My LDS Perspectives Podcast on Genre

Ben contemplates his words, at Petra.

I was interviewed last year for the LDS Perspectives podcast, which I recommend. Therein, I allude to a lot of different books and papers, linked below. I also cited John Widtsoe on genre, from his 1930 book In Search of Truth available online here. Widtsoe said,

“As in all good books every literary device is used in the Bible that will drive the lesson home. It contains history, poetry and allegory. These are not always distinguishable, now that the centuries have passed away since the original writing.”

Here is further reading that I alluded.

Marc Brettler, How to Read the (Jewish) Bible
- Editorial, Iraq war idea.
McKenzie, How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature– Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference and What it Means for Faith
- Galaxy Quest and genre confusion ideas.
Lee, The Erosion of Biblical Certainty: Battles over Authority and Interpretation in America
VSI: Scientific Revolution
VSI: Enlightenment
Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither
On historiography and Samuel/Chronicles, I believe Peter Enns talks about this both in his excellent Incarnation and Inspiration: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament and his other books.
- Enns spoke at BYU last year, and has been interviewed on the Maxwell Podcast twice.
The most sequential/systematic book on genres related to the Old Testament is by Kenton Sparks, Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature.
- Sparks other books have influenced my thinking, both
  - Sacred Word, Broken Word: Biblical Authority and the Dark Side of Scripture and
  - God’s Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship
Misreading with Western Eyes
- “Goes without being said”
Mormons and the Bible
- A must-read by Philip Barlow on the way the Bible has been read within Mormonism.
On Leviticus, see Julie Smith’s article
On modern translations of the Bible, see
- My article in Religious Educator on why Bible translations differ and how to use them well, and get at Greek and Hebrew.
  - On getting at Greek and Hebrew, see also my posts here and here.
- If you’re looking for a new Bible, see my recommendations here and here.
Asking good questions (see below)
Julie Smith, Search, Ponder, and Pray: A Guide to the Gospels
Jim Faulconer’s books
On note-taking tools, content, and suggestions, see my series of posts combined into a Word doc, here.
If you’re interested in Jonah, see my post here, with several links to a podcast a did, and other posts about Jonah like The Insufficiency of the New Testament argument.

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