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The bible has been cut, revised, twisted for political & attaining power purposes to the point that much of it seems disjointed, as if key parts are missing. That's because they are. Regardless of that historical fact, one thing remains true: numerous people composed the parts of the 'good book' that is known today. That means that their literary styles of writing are different. Ryken contends that the bible is a "composite" of literary styles. I disagree. The word composite means several parts blending into an indistinguishable one. We know that actors playing characters in films, for example, are playing a "composite character." That means what happened in the lives of several people are all presented as if they happened to one person. Or that a person who has several kinds of behavior, are derived from several people from whom the author borrowed to make one character. If the bible were a composite of literary styles, it would seem like one person wrote all of it. Obviously, there'd not be many people who'd make such a claim. For example, reading the author of Matthew & comparing their style of writing to that of the author of John reveals they are distinctly different writing styles. Thus, there is no composite. Instead there are different writing styles. The bible is more like an anthology, like a collection of essays by different authors that an editor has overseen & put together into one book. The editor doesn't want the authors to write the exact same ways or say the exact same things. The bible is filled with writings by story-tellers, poets, letter-writers, song composers, people who spoke in proverbs & used metaphors, parables, symbolism & satire (at the very least). Ryken contends that identifying the literary form of a chapter or passage will help to understand the meanings & facts in the text. I agree. Ryken aptly points out what literary forms biblical authors use. By paying attention to what kind of text is written, reading it with that knowledge does have the effect of changing what messages are being conveyed. This "how to" book includes wide margins for glossing the pages, further reading suggestions, captions, indexes of subjects & people & an appendix. The "how to" parts are well worth owning the text~Read full review
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