God-Breathed: Exploring How the Bible Is Written

By Geoff Hydon

Geoff Hydon provides a very practical guide to getting into the Bible, taking a look at the major literary devices and writing techniques that God has used to get His message across effectively!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hayes Press
• Release date: Jan 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386554530

Book preview

CONTENTS

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

CHAPTER ONE: AUDIO-VISUAL LESSONS – DRAMA DESCRIBED

CHAPTER TWO: ADDING SOME FEELING - POETRY

CHAPTER THREE: AN APPEAL TO LOGIC - REASONING

CHAPTER FOUR: MEMORY WORK – ACROSTICS AND MNEMONICS

CHAPTER FIVE: LET’S ILLUSTRATE THAT! ANALOGIES, PARABLES AND PARABLES

CHAPTER SIX: SING IT! PSALMS, HYMNS AND SONGS

CHAPTER SEVEN: LIVES AS LESSONS - BIOGRAPHIES

CHAPTER EIGHT: WHY DID YOU CALL HIM THAT? - NAMES

CHAPTER NINE: ON THE SCENE - REPORTING

CHAPTER TEN: A CONFIDENT ASSERTION - PROPHECY

CHAPTER ELEVEN: ON THE STATUTE BOOK – LAWS AND COMMANDS

CHAPTER TWELVE: TRUE TO LIFE - PROVERBS

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: IT’S OBVIOUS! IRONY, RHETORIC AND EXAGGERATION

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MAKING YOU THINK? QUESTIONS

DID YOU GET IT?

A NOTE ABOUT THE WRITER  

WHY READ THIS BOOK?

We may not all share the same interests, or find the same reading material appealing, so why invest your time reading this book?  We think you will find it worthwhile, even if the style is not what you would normally look for.  However, it is about one of the most beneficial subjects, God's message to us in His own words, the Bible.  That is perhaps reason enough to look further.  Then we think the majority of readers will find the content helpful in the clarifications it provides about some aspects of the Bible, and it may help to correct wrong prejudices about this book of books, God's word.

Some of us might have wished that we could just put important reading material on our pillow and let it sink in while we sleep!  The Bible is an amazing book, but osmosis is not the method for learning its content well. Yet discovering what God has to say to us in the Bible is not a difficult chore: as we begin to appreciate God's methods of communication, we may well find it difficult to put the Bible down, for a lot of its content is quite compelling reading.

If we read through the pages of this book we shall soon realize that the Bible is not simply a list of do's and don'ts.  Although people with not much more than a passing interest in the Bible may think of it as a collection of warnings about anything we must not do, Thou shalt not ... in the English language of the 17th century, this book will direct our attention differently.  The focus is not simply on what the Bible says, but on the way it is said. In passing we note that ‘You shall not ...’ was ancient Hebrew’s only way of stating a negative instruction. It almost carries an assurance, since it comes from God Himself: With my help you will not ...

How does God go about grabbing our attention?  To satisfy that objective, He uses various literary techniques.  By His Spirit He breathed into the mind of His various writers not only core truths, but the best way to express them (2 Tim.3:16).  If we are to find the Bible as profitable as it is intended to be, we must start by recognizing that in its original form, every word, every part of speech, every tense of every verb, every choice between plural and singular, was not left to chance or the idiosyncrasy of the dozens of writers God would use.  Instead He breathed out to them His own particular choices, because He had important things to say and must say them accurately and clearly. We should immediately add that God certainly used the style and idiom of a variety of human authors, as suited to the kind of book they wrote and the ways which they would write it in their own time and culture.  (If you doubt this degree of divine inspiration of the Bible, please contact us so that we can help substantiate these statements.)

Now if you begin to explore the Bible beyond the lists of commands that it does indeed include you will find, among other things, captivating histories.  Information is provided that fills gaps in our understanding of just what happened and when.  Not simply from the perspective of the average person living at the time, but rather from the perspective of a selective Communicator who knew perfectly - in full detail - about what had led up to any action, and exactly what results would proceed from it, and what people of every age should learn from these events.  The Bible records forever what God, who knows right from the beginning how everything ends, thought was important for you and me to remember about the past.  And some of His choices may surprise us.  To surprise us is in fact sometimes His intent!  So with a sympathetic concern that immeasurably exceeded Charles Dickens' desire for social justice, He chose as His communication vehicles not imaginary stories but real life accounts of glorious world leaders and ordinary people, like Ruth, clutched from awful backgrounds and brought into the limelight of fame.  Yet not as fairy stories, but as historically true, explanatory statements, encapsulating key lessons for you and me.

A brief glance at the Contents page will have shown highlights of the way God has chosen to communicate.  The conclusion we should reach is that He has done more than enough to make His message interesting and challenging to the human mind.  No doubt because He understands fully that we are often so different from one another, He has catered to all kinds of literary styles.  The Bible is a compendium of varying types of material, expressed in a variety of ways.  Some of us might have preferred God to just give us necessary instructions in a textbook manner, or like an operator's manual.  In the main, He does not do so.  Perhaps that's because such lists are informative and facilitate research, but they are not very memorable or sufficiently explanatory in that format.  Further, His Book is about life as it is, in which people have to learn about Him in the course of daily business—so much more alive than any textbook: it’s revelation from above as it happened to living people.

So how would you write to someone in a way that you have confidence will help them remember what you say, and begin to understand why you say it? Someone long ago said, A picture is worth a thousand words, apparently expressing an even more ancient Chinese proverb.  This is a reasonable assessment.  And when God chose how the parts of the Bible should be written, He often used graphic portrayals instead of just concise statements or historical accounts.  This will not be to everyone's liking, but for most the technique is very profitable.  God knew what He was doing when He provided one written communication that must serve the needs of the whole of mankind.

It will rapidly become clear that this book is not intended only for scholars, to add to the many volumes already available on the complicated subject of 'literary genres found in the Bible'.  Rather, it’s a book of easily understood, practical insights for any Bible reader.  Though beneficial, you will not even find it essential to read all the chapters in their numbered sequence: you can pick or choose according to your interest (and we hope that when that interest is stimulated you will want to read it all.)

Now you may still ask yourself, why should I read this book about God's book?  We hope you'll soon be able to say: Because His book was written not just for everybody else, but for me.  And when I put aside any prejudices I have about how the Bible was originally produced I can learn to appreciate not only its content, but the impressive methods used to ensure the message for me is understandable, memorable, appreciated and implemented. 

Geoff Hydon

CHAPTER ONE: AUDIO-VISUAL LESSONS - DRAMA DESCRIBED

If you have attended a school play, you know such performances are captivating.  Despite occasional failure to remember a line, or awkward pronunciation, the audience is generally very happy with the players.  Loud applause is common.  We listen carefully to everything the children say, not missing a word.  Months, even years, later the performance can be called to mind. 

Acting out a set of events is a powerful way to build a relationship with the intended audience and get one’s message across.  Thus Shakespeare brought lessons from history with relevance to current life.  And thus Dickens’s character Ebenezer Scrooge reminded the world of a deep social responsibility shared by all Christians.  Such images doubtless left indelible impressions on many a mind.  Not only does live drama stir our minds, the written word using graphic illustrative language can have similar