1. The Bible As Literature

2. “ There is a…sense in which the Bible, since it is after all literature, cannot be properly read except as literature; and the different parts of it as the different sorts of literature they are.” C. S. Lewis

3. What is Literature? “the types of writing that are ‘imaginative’ or ‘creative’” The subject of literature is human experience – Literature shows human experience instead of telling about it Literature presents stories of good and evil characters in action

4. Literature appeals to the imagination Literature aims to recreate experience or situation in sufficient detail and concreteness to enable the reader to relive it Literature presents truth as a “living through” of an experience Literature communicates human experience through concreteness (sights, sounds, vividness of real life)

5. Literature recognizes world view consists of images, symbols, ideas, and propositions Literature can be true to reality and human experience as well as being the embodiment of a true proposition (“This is the way life is”) Literature is interpretive presentation of human experience Literature is art

6. Literary genres of The Bible Narrative (story) Poetry (especially lyrics) Proverbs Visionary writing

7. Literary devices of The Bible metaphor simile allusion pun paradox irony