A review by kamckim
How to Read the Bible as Literature: . . . and Get More Out of It by Leland Ryken

4.0

I first heard about this book way back in 1986. Just now, I found the time to read it. I'm so glad I did. I always thought I had a literary bent toward understanding the Bible because I was innately "good" at literature. After reading this, I realize it has always been the other way around. I'm good at literature because I grew up on the literature of the Bible. This is a shorter text by Ryken, that almost seems designed as an outline for a college course. It's certainly written clearly enough that a student could understand how he applies literary terms (metaphor, simile, narrative, paradox, etc.) to passages in the Bible. He discusses narrative, biblical poetry, the proverb, the Gospels, parables, epistles and visionary (prophetic) literature. It's all very helpful and provides a great framework for doing what the book titles says, "reading the Bible as literature". My favorite part of the book is from the opening chapter, "Is the Bible Literature?". There is a discussion of literature as incarnational which carries several layers of meaning for me. Good text.