The premise of this series is that by better understanding the literary genres in which the books of the Bible were written, the better we are able to understand the Bible itself. The next two posts provide the two biggest examples of this, for they are the two major genres where misunderstandings run rampant (especially … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Prophecy
For the first Christians, the resurrection of Christ was more than just a miraculous event in the life of Jesus; it was a powerful symbol of the coming of a new age. It was to change absolutely everything in their lives, because, in their minds, it had changed absolutely everything on a cosmic level. We … Continue reading The Dawn of a New Age: A Reflection on Acts 2.42-47
There can be no doubt that poetry is the oldest and historically most important form of literature; as much as it may be an afterthought for most of us today, throughout most of human history, poetry was king. While more of a stylistic approach to language than a 'genre,' it’s helpful to understand how biblical … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Poetry
There’s an old saying that history is written by the victors. While this isn’t always the case, the saying speaks to a big problem about the nature of history and historicity. At its most basic level, what we call 'history; is nothing more or less than a story about the past. But, historicity is the … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: History
Today’s post in this series on understanding the literary genres of the Bible is going to talk about Law, or Commandments. This is one that’s particularly challenging to talk about as a Christian, since Christian revelation ends up marginalizing the Hebrew Bible’s legal stipulations. There has, therefore, been a lot of misunderstanding among Christians about … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Law
Matthew Root 