Friday, February 29, 2008

IDEA: The Bible has different kinds of literature which means that we have to think of the parts of the Bible in different ways.

PURPOSE: To help the listener realize the variety of literatures in the Scriptures.

I. Think of the make-up of the Bible.

You have the first testament and the second testament (Old and New). How many books in the Old Testament? 39.

How many books in the New Testament? 27.

You learn that there are 39 books in the Old Testament, then multiply 3 X 9 for the 27 in the New Testament.

What can you tell me about the make-up of those books? Have you ever read through the Bible?

Which books do you find difficult? (Leviticus, Jeremiah, Proverbs, Isaiah - no plot.)

Which do you find relatively easy? (Acts, gospels, narrative parts of the Old Testament.)

Why do you find some easier than others?

They are different kinds of literature. We call different kinds of literature genre.

II. We automatically set our minds for different kinds of genres and don't realize it.

If I say, "dearly beloved, we are gathered here... " or "Once upon a time... " or "There was a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and a Baptist preacher... " "The party of the first part owes to the party of the second part... " "And it came to pass... " "Did you hear the one about... ?" what do you expect?

You identify a joke, a legal document, a fairy tale, and you set your mind for each. Each of these gives a clue to a genre.

All of this says that we know that there are different kinds of literature, and we listen in different kinds of ways.

Gerhard Frost wrote, "A love letter must be read for what it is. A young woman receiving a letter of proposal from a young man who loves her will not read it as an English composition, though it is that. Nor will she read it as data on ourtship in our culture, though it is that, too. She will read it for what it is, a heart's expression of a great longing, the longing to be one."

You don't have to be an expert to study different parts of the Bible. You do have to have a measure of common sense.