Genres and such...

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry.

My name is Mike Abendroth and I have sinus problems.

Oh brother.

If you listen to other shows instead of mine because you don't like hearing this, I get it.

Sorry about that, but there's nothing I can do.

Did have a cat scan of my head the other day.

They said the cerebral cortex was gone.

Discovering Colossians by S.

Hopefully coming up soon.

I'm working on kind of an updated sexual fidelity book.

What else am I working on? Oh, a variety of things.

I'll see you at the Deeply Rooted Conference, November 10th and 11th in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Deeplyrootedpodcast.com if you want to register there.

I'll see you in Omaha, Nebraska at the Pactum Conference.

Pat Abendroth, D.G.

Hart, and Michael Beck.

I don't know why I couldn't remember his name before.

Endoxin.

Endoxation stuff.

Yeah, I have a book in front of me.

It's called A Theological Miscellany, T.J.

McTavish.

And I used to use this when I didn't know what to do for a radio show.

And if you have to have live radio daily, well, then you better be prepared with extra stuff.

I wanted to read the Beza briefing today, but I think I'm actually more stuffy than normal.

And so I thought, well, we'll do something else.

I randomly opened this up to a section called Literary Genres Found in Scripture.

Literary Genres Found in Scripture.

And of course, you already know this, but you want to interpret the Bible properly.

What does the author mean when he says? And of course, there's a human author and there's a divine author.

Sometimes I don't think the human author knew exactly what he was saying because that's a whole story.

I think if you're dispensational, the human author always knew.

Or pretty close to it.

If you're a covenant theologian, he didn't always know.

But anyway, both of us would agree, covenant or dispensational, that there's a divine author and a human author.

And God reveals his word through the inspiration of, you know, God breathed out.

So you can look at 2 Peter 3, 16-17, and 2 Peter 1, 20-21.

Well, if you just think the Bible is written one kind of way without genre, it's not going to work out very well.

And so when I saw this page, I thought, you know what? Typically people say there's narrative, there's epistolatory, there's poetic, and there's apocalyptic.

Okay.

Yeah, I got it.

But let's see what this says because my point is simply this.

Hebrews 8, verse 1, the point that I'm saying is this.

You want to make sure that you know the genre and it'll help you.

And it's not as simple as, well, these are the four.

If you say there's more than one genre and there's a lot of poetry, there's a lot of narratives, there's epistolatory, there's apocalyptic, you're on your way.

But you're not all the way there.

What does this give us here on page 96? So we can understand the type of literature that we're reading so we can understand what God says, because it's pretty important, do you think, to know what God actually says.

You can ask Origen about that another day.

There are prophetic oracles within poetry, the word of the Lord type of thing.

You'll see that in Psalms 82 and 91.

Within poetry genre, there's hymns, lots of songs are what we would call hymns in terms of a poetic genre.

And you can find those, Psalm 100 is an easy one to think of, the old 100, Psalm 150.

I'm in a lot of Christian hymns in Luke chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2.

Some people call the gospel of Jesus, according to Luke, the gospel of songs.

You want to make sure that you understand that out of poetry, we've got prophetic oracles, we have hymns.

This you'll know, of course, a lament.

You'll see lament Psalms.

I was talking to a student today, talking about how when we preach, we want to reflect what kind of passage that is, even with our countenance.

And if it's an imprecatory Psalm or a lament Psalm, we preach that differently.

If it was a praise Psalm or a halal Psalm, you've got lament and lamentations, of course, and some of the prophets.

Here's one that you need to understand, that you don't want it to run by you, and that's wedding poetry.

So prophetic oracle, hymn, lament, wedding poetry, i.e.

the song of Solomon and Psalm 45.

You can always pause the show and read Psalm 45 now, or if you want to pause this show and read the song of Solomon now, you can, as long as you're over 30.

I think the Jews didn't let their young people read Song of Solomon until they were older.

I mean, when kids are little, what are they going to do? They can't get any of it.

Then there are narrative genres.

Now, typically, you just think, oh, narrative is the genre, but there's a subsection.

Like poetry, you've got oracles, hymns, lament, wedding poetry.

With narratives, let me give you three.

One is story, and of course, that's what we typically think of as narratives.

If you're reading Genesis, that's a story, or Exodus.

If you're reading Numbers, if you're reading 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Chronicles, 1 and 2 Samuel, you'll get some story, of course, even in prophetical books.

Would you think that the Acts of the Apostles, the Acts of the Holy Spirit, as some people call it, do you think that would be narrative? Yes.

What about this, though? What about as a category of narrative genre, gospel? Now, some people think that's a standalone category, a gospel, but the way this book writes it, describes it rather, is not a standard history slash biography, but a specialized proclamation of Jesus as Messiah.

I would probably hold that line of thought, that line of thinking.

It's a special narrative.

It's called the gospel.

And I don't know if there's anything like it before in the history of the world, but it's something unique, and you need to read it like that.

