Reading Our Bibles, Part 4

      How can people read a book about a ring that makes its wearer invisible? How can people watch movies in which good guys always wear white hats and bad guys always wear black hats? How can people listen to music with clipped and distorted lyrics that at face value make no sense? We recognize different genres in books, movies and music.

      The Bible is no different. While the Bible is one story on the big picture scale, it is also many different books and stories compiled by many authors over thousands of years. Therefore, we are not surprised the Bible is written using different genres.

      As we learn to rightly divide and accurately handle our Bibles (II Timothy 2:15), we must learn to divide between genres. Too many Bible readers develop oversimplified methods of interpretation. For instance, have you ever heard what some today call the golden rule of Bible interpretation? “Literal unless absurd.” 

      The problem is it is just not true. If we interpreted Jesus’ Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:3-9 literally, we would never understand the teaching He was actually giving.

      In the case of writing, a genre is simply a particular kind of writing that makes use of certain styles, forms and conventions. While there are no absolutes, we generally expect particular genres to follow set patterns.

      Before we get into the Bible’s genres, let’s drive home the point that we are not just making this up. The concept of genres is in every medium of communication. We should not be taken aback to learn different genres are used in God’s Word.

      Think about television. There are sitcoms, game shows, soap operas, dramas, crime shows, reality shows, mini-series, documentaries and the list goes on.

      In music, there is country, folk, rock, heavy metal, rap, pop, hip-hop, grunge, goth, punk, alternative, new age, etc.

      In writing, there are mysteries, fantasies, science-fiction, adolescent, self-help, business, biographies, histories, historical fiction and many more.

      We do not expect these different kinds to be alike. A song, show or book in every one of these genres may be teaching the same message, but they do it differently in each one. We figure out the messages based on the conventions of each genre.

      We must do the same with the Bible. Next week we will begin to look at the main Bible genres: instruction, narrative, poetry, parable, proverb, prophecy, apocalypse, overviewing how to read each one.

      Keep in mind the real golden rule of Bible study. Understanding begins with reading. Let’s make sure we read our Bibles this week.

Edwin L. Crozier