lOMoARcPSD|255728 27
Discussion Thread: How to Study the Genres of the Bible
BIBL 104
After reading the selected chapters in Everyday Bible Study (Chapters 32-
39), identify the following items:
•
From your reading in Everyday Bible study, describe 3 concepts that
improved, adjusted, or clarified your knowledge of the Bible.
•
From your reading in Everyday Bible Study, explain 2 ideas that you
believe are crucial to remember when studying the various genres
of the Bible and why these two ideas are crucial.
•
From your reading in Everyday Bible Study, show 1 way that
understanding the various genres of the Bible could aid in Bible
study.
Once you have identified these items compose a thread that not only states
but also explains each of these items. Your thread should contain at least one
quote from Everyday Bible Study to support the thoughts and ideas you are
presenting in your thread. For an example of this type of thread, please see
the provided example.
1.
•
From your reading in Everyday Bible study, describe 3 concepts that improved,
adjusted, or clarified your knowledge of the Bible.
o Don’t Make the Descriptive Prescriptive
The book of Acts is narrative and just because we see things happening there does not mean that
would be normative for the church today. Just because we see things in the early church does not
necessarily mean that it would happen or be okay today.
o Don’t Miss the Forest for the Trees
See all New Testament in the light of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is Christ concealed
and the New Testament is Christ revealed. Acts is made up of 28 chapters and is the last two-
thirds of the history of the church. The gospels make up the first third of history. Study Acts in
the context of the Gospels and the context of the Old Testament.
o Don’t Assume the Good
Narrative literature is descriptive in nature. Not all behavior is the behavior we should imitate.
Even from some of our favorite Bible stories, not all behavior is a behavior we should follow,
sometimes it is the opposite.
Three Cautions When Studying the Acts
John Cartwright and Chris Hulshof, Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christian Faith, ed.
Gabriel Etzel and Ben Gutierrez, 2nd edition., Everyday Bible Series (Nashville, TN: B&H
Academic, 2019), 226–227.
lOMoARcPSD|255728 27
Discussion Thread: How to Study the Genres of the Bible
BIBL 104
Don’t Make the Descriptive Prescriptive
Acts is descriptive as narrative literature, and what you see there is not necessarily what we
would call “normative” for the church today. Yet just because we see certain things happening in
the early church—the instantaneous death of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 for lying to the
Holy Spirit, for example—that we do not expect to see today, does that make lying okay?
Certainly not! For matters of prescription, correlate what you see in Acts with what you see in
the Epistles. The letters of the New Testament, far more so than Acts, are designed to teach and
prescribe truth.
Don’t Miss the Forest for the Trees
Acts is composed of twenty-eight chapters and represents the second third of the history of the
New Testament, the Gospels being the first. It is important that any study of Acts is seen in light
of the rest of Scripture. See your study of a passage of Acts in light of the gospel because it
directly followed the earthly life and ministry of Christ. See it in light of the Old Testament
because Acts is a special time of transition from the old covenant to the establishment of the
church. Some of the conflict found in Acts surrounds the difficult idea (for some) of the
intentional inclusion of the Gentiles. Then, as already mentioned, see Acts in light of the letters
of the New Testament.
Don’t Assume the Good
Narrative literature is descriptive in nature. Remember that teaching as it relates to the narrative
is indirect as opposed to the Epistles, which we will see in the next chapter. To make the point
clear, not all behavior is something we should imitate. As one example, the apostles wrestled
with the inclusion of the Gentiles in the church. We read in Galatians that Paul rebuked Peter
because even though Peter had no problem with eating with Gentiles earlier in Acts when certain
people were around, he would not eat with them. Even from some of our favorite Bible
characters, we can observe behaviors that are not always examples for us to follow. Sometimes,
they are just the opposite.1
1. Learn to ask questions, and question everything you read. The more questions you have it
stands to reason that the more answers you will have if you answer your questions. Not
everything is as it seems especially in the light of the context. The Old Testament is about
Jesus, but it is about a Jesus that is to come, the New Testament is about Jesus, it is about
a Jesus that is on the scene. We are good at questioning things, some say that is just their
personality, but it is all people’s personality to question people, laws, authority, and the
Bible. This is one reason we have so many denominations because people asked
questions and aligned themselves with people that thought the same way they did. I am
not saying this is the correct way to find a church, but I am saying that if you ask
questions of the Bible, you will find the answer if you dig deep enough.
