https://www.scribd.com/book/327947820/How-to-Read-the-Bible-as-Literature-and-Get-More-Out-of-It
Follow the Author
Leland Ryken
About the Author
Leland Ryken (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois, where he has twice received the teacher of the year award.
How to Read the Bible as Literature: . . . and Get More Out of It Kindle Edition
by Leland Ryken (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 182 ratings
Kindle
$11.99Read with Our Free App
Paperback
$28.68
2 Used from $12.9414 New from $28.68
Print length
197 pages
Sticky notes
On Kindle Scribe
Language
Product description
From the Back Cover
Why the Good Book Is a Great Read If you want to rightly understand the Bible, you must begin by recognizing what it is: a composite of literary styles. It is meant to be read, not just interpreted. The Bible's truths are embedded like jewels in the rich strata of story and poetry, metaphor and proverb, parable and letter, satire and symbolism. Paying attention to the literary form of a passage will help you understand the meaning and truth of that passage. How to Read the Bible as Literature takes you through the various literary forms used by the biblical authors. This book will help you read the Bible with renewed appreciation and excitement and gain a more profound grasp of its truths. Designed for maximum clarity and usefulness, How to Read the Bible as Literature includes * sidebar captions to enhance organization * wide margins ideal for note taking * suggestions for further reading *
Follow the Author
Leland Ryken
About the Author
Leland Ryken (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois, where he has twice received the teacher of the year award.
How to Read the Bible as Literature: . . . and Get More Out of It Kindle Edition
by Leland Ryken (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 182 ratings
Kindle
$11.99Read with Our Free App
Paperback
$28.68
2 Used from $12.9414 New from $28.68
Print length
197 pages
Sticky notes
On Kindle Scribe
Language
Product description
From the Back Cover
Why the Good Book Is a Great Read If you want to rightly understand the Bible, you must begin by recognizing what it is: a composite of literary styles. It is meant to be read, not just interpreted. The Bible's truths are embedded like jewels in the rich strata of story and poetry, metaphor and proverb, parable and letter, satire and symbolism. Paying attention to the literary form of a passage will help you understand the meaning and truth of that passage. How to Read the Bible as Literature takes you through the various literary forms used by the biblical authors. This book will help you read the Bible with renewed appreciation and excitement and gain a more profound grasp of its truths. Designed for maximum clarity and usefulness, How to Read the Bible as Literature includes * sidebar captions to enhance organization * wide margins ideal for note taking * suggestions for further reading *
appendix: 'The Allegorical Nature of the Parables' * indexes of persons and subjects --This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
Leland Ryken (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois, where he has twice received the teacher of the year award.--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Publisher : Zondervan Academic; 1st edition (22 November 2016)
Language : English
File size : 913 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
Print length : 197 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 0310390214Best Sellers Rank: 467,902 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)110 in Christian Bible Handbooks
125 in Christian Literature & the Arts
380 in Christian Bible Study (Kindle Store)Customer Reviews:
4.7 out of 5 stars 182 ratings
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dwb
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work!Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on 20 August 2020
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Thorough, relevant and helpful to any student of the Bible but especially to a Bible teacher (church or academic level)
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SKumar
5.0 out of 5 stars A good reference guideReviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 9 September 2017
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All entries are properly explained. Reading it is an enjoyable experience.
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Mel Landers
5.0 out of 5 stars Starting a ClimbReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 8 August 2020
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As a former English major, I've always been fascinated by the literary style of the Bible. While I appreciate much of the religious teaching that comes from the Bible, I've often wondered at how I could study the Bible as a literary text. This book is more of an introduction that helps to get a foothold in that direction, but it's an excellent foothold. I'm quite excited to check out the resources of other scholars to see what they say. The Bible has such an excellent way of communicating its ideas in such a vivid way.
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InHisHand
5.0 out of 5 stars Remembering that Holy Literature Was Crafted by Master ArtisansReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 11 October 2012
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This book was shocking! Some years ago when I first picked it up, it admonished me, a Bible believing evangelical, to read holy Scriptures in a manner I had never contemplated doing so before: as literature written by master word-artisans from other centuries.
For many the above admonishment may be old hat, but for me it was like a lightning strike and quite revolutionary in my thinking. At first I considered that the thought might even be blasphemous. But Ryken opened a whole world of explanations for why the narratives, poetry, and letters contain the elements they do.
Far from eroding my faith in the Word this book most strongly bolstered it. Finally I understood that Hebrew poetry (the Psalms and Proverbs for example) were not doctrinal dictates with apparent contradictions that seemed to need to be reconciled but were to be understood as emotive outpourings filled with hyperbole, imagery, lies that we tell ourselves, and sarcastic commentaries on then-contemporary society and about the way believers live in society, all in an effort to reflect back to us what is in our hearts as opposed to what God would want our hearts to be. In other words, Hebrew poetry functions much as Western poetry does. It is a mistake to read Hebrew poetry as a literal study in doctrine.
Ryken takes pains to examine every major literary genre in the Bible and illustrate how that genre should be generally read for understanding. The goal is to gain the meaning that the original author intended to convey using the styles and literary tools available to him at the time.
Many of the narratives were crafted to be timeless and engrossing stories about historical events. They were not like Western news accounts that slavishly and almost thoughtlessly repeat details without attention to symbolism or major or minor impacts. These story telling historians generated artful explanations of past events that emphasized certain highlights and deemphasized others. Those master writers crafted some of the narratives like modern mystery stories, not bothering to explain the morality implications of every decision of the characters but using seemingly irrelevant or disconnected scenes and events to point the reader to stunning conclusions about God's view of human behaviors. When reading one must always ask, "Why did a master story teller include that; what did he want to story to gain with that purposeful addition?"
Certainly I do not agree with every small assertion in Ryken's book, but I found the book overall to be an excellent kick-start to understanding the human skill and human intent of the biblical authors. Obviously these men were inerrantly inspired by the Holy Spirit, but just as with us, He employs the human mind and heart to accomplish His ends.
This book is faith building and instructive. It reminds us of truths we long since have forgotten to teach in the church.
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Gary Glover
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read.Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 August 2021
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I have read this book two or three times in the last six years and have thoroughly annotated my copy. I only suggest you read chapter 12 (the lastchapter) first. It makes the rest of the book more comprehensible.
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