts to discover and define literary techniques used by biblical writers. It seeks to (1) uncover underlying literary sources, (2) classify types of literature, and (3) answer questions relating to authorship, unity, and date of Old and New Testament materials.
Form Criticism studies literary forms, such as essays, poems, and myths, since different writings have different forms. Form critics concentrate on the process involved in transmitting what Jesus said and did to the primary sources.
Redaction Criticism generally accepts the tenets of source and form criticism. They also believe that the Gospel evangelists altered the traditions they received to make their own theological emphases. They viewed the writers not simply as compilers of the church’s oral traditions but as theologians who adapted the material for their own purposes.
Literary Criticism...
This approach analyzes the Scriptures in terms of its literary structure, emphases, and unique internal features. It seeks to understand the Scripture as a piece of literature by examining how the writer wrote (structured) it. This is a widely accepted positive approach among evangelicals.