God in Stories

As I noted in my previous article, we do not read the front page of the newspaper in the same way we read the cartoons or sport pages. We also do not read a scientific book in the same manner than a storybook. The first wants to convey ‘objective’ facts whereas the second wants to involve and draw the reader in to a world created by the author of the narrative.

So, when we read any part of the Bible, we first have to ask ourselves what type of literature (genre) we are dealing with. Each genre should be read according to its own rules and conventions. Human (2003:271) emphasises the fact that the Bible consists of numerous literary genres and “Each [genre] expresses the truth in a different way. These genres are not interpreted in the same way. Cognizance is therefore expected from the reader to read literary types in a differentiated manner” [my translation]. The interpreter should thus not only be able to identify a passage’s genre but also know which ‘keys’ unlocks the particular genre (Human 2011:70).

When we read a Psalm we should understand how poetry works in order appreciate what the psalmist wanted to communicate. When we read narratives, we need to understand how stories work in order to comprehend what the author’s purpose was in telling the story. In the end, we want to know what the message of a particular passage is because we believe it to be God’s Word. If we read a narrative passage as if it is systematic theology we might end up missing the message (God’s) altogether. Priority should be given to what the text wants to communicate with due consideration to the rules and conventions of the genre one is dealing with (Gorman 2009:84).

Should we agree with this, does it then mean that we can / should read the first number of books of the bible (and the New Testament) as we would read any other story? Is it then possible to come to a better understanding of who and how God is by accepting that he is pretty much portrayed as a character in a story?