That's why I always say, by the way, the gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew, the gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark, the gospel of Jesus Christ according to Q, the gospel...

Oh, sorry.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke, gospel of Jesus Christ according to John, just to make sure you always remember Matthew, Mark, Luke, John are about Jesus, the Messiah.

And then this is an interesting literary genre tucked underneath the narrative genre.

Here's a subcategory, parable, because it's a story, right? It's a narrative, as it were, and it illustrates something.

So I think it'd be fair to say you could tuck parable under a narrative genre, if you're thinking big picture.

Then we have wisdom genre, and wisdom is something that we have in the Bible to teach us.

And therefore, sometimes people will call this instructional genre, where it instructs us.

Here are some of the subcategories of wisdom genre, as D.

A.

Carson says it, genre.

When he always says genre for genre, he's probably pronouncing it correctly.

He's the one that speaks French.

I think he might be from Canada or lived there for a long time.

I always think of Jean-Luc Picard, Jean.

Jean-Luc Picard.

You know, I don't use this one very often, but for the old school people, I will.

Hey, how about a nice Hawaiian punch? When we were kids, that's what we got to drink, Hawaiian punch, Kool-Aid, high C.

I can still taste the tin.

You taste the aluminum-like taste of those big cans, and you'd have the opener.

You put your lip up on those cans when mom wasn't looking.

Some kind of green stuff.

I made Dave Jorgensen laugh so hard drinking green high C that it came out of his nose.

That should go back on the show that I did with Cotton Mather about all the witch stuff, don't you think? Subcategories of wisdom genre.

Law, right? It's instructing.

It tells you what to do.

Biblical law.

Proverb, right? The proverb is instructing you.

Wisdom genre, that'd be fine.

Reflection is what they call ecclesiastes, to kind of think.

There is instruction there, but it is a particular genre because you'll see that even in your Bible where it's placed.

Sermon.

Okay.

That's a tricky question.

I should ask my seminary students this.

In the category of instructional wisdom genre, sermon, where would you find sermon? Now, if you're not thinking, you might think, well, could that be Acts or something like that? There are sermons there.

What about Deuteronomy? That's basically an exposition, is it not? It's a sermon.

That's Moses' sermon.

You want to read a really good sermon in the Old Testament, read Deuteronomy.

Epistle genres.

So now we've gone from poetry genres to narrative genres, to wisdom genres, to epistle genres.

So this would be called epistlatory genre or letter genre.

There are circular letters like Revelation chapter one to three.

There are official letters.

This is to and from officials in the Persian empire in the book of Ezra.

I mean, that's a letter, letter, right? Now we move to another one.

Dramatic genres.

That is apocalypse like Daniel and Revelation.

Dialogue, the book of Job.

I never really thought about that as a dynamic or dramatic genre.

Liturgical genres.

Leviticus.

This is the instruction for the liturgy of performing sacrifices.

Laws for recitation is also a liturgical genre, 10 commandments.

Festive liturgies is also a liturgical genre, Psalm 50.

And then genealogy.

Lots of genealogies in Matthew, Luke, First Chronicles, et cetera.

I never thought of genealogy genre before in my life.

So what do you think of that? Different literary genres.

This all has to do with Bible interpretation called hermeneutics, which is called the science and art of biblical interpretation.

The science and art of biblical interpretation.

And you ought to read the Bible understanding genres.

You ought to read the Bible as everything's pointing to Christ.

Scopus Christus, I think is the Latin for that.

You ought to think of analogy of scripture.

What do other passages that speak of something similar say that can help me with this passage? You ought to think about the analogy of the faith.

Maybe you want to think about it as systematic theology, but what does all the Bible say about the subject so I can read this particular part in light of the whole? For instance, I can read things later in the Bible that help me interpret what was read or written earlier.

And of course, Walt Kaiser and dispensationalists don't want this to happen at all, but I don't see how they can get by with it.

Obviously, we know Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, but you need later revelation to have that word sin used.

The word sin isn't used there in Genesis chapter three, even though we all know it's sin.

Who's the one that tempted Eve and then Adam? It's Satan, but Satan's not mentioned until later in terms of by name.

And so there's a lot of stuff that's written later that makes you go back and read the earlier stuff and you think, oh, I get that.

It's just like if you read an Agatha Christie novel, or if you read, I don't know, something, I don't know, Lord of the Rings or something, and you get information later, and then it gives you an aha moment on something earlier.

So that's one of the ways you read the Bible.

You read the Old Testament in light of the new.

There are many different principles we have to interpret the Bible, and I just gave you a few, and it's important to understand genre.

So my name is Mike Havendroth.

This is No Compromise Radio Ministry, and today we're talking about essentially Bible interpretation.

And one of the great things about newer Bibles, they'll give you indentations if there's something that is more poetical, right? Narration, it's just kind of all block letters, and then it's indented.

Or maybe, I think the NAS 77 at least, it capitalized things that were quoted from the Old Testament, or it indented, along with ESV, something that was a different kind of like poetry.

