Someone once told me to try reading the Bible as if it were literature. Immediately, hard-working guardian brain cells sent up numerous red flags. In time, those red flags lowered. I want to explain why I decided to try reading the Bible as if it were a novel and show you how this practice can be a rich addition to your faith practices.
It was actually my husband who brought this idea to me. He had heard it from one of our favorite Bible scholars and knew I would love this Bible study tool once I had wrapped my head around it.
Most of us are taught as young children that non-fiction = true and fiction = pretend, made-up, or, in other words, untrue. And even though I have written numerous times about fiction as a vehicle for truth, even here on the Everything Epic blog, my mind reverted to my childhood library definitions.
“You want me to read the Bible as if it is not true?”
But that is not what the scholar nor my husband were suggesting at all. And of course, neither am I. It is more like this:
A work of fiction is a story created by an author with plot, characters, symbolism, themes, etc., that serve a purpose, right? And often, the purpose is to communicate truth, or at least a message important to the author. Well, this is the case with Scripture as well. God has a message, the absolutely true message, that He wants to communicate, and He uses the biblical writers to do so in His Word.
So, for the very reason that the Bible is the holy, inspired Word of God, we have this amazing opportunity to reexamine the Bible and ask brand-new questions. Let us explore a few examples to better understand what I mean and how you might try this out in your personal study.
Plot Threads
Some people love fiction that follows a formula. They know what to expect from their favorite author or contemporary genre and love it like they love their regular coffee order. Personally, I love a tricky, intricate plot. I love how Charles Dickens can cross threads of families and generations this way and that until you get to the end and find they are all one marvelous tapestry showing his message.
Maybe that is why the very first thing I noticed when I picked up the Bible to reread it like a novel was the way similar threads run from beginning to end. Families, nations, the same good versus the same evil, and always this grand plan of redemption running from beginning to end. I have known this for years, but suddenly I saw it and felt it in a deeper, more meaningful way.
As an author, I attempt to do similar, though admittedly less amazing, things as Dickens. I want readers to pick up all the little clues I leave them, hopefully even on subsequent reads through my book. Reading the Bible with my imagination made me realize God would do the same, would He not? Only His Book is for all mankind and has infinite wonders woven in. Here, God gave me, us, everyone, this story that will never grow old, with inexhaustible connections throughout His plot, a plot that is personal because it involves our redemption.
World-Building
If you pay attention, even the “world-building,” and I mean beyond the creation story, is full of connecting details. Place names, personal names, the various settings, the building of the tabernacles and temples, government and religious systems, it is incredible how many of those things have symbolic or numerological meanings.
In fact, a long time ago, when struggling to get through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy right in a row, I started looking up every single place name. Some locations did not turn up much. But many had an article or two and maps or photos to explore. It was just enough to help me picture the Israelites there, to use my imagination and feel what it would be like to live through each chapter. I guess it is sort of like a grown-up Superbook in a way.
Symbolism Treasure Hunt
“It is only fitting that His Word should be both truth and intricate enough to occupy our study for a lifetime and beyond.”
How beautiful that our God is the Creator of everything, including art. It is only fitting that His Word would be full of rich symbolism and beautiful language. Again, not because the words are untrue, but because the truth is delivered in lovely ways.
One of my favorite examples is the Book of Job. The story of Job was recorded by several cultures in the ancient Near East, and there is some debate as to which version existed first. But the account in Scripture is unique in the way the God of the Bible responds. Some of my very favorite verses are in these chapters.
Honestly, the Book of Job is a treasure trove for this topic, but I particularly want to look at Job 28:4–11, where God refers to creating the earth, specifically subduing the seas, and chapter 41, where God uses the Leviathan as an example of His power.
At face value, these verses have amazing imagery, surging waves, thick darkness, a sea dragon or dinosaur. Marvelous.
But then read them as if an author included every single detail, down to word choice, connotation, and allusion, for a very intentional purpose. What more do these verses have to tell us? Well, I am no scholar, but I have read about chaos and chaos-monster imagery, and so had the scribes that painstakingly copied down the Book of Job for us. They knew exactly what the encounter referred to.
