Equally Inspired, Differently Written
All Scripture is equally inspired, but not all Scripture is written the same way. Recognizing the literary genre helps us rightly interpret and apply God's Word.
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”HEBREWS 1:1–2 · KJV
God spoke at sundry times and in divers manners. The Greek words are polymerōs (πολυμερῶς), in many portions, and polytropōs (πολυτρόπως), in many ways. God did not give His Word all at once, and He did not give it all in one form. He spoke through stories, laws, songs, proverbs, oracles, letters, and visions, until He spoke finally in His Son.
A kind of writing with its own form and its own way of being read. A psalm, a law, a letter, and a vision all communicate truth, but each in its own way.
Just like you wouldn't read a poem like a legal document or a parable like a prophecy, you must read Scripture according to its genre to understand what God intended to communicate. Our toolbelt now holds three tools: comparing Scripture with Scripture, authorial intent, and genre. Genre belongs with authorial intent, because you cannot know what an author meant until you know what kind of thing he was writing.
Ask, “What genre is this?” every time you open your Bible.
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For Deeper Study
- Basic Bible InterpretationAmazon Roy B. ZuckA readable guide to the literal method, with chapters on figures of speech, types and symbols, parables and allegories, and prophecy.
- How to Read the Bible as LiteratureAmazon Leland RykenA literature professor's introduction to the Bible's stories, poems, proverbs, letters, and visions.
- The Treasury of DavidAmazon C. H. SpurgeonSpurgeon's verse-by-verse exposition of all 150 Psalms from the King James Version, a model of reading poetry as poetry.
- The Revelation RecordAmazon Henry M. MorrisA verse-by-verse commentary that reads Revelation's symbols with care and its events as literal and future.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Theological Method
How we move from individual texts to whole-Bible conclusions: reading each passage literally in its grammatical and historical context, letting Scripture interpret Scripture, rightly dividing the Word, and staying humble before what God has revealed.
Open Doctrine