Back
in the good old days we could visit big bookstores, such as Borders, sit down
with a cup of coffee and sample any of their books. Like a library, there would
be different sections: Philosophy and Religion, Cooking, World History, Romance,
you name it! Then there are the big Christian bookstores, such as Koorong. Their
major genre is Christian, with lots of subgenres such as Bibles, Cosmogony, Systematic
and Biblical Theologies, Christian Philosophy, Evangelism, Missiology, Bible
Commentaries, Christian Fiction etc.
The
66 books of the Bible (39 OT & 27 NT) contain diverse literary genres. Some
major ones are Law, History/Narrative, Wisdom, Poetry, Prophecy, Gospel,
Epistle, Apocalypse, with many subcategories, such Romance (see e.g. Song of
Solomon).
Though
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17), most Christians have their own preferred
reading genres. Those of a poetic mindset particularly love the psalms. Others
favour the Bible for its history. Others for its engineering passages, such as
its instructions for putting the Tabernacle together (ball and socket joints
etc.) or building the Temple (end view, front view, plan view etc.) or Noah’s Ark
(dimensions, ventilation, type of wood used, pitch, not to mention zoology etc.)
One
of the ways we writers’ image the Creator is by being creative. God has
included many literary genres in His inspired Word. These attract a varied
readership. To be sure, “all Scripture is God-breathed,” which means that the
Spirit may be pleased to use even those seemingly obscure passages, such as genealogies
(Gen. 5; 1 Chron. 1-8; Neh. 7; Matt. 1; Luke 3) or Levitical Law or Apocalyptic
to attract readership. Therefore, we may follow His example by writing in the
genre(s) in which He has gifted and equipped us.
However,
more importantly, may the Holy Spirit be pleased to use our writings to point
our readership to our main source of inspiration, the Spirit speaking in His
Word.
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