Bible Interpretation, Student Workbook, SW05

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B I B L E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N

text, and that God often provides his own commentary on the meaning of the biblical story accounts.

• Story theology is built on the foundation of key propositions about stories, the Bible, and the Church. These include the concept that stories introduce us to sacramental presences, are more important than facts, and are normative for the Christian community. Christian traditions evolve and define themselves by stories, which also precede and produce community, and produce censure, accountability theology, ritual, and sacrament in the Church. Stories, too, are history. • Like other literature, the general elements of narrative in Scripture include the setting, characters, author’s point of view, plot, and theme of the stories. • Prophecy is another main genre of Scripture, a literary type which offers truth about God and the universe, flows from the Spirit, and is itself a specific mode of revelation from God which comes either in persons or written forms. • Apocalyptic is a sub-genre of prophecy, and includes the two main types of Jewish apocalypses, the OT book of Daniel, and the most distinctly apocalyptic book in Scripture, the book of Revelation. • In order to rightly interpret both prophecy and apocalyptic genres of Scripture we must first focus on the person of Jesus Christ, refer the prophetic messages to the call of the Kingdom of God, and seek to emphasize the fulfillment of God’s sovereign purposes even in the face of evil, suffering and injustice.

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The Diversity of Scripture

In the midst of Scripture’s unity, we must not lose sight of its diversity . . . This takes several forms. The books of the Bible are written by different authors, in different times and places, to different audiences in distinct circumstances, using various literary genres. Each book thus displays unique purposes and themes. In some instances, different portions of Scripture are so closely parallel that we can postulate a literary relationship between them and assume that their differences are intentional: sometimes theologically motivated; sometimes merely for