JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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Poetry
Some of the Old Testament books are mainly, if not entirely, poetic. In reading poetry we
must be careful not to attempt to interpret details literally.
Hebrew poetry is characterized by its figurative language, by its rhythmic stresses on
certain syllables and particularly by its parallelism. In the latter, two or more lines of verse are
grouped together with the first line being echoed, complemented, developed or contrasted by
those that follow. When we see this it is important that we realize that it is a poetic device and
therefore we should not read too much into it like looking for the subtle difference between two
synonyms.
Wisdom Literature
The books of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes fall into the category of wisdom literature
which is a form of writing found in other Near Eastern literature as well as in the Bible. Such
literature contains careful observations and reflections about life. It may deal with life in general
as in Ecclesiastes, or about a particular problem in life such as the problem of suffering in Job, or
it may deal with practical questions of everyday life as in many of the Proverbs.
In interpreting Ecclesiastes it would not be proper to treat it as a straight philