How to Read the Bible as Literature
By Leland Ryken

            Leland Ryken has taken on the task of writing this book on interpreting Scripture as literature because he sees that too often Scripture is understood as a theological outline with proof texts attached.  He disagrees with this approach because it is oversimplified and is not true to the forms of literature given to us in Scripture.  Ryken wants the reader of this book, then, to be able to distinguish the different types of literature the Bible employs, and then to interpret those forms by the needs that each requires of the reader (9).  As such, "It is a 'grammar' of literary forms and techniques" (10).

Summary

            Ryken begins this quest into the literature of Scripture by asking the question that most would be asking by reading the title: "Is the Bible Literature?"  Of course given the title, he concludes that it is necessary that exegetes of Scripture understand that the Bible is written using differing methods and designs for different purposes.  He makes the claim that, "the most important thing about literature: its subject matter is human experience, not abstract ideas.  Literature incarnates its meanings as concretely as possible" (13).  Thus, we must not read Scripture as an instruction manual.  In fact, in most of the literature of Scripture we have pictures of theological truths, not lists of propositions, thus his comparison of trying to understand Scripture with the attempt to put together a toy - instructions may be helpful, but a picture usually quashes the need for written instructions.  These pictures are conveyed to us by the use of varying types of literature, such as poetry, visionary literature, stories, etc., and there subsequent subgroups, such as epic story, hero story, apocalyptic, prophecy, etc. 

Ryken then spends the rest of the book doing brief overviews of the different kinds of literature, and giving some examples of these categories.  He closes the book by confronting the extreme view that could be taken by one reading this book, that one should simply read the Bible as an amalgamation of literary techniques and categories.  He points out that though differing subjects and literary categories, all of Scripture is unified in telling the story of redemption, with God as the central protagonist.

Strengths

There were many ideas expressed in Ryken's book that struck a positive, and needed, chord.  As one who likes the logical arguments of propositions, it was important for me to see that most of Scripture deals with pictures, images, and stories of truth, rather than prepositional statements of it.  It is this incarnational element of Scripture that presses home the need for rightly understanding the categories of literature, so that one can rightly interpret them (17).  In fact the Bible is a piece of beautiful artwork which paints truth with a fine brush, and this artistic excellence is not extraneous to the total effect of it (24).  Besides, goodness, truth, and beauty have always been held as philosophic ideals, it only makes sense that they are portrayed together for the purpose of expressing God's purposes in history.

Another important idea that impressed me is the need to read the stories of the Bible by the functions of setting, character, and plot.  The fact that "a biblical storyteller goes beyond the documentary impulse to record what happened and proceeds to describe how it happened, he thereby signals that he wishes us, the readers, to share an experience" (34).  In fact, since the storyteller chooses to share certain elements of plot, character, and setting, what he chooses to share is very important to the meaning he wants us to get from the text.  Along the lines of this impression, the ability to understand different types of stories seems quite important for the task of preaching them.  If the writer or speaker chooses to build up a story or parable in a certain suspenseful way, it is probably for the purpose of eliciting a specific response from the reader or hearer.

Another helpful section of the book is Ryken's list of poetic devices and figures of speech in the chapter on poetry of the Bible (100-101).  When reading through poetry in Scripture it is often hard to divide the text into smaller elements that are easier to understand, but with these figures of speech as an aid to interpretation, the benefit of understanding is greatly increased.  Along these lines, the list of types of biblical poetry is also helpful in differentiating the many psalms and lyric poems in the Old Testament.

Weaknesses

One issue on which I disagree with Ryken is his comment that visions "do not primarily take the reader forward in time but rather beyond the visible spatial world" (167).  While going beyond the spatial world is obvious in much visionary literature, there are many times when the spatial element is in a future time.  Ryken makes the statement, "Dream...is the model that visionary literature in the Bible follows."  While our dreams may not be composed of events yet to come, there are many dreams in Scripture that are just as visionary as the apocalyptic literature, but that tell a story of a future time.  An example would be Joseph's dreams of the sheaves and the celestial bodies.  Visionary elements are present, but it is clearly explaining the future event of Israel's family going to Egypt, and their bowing down to Joseph as vice-regent of Egypt.  Another example, though I hesitate to admit it, is the visionary literature found in John's Apocalypse.  I would be the first to say that not all of this book is future oriented, there are still things represented across the whole span of human history that are portrayed in the book by the use of visionary elements.  Each of the cataclysmic earthquakes and rumblings that appear throughout the book are pictures of the future end of the restraining of God's wrath on the world.  Definitely the picture of Christ coming forth arrayed for battle, riding the white horse, to destroy the opposing armies is a future event, as well as the putting down of those armies and the judgment of the world at the great white throne.

Conclusion

Overall, though, I would absolutely recommend this book.  The author has a worthy purpose for writing the book, seeing as much of the hermeneutics going on at the lay level (which seems to be the intended audience) is absent of any thought concerning literary categories.  Ryken set out to inform the reader of the different literary types found in Scripture, and he certainly accomplished his goal.  It is also helpful for pastors, though, as a short introduction to the topic of literary forms in Scripture, and is divided well enough that it would be a good resource for everyday use.  The shortness, and clear chapter divisions and subsections make this book a good reference tool.  One improvement that I would make is simply pragmatic, but the paper Zondervan used is not quality, thus it easily rips, and is not conducive to highlighters.  Compared to the only other book of its kind that I have read, Stein's A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible, I would lean towards this one, mainly because I disagree with Stein on his presupposition that parables can have only one point, and definitely cannot be allegorical.  Ryken takes a balanced approach and says that if the narrator gives reason to think that the parable has multiple points, or is allegorical, then it may be that he wants us to interpret them in that manner.

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