Subject: Are we all descendants of Adam and Eve? |
Bible Note: Genres in the Bible. I think most students of the Bible agree that there are different genres and modes of communication in the Bible. To say that one section is myth, another is allegory, and another is history in no way reduces the authority of the Book. In fact, to flatten out these differences is to misinterpret them. Yes, this does become difficult (who said truth was easy?) Perhaps we don't know the genres, or the cues to how they shift. It is easy to say that the Psalms are poetry, Kings is history, etc. --- but it gets trickier because genres change within individual books. For example, Paul uses hymns in his writing -- which is beautiful, powerful, and provides us with a glimpse of the faith of the earliest Christians. I am not suggesting something beyond the "normal understanding of language." I'm sure we both shudder to see books that "reveal a secret code revealed in the Bible that predicted 9/11." But we do use language in complicated, subtle ways all the time --- why wouldn't the Bible? Look at the complicated theories people work out to explain the literal interpretations. I find the mythic reading less cluttered, and more straight forward --- more akin to "the normal understanding of language." But "straightforward" is not the criteria for Truth either. We need to read the text closely, study the history and the genres, and pray. And commit to live by what we learn. |