Christians are without a doubt a ‘people of the Book’. No matter what tradition we may come from, one of the ties that binds all Christians together is our love for and commitment to following the Scriptures, the books of the Old and New Testament. But as I often feel the need to point out, … Continue reading Big Questions: (Re)Introducing an Integral Hermeneutic
Today’s post brings the series on understanding biblical genres to a close. In the vein of ending it well, there are three major takeaways that I’d like to discuss today. 1. First, the Bible is not a book, but a library. (Fun fact, our word ‘Bible’ comes from the Greek, ta biblia, ‘the books’ - … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Concluding Thoughts
For the most part, understanding biblical genres is about situating the books of the Bible within their broader cultural context: Understanding Ancient Near Eastern Law codes can help us better understand how the Law of Moses functioned, for example, or understanding how Apocalyptic functioned in Second Temple Judaism can help us to avoid serious interpretive … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Gospel
It’s time for our look at different biblical genres to switch over to genres we see primarily in the New Testament, and specifically today we’ll look at the Parables of Jesus, which nicely bridge the gap between Old Testament Wisdom Literature and the explicitly Christian writings of the New Testament. While there are some parables … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Parables
Back at the start of this series, we looked at two different types of story, myths and legends. We saw that myths are the foundational stories around which cultures understand themselves, and legends are traditional stories that reinforce those identities, while often explaining the origins of specific place names, customs, or beliefs. Today I’d like … Continue reading Understanding Biblical Genres: Folk Tales
Matthew Root 