This week we are going to take some time to look things that play a huge part in hermeneutics.
Last week we saw that we have to interpret as Christians because our main source of revelation is found in the bible, a book.
So, let’s take a look at the bible and examine some things that we must keep in mind as we go to it for information.
First, we have to realize that the bible is a piece of literature and must be interpreted as any other piece of literature would be, but we also must remember that this piece of writing is from the very lips of God. The words that we read in our bible are breathed out by God, so we must treat these words with the utmost care and honor.
What we must do next is examine the piece of the bible that we are trying to interpret. Our bible is one unified whole that is made up of many different parts. The parts are sixty- six separate books that can all be arranged into several separate genres.
Recognizing the genre of a book is one of the key factors to interpreting that book. When we determine what genre a book falls under we can understand the type of information that is going to be given to us and also we can understand how that information will be presented to us.
For example a passage from the book of Ephesians will present things much differently from the book of acts, and that is because they are in different genres of literature. So even though these two books cover some of the same topics they look completely different. That is because Acts is a narrative which means that it will tell us a story that has a meaning that must be determined and Ephesians is an epistle which means that it will present us with a direct argument that we can understand more readily.
The main genres found in the bible are
Narrative- like Genesis or Luke
History- like Ezra, Nehemiah, or Acts
Poetry- like Psalms and Lamentations
Wisdom- like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs
Prophecy- like Isaiah and Zachariah
Apocalyptic- like Ezekiel and Revelation
Epistles- like Galatians and Titus
If you notice I said that the book of Acts is both narrative and history. There are two reasons for this.
First, because it is not as simple as just putting these books into one category and keeping them there. There is a blending of genre that is done within each book of the bible. What we have done above is recognize the overall genre of particular books, but within each one of them we can find several other genres mixed in.
Secondly, I wanted to show this because we can never think of the stories told in the bible as fiction. All of the narratives found in the bible, with the exception of parables, are historical. We must never forget that what we are reading is true.
This week what I would like for us to do as homework is to read a few chapters in Daniel.
Daniel is a book of prophecy, but I want us to read a few chapters of it and see if we can find any mixing of genre within this one book. Then if we do see some mixing of genre which ones are present? How would this change the way we interpret these different sections found in this one book?
Have fun