Imagine with me an immensely turbulent sea. Darkness covers the water like a thick shroud. The earth longs for light, but it has not come. There is nothing that can stop the monstrous depths. Gradually, the sea grows even more restless. Tentacles of angry water lash out from the abyss. Darkness reels at what is coming. A Presence hovers over the water, and chaos cannot tolerate it, but nor can it defeat it. A battle commences such as has never been seen before.
The stars, which have begun to peek through the receding darkness, watch in awe.
Chaos is defeated and contained. The angels, who sing for joy, watch as God not only wins, but begins restoring. He makes a brand-new home for Himself and those He loves. He takes emptiness and darkness and creates light and life.
This is the power and majesty of the God who answers Job. Not only that, but once you start to recognize it, chaos imagery is all over Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. It was a common theme in the literature and storytelling in the ancient Near East, including Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylon, where the Israelites were held captive, and onward through time and place in Syria, Iraq, and Greece.
This is why the Psalmist says:
“You split open the sea by your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food to the desert-dwelling creatures.
You split open spring and wadi.[i]
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
Yours is the day; yours is the night also.
You established light and the sun.
You defined[j] all the boundaries of the earth.
Summer and winter, you formed them.”
(Psalm 74:14–17)
In Conclusion
How much more powerful are these Scriptures when we use our imaginations to take full advantage of what they are, Eastern literature written with myriad layers of beauty.
Literary devices weave intricately through the entirety of Scripture, connecting it to the past, present, and future in marvelous ways. Sometimes we have to remember that the Author of authors is behind the Bible and take a new kind of look at this most Holy Book to understand it better.
When we remember that Eastern minds generally think less in black-and-white terms than Western minds, we do not have to sacrifice any literal interpretation of truth to use our imaginations. We can remember that the God who inspired the writing of each word is unfathomably beautiful. It is only fitting that His Word should be both truth and intricate enough to occupy our study for a lifetime and beyond.
Your Turn
Character Study
Choose a Bible character and read his or her story in Scripture as if you are reading a folktale. Picture what they look like and the clothing he or she might wear. Imagine what they feel and think, and what motivates them.
After you read:
- What does your character want most?
- What is in the way of what they want, or what is the greatest obstacle in their life?
- Is this character’s arc positive, negative, or flat or static?
- What aspects of this character’s life or personality do you relate to most?
- Look up any items, places, or other concepts you are struggling to picture or understand. Note anything you think might be important.
- Imagine you were in this character’s shoes. Journal your thoughts. How might you act or react differently? Or how would your personality change the situation? This might range from, “I would never make it in that weather,” to, “I think I would face an immense struggle with my pride.”
- Do you see any foreshadowing, symbolism, or other literary devices that connect this story to the rest of Scripture?
- Try to hold this imaginative version of the story loosely in the back of your mind as you move on. Come back to your notes and add Scriptures that connect to this topic.
References & Further Reading
[1] Dr. Michael S Heiser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Konb50LyC5w
[2]Clarke, Benjamin “Misery Loves Company: A Comparative Analysis of Theodicy Literature in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel.” Intermountain W est Journal of Religious Studies 2, no. 1 (2010). https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol2/iss1/5
[3] MOBLEY, Gregory. (2012). The return of the chaos monsters and the other backstories of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Wm B Eerdmans.
[4] Heiser, Dr. Michael S, Jonah and the Chaos Dragon” The Naked Bible Podcast, Episode 347 (2020) https://nakedbiblepodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NB-347-Transcript.pdf
[5] Clarke, Benjamin “Misery Loves Company: A Comparative Analysis of Theodicy Literature in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel.” Intermountain W est Journal of Religious Studies 2, no. 1 (2010). https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol2/iss1/5
[6] All scriptures quoted from Lexham English Bible (LEB) 2012, registered trademark by Logos Bible Software