2. Jesus never quoted any scriptures that were not the Old Testament and the disciples never
said anything that contradicted Jesus. Find out what the Old Testament is saying because
1
John Cartwright and Chris Hulshof, Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christian Faith, ed.
Gabriel Etzel and Ben Gutierrez, 2nd edition., Everyday Bible Series (Nashville, TN: B&H
Academic, 2019), 226–227.
lOMoARcPSD|255728 27
Discussion Thread: How to Study the Genres of the Bible
BIBL 104
the Old Testament interprets the New Testament. The 10 commandments are a great place
to start when looking for a correlation to a passage of scripture. Try and find what the
passage is saying in relation to the 10 commandments and try to find what the passage is
saying in conjunction with what Jesus said. Read every scripture in the context of the
story or several scriptures, then the chapter, then the book. This will give us a good
understanding of what the story is trying to say.
3. What is the story saying? Find out what the narrative of the story is, and what is the story
trying to communicate? Once you find what the story is communicating, then you can
hone in on what the principle of the story is. There is a principle that the story is trying to
get across. Like in the Biblical Metanarrative, the big picture or creation, the fall,
redemption, and the new creation. Every story is telling one of these stories. Just as every
story is telling a piece of the Metanarrative, every story is communicating a principle, the
idea is to locate and understand that principle.
•
From your reading in Everyday Bible Study, explain 2 ideas that you believe are
crucial to remember when studying the various genres of the Bible and why these two
ideas are crucial.
1. When studying the genres of the Bible you need to identify if it is a story, letter, epistle,
narrative, or gospel. Knowing what this is can help you identify the big story and then the
principle that each is trying to get across. It is crucial to know the speaker and the
audience that the speaker is speaking to. Look at what the speaker is saying and find out
how this applies to the audience. Research what was going on culturally during the t
imeframe that the speaker is speaking. In 1 Corinthians 11:6, Paul talked to the
Corinthian church about women having their heads shaved. Paul was making a point that
"sincerity” and "freedom" don't override how others perceive that appearance. “This
verse concludes, or Paul's thought from the previous verse. Apparently, some Christian
women in Corinth were rejecting the cultural norm to have their heads covered. In that
society, women with heads uncovered in public were signaling their sexual availability or
association with idol worship. Apparently, some women of the church in Corinth were
failing to cover their heads while praying and prophesying in church. Paul says bluntly
that this practice brings shame on their husbands, fathers, or the male head of their
household (BibleRef.com 2022).” . Keep everything in context of what you are reading.
2. The Bible is figurative, literal, transliteral, and cultural. I am sure there are other words
that would also be appropriate to describe the Bible. The context of what you read should
be a verse inside of verses, inside of a chapter, inside of a book, inside of a culture. Paul
tells us in verse 1 of 2 Corinthians 13, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every
word be established.” So every word should be established in the mouth of two to three
witnesses and it should also be established in context of the verses around it, the chapter,
the message and the culture.
John Cartwright and Chris Hulshof, Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christian Faith, ed.
Gabriel Etzel and Ben Gutierrez, 2nd edition., Everyday Bible Series (Nashville, TN: B&H
Academic, 2019), 226–227.
lOMoARcPSD|255728 27
Discussion Thread: How to Study the Genres of the Bible
BIBL 104
•
From your reading in Everyday Bible Study, show 1 way that understanding the
various genres of the Bible could aid in Bible study.
1. Understanding the various genres of the Bible would come in handy when studying the
Pastoral epistles. The pastoral epistles were written by the apostles to church leaders.
They were written to explain church order and qualifications for church leadership. These
three letters are designated as pastoral because they are not addressed to communities but
to men who had been appointed leaders in the churches. This author urges these
leaders to maintain their authority and oppose false teachers who are threatening the faith
of their churches. The three letters are 1 &2 Timothy and Titus and were all written by
Paul or historically attributed to the Apostle Paul.
Home. BibleRef.com. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2022, from https://www.bibleref.com/1-
Corinthians/11/1-Corinthians-11-6.html
John Cartwright and Chris Hulshof, Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christian Faith, ed.
Gabriel Etzel and Ben Gutierrez, 2nd edition., Everyday Bible Series (Nashville, TN: B&H
Academic, 2019), 226–227.
John Cartwright and Chris Hulshof, Everyday Bible Study: Growing in the Christian Faith, ed.
Gabriel Etzel and Ben Gutierrez, 2nd edition., Everyday Bible Series (Nashville, TN: B&H
Academic, 2019), 226–227.
