Biblical Literature 1.What does it mean to read the Bible “as literature”? 2.What is the Bible about? 3. How are we going to study the Bible?

1.What does it mean to read the Bible “as literature”? It’s a product of the human mind. --The book is a collection of writings produced by real people who lived in actual historical times. --These persons used the languages native to them and the literary forms then available for self-expression and creating material that can be read and appreciated.

--The Bible is the common heritage of us all, whatever our religious beliefs. --It contains various literary forms, such as poetry, short stories, novels, and essays,.

Comments on the Bible Theodore Roosevelt: “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” Others: --The Bible has provided the core values of western civilization for many hundreds of years. --This book answers questions and explains topics by telling stories you can look up on your own. Many read it to build a foundation for their future grounded in the wisdom of the past.

2.What is the Bible about? The structure --The Bible as an anthology--a set of selections produced over a period of some one thousand years. *The Old Testament (39 books) *The New Testament (27 books)

*The Old Testament (39 books) timeline: creation of the universe and of mankind to the end of BC subject: history of Israel original language: Hebrew *The New Testament (27 books) timeline: AD to the end of the world subject: life of Jesus original language: Greek

the authors --God inspired them from different countries, walks of life and social positions such as kings, shepherds, a doctor, a tax collector, and fishermen, at different times. --persons who gives expression to a subject, not an object, through the medium of language

The contents --Its contents evolved and came together as a result of activity by real people living in actual places over a period of more than thousand years of human history. --It does not have the kind of unity that we normally expect in a book from our own period.

--It contains genealogies, laws, letters, royal decrees, instructions for building, prayers, proverbial wisdom, prophetic messages, historical narratives, tribal lists, archival data, ritual regulations,and information about personal problems--a fascinating human document of enormous importance to the culture and history of the modern world.

Main Theme: --It tells about the creation of the world, and God’s plan for all of the human beings.

3. How are we going to study the Bible? Dos -- to understand: What was the author trying to accomplish? How was this done? (their purpose and effect through literary devices) What can we learn from watching this author at work? --considering the relation between the authorship, history, the physical setting, etc.

3. How are we going to study the Bible? Dos --to study the major types of biblical literary text: prophecies, wisdom writing,etc.

3.How are we going to study the Bible? Don’ts --not to comment on the Bible --not to impose a particular interpretive scheme or point of view on the Bible (whether the content is true or not, reasonable or not, moral or not, etc.)