Both Familiar and Foreign Genres

From 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible by Robert L. Plummer:

Certain books in the Bible are written in genres that are familiar to us, but others are foreign to the modern reader. And even familiar genres sometimes include assumptions that the modern reader might not expect. One way to identify the genre of a biblical book is to read it and note significant literary details and authorial comments that cue the reader as to how it should be understood. For example, the most common genre in the Bible is historical narrative, which makes up roughly 60 percent of its contents. The biblical genre of historical narrative is similar to factual historical reporting that we read today in a newspaper of history book. Still, there are a few differences. (1) Biblical historical narratives often are peppered with unfamiliar subgenres, such as genealogies (Matt. 1:1-17), songs (Exod. 15:1-18), proverbs (Matt. 26:52), prophecies (Mark 13: 3-37), or covenants (Josh. 24:1-28). (2) Biblical historical narratives generally are not concerned with some of the same details that modern readers might wish addressed (for example, strict chronological identification or sequencing, biographical details from the entire span of a person’s life, etc.). (3) Biblical historical narratives, while accurate, never claim to be objective. The biblical authors have a purpose in writing—to convince the readers of God’s revelatory message and the necessity of responding to God in repentance, faith, and obedience (e.g., John 20:30-31). 

One way to identify and learn about the genres of books in the Bible is to consult a study Bible, commentary, of other theological reference work…

Round the Sphere Again: Christology

Diety of Christ
From Ray Reynoso:

• Early Church on Jesus’ Deity
• John on the Deity of Christ
• Paul on the Deity of Christ

Eternal Generation of the Son
Is it biblical? It’s in the Nicene creed, but recently some evangelical theologians have been questioning it, mostly, I think, since we’ve come to understand that monogenēs means “one-of-a-kind” rather than “only begotten.” But even without “only begotten Son” there is biblical evidence for eternal generation (Justin Taylor).

Theological Term of the Week

KJV Onlyism
A movement that teaches (erroneously) that the King James Version of the Bible is itself inerrant and the only true Word of God in the English language; also called King James Onlyism.

• From The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy:

  Since God has nowhere promised an inerrant transmission of Scripture, it is necessary to affirm that only the autographic text of the original documents was inspired and to maintain the need of textual criticism as a means of detecting any slips that may have crept into the text in the course of its transmission. The verdict of this science, however, is that the Hebrew and Greek text appear to be amazingly well preserved, so that we are amply justified in affirming, with the Westminster Confession, a singular providence of God in this matter and in declaring that the authority of Scripture is in no way jeopardized by the fact that the copies we possess are not entirely error-free.

  Similarly, no translation is or can be perfect, and all translations are an additional step away from the autographa. Yet the verdict of linguistic science is that English-speaking Christians, at least, are exceedingly well served in these days with a host of excellent translations and have no cause for hesitating to conclude that the true Word of God is within their reach. Indeed, in view of the frequent repetition in Scripture of the main matters with which it deals and also of the Holy Spirit’s constant witness to and through the Word, no serious translation of Holy Scripture will so destroy its meaning as to render it unable to make its reader “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15).

  A. It is required of them that would worthily (that is, suitably) partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord’s body; of their faith to feed upon Him; of their repentance, love, and new obedience: lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.

• From 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible  by Robert Plummer:

The best Bible translations are based on the most reliable ancient manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments…. The King James Version (KJV) is not highly recommended because it is not based on the best manuscripts and because the seventeenth-century English is hard for most modern people to understand. … While it was an excellent work for its day, the KJV has been surpassed by many modern translations in both readability and faithfulness to the original manuscripts. Some people wrongly and often passionately claim the KJV is a superior translation of the Bible. The historical and linguistic facts do not support this claim. 

Learn more:

1. GotQuestions.org: What is the KJV Only movement?
2. Dan Wallace: Why I Do Not Think the King James Version Is the Best Translation Available Today
3. Jeff Spry: The King James Only Controversy (pdf)
4. Fred Butler: Confessions of a KJV Only Advocate, plus a whole page of mp3s and articles.
5. James White: King James Only Controversy
6. Bill Combs: Beginning of the KJV Only Movement, Dean Burgon: Father of the KJV-Only Movement, Dean Burgon and the Revised Version, The KJV-Only Movement Comes to America, The Modern KJV-Only Movement, Is Only the King James Version the Word of God?, and Is the King James Version the Final Authority?
7. James White: What’s the Big Deal with King James Onlyism (series of YouTube videos), Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Related terms:

• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• manuscripts
• perspicuity of scripture
• textual criticism

Filed under Defective Theology.

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.