Psalm 23 is indented, and Acts chapter 1 is not.

So there's some helps there.

It has a lot of good study Bibles that can help us with that as well.

Now, I have no idea what this is in here for, but it's related to something.

All right, I'm preaching through Luke.

I'm going to get to Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

What? How does Jesus increase in favor with God? That is a great question, and important to answer it properly.

This Jesus in Luke 2.52, he increases in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.

Why would I bring that up? Well, it's in this little book that I have, but I think it's kind of interesting.

When I was a kid, my mom wanted me to be well-rounded, as much as a kid from Nebraska could be.

And therefore, I was in Cub Scouts, and then I was in Weeblos.

I played basketball and football at the YMCA on...

Was it on Blondo? Dodge Street? Whatever, 84th and Blondo, I think it was.

No, Maple, 84th and Maple.

Or was that where our Lutheran church was? She wanted me to be in 4-H, and so I was in 4-H club, and it was with dog training.

There was obedience training and show training, and I would go to state fairs, county fairs, and I actually won a little bit of money here and there, not a whole lot.

So, I was in 4-H club.

Were you in 4-H club? Well, 4-H clubs were popular with people, not necessarily in downtowns, but out in the rural, out in the middle of nowhere, 4-H.

And even now, if there's a fair here called the Sterling Fair, and you have tractor pulls, and who's got the best steer, and I don't know the categories of 4-H.

If you're older, you wouldn't remember 4-H, and I think probably some people even remember that now.

Here's the pledge for 4-H.

I pledge my heart, excuse me, my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living.

For my club, my community, my country, and my world.

That's the 4-H pledge.

I can't remember the last time I even heard that or said that, but you have to pledge.

Like, I pledge allegiance to the flag, I pledge allegiance to the Juana flag, I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, whatever it is.

My head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, my health to better living.

For my club, my community, my country, and my world.

Now, here is the punchline.

Here is how this relates to Christianity.

Quote, the 4-H's go back to the description of the four ways in which young Jesus grew, Luke 2.52.

Oh, that's crazy.

I see dead people.

I've never heard of that in my life.

So, my head to clearer thinking, that's talking about wisdom, just increasing wisdom.

My heart to greater loyalty, heart, favor with God.

My hands to larger service, favor with man.

And my health to better living, that's growing in stature.

4-H, head, heart, hands, health.

Can you believe it? This is no-compromise radio, and it's very, very best.

Now, who wouldn't tune into this? I thought I had a couple sponsors in the past, never worked out.

If Mikey Abendroth could talk like he didn't have his nose stuffy, let's see if I open up my nose like that, I might sponsor the show myself.

Did you know that 4-H's come from Luke 2.52? Well, now you do.

The answer is yes.

Boy, aren't you glad you tuned in today? I'm glad I tuned in today.

This is amazing.

Okay.

I've got five minutes to go.

So, we're going to just do round table, theological miscellany, and the denominational affiliations of US presidents.

Oh, George Washington, Church of England.

Millard Fillmore, any guesses? Unitarian.

Now, this one should be easy for you.

Martin Van Buren.

Of course, Dutch Reformed with a name like Van Buren.

My new daughter-in-law, Hannah Van Veen, now is named Hannah Abendroth.

So, if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much.

James Garfield, Disciples of Christ.

Interesting.

This says here Teddy Roosevelt was Dutch Reformed as well.

I didn't know that.

I'm not too sure that's true.

Herbert the Hoover.

When I hear Hoover, I just think of vacuum cleaner, but Herbert Hoover was a Quaker.

Inner light.

Denying really depravity is what they were doing.

Who else was a Quaker? Come on, you know this one.

Who else was a Quaker? A United States president who was a Quaker.

Answer? His middle name is Milhouse.

Richard Nixon.

You would be correct.

Were there any Southern Baptists as presidents? Yes.

Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Hence, nominal.

Okay.

Do we have any Methodists? Rutherford B.

Hayes was a Methodist.

William McKinley was a Methodist.

Didn't he get shot? Not for being a Methodist.

Now, who else was a Methodist? George W.

Bush was a Methodist.

Any other Unitarians in here? Maybe John Quincy Adams might've been a Unitarian, and maybe John Adams himself.

William Howard Taft said, according to this, was a Unitarian.

Last question.

Were there any Roman Catholic presidents? Roman Catholic presidents.

By the way, this is a big deal to walk through why there weren't Roman Catholic presidents or pastors.

Until Fitzpatrick, John Fitzpatrick Kennedy, JFK.

I think he was the first Roman Catholic president in the history of the United States.

Interesting.

My name is Mike Abenroth.

This is No Compromise Radio Ministry.

You can always write me, mikeatnocoradio.com.

I'm trying to figure out how to up my game so I can be like the Pactum and all the swag that Pat has.

Don't forget, we've got the Deeply Rooted Conference and the Pactum Conference.

If you need help with anything that I can help you with, I want to make sure I can do that.

Anyway, I think that's it for the show today.

Mike Abenroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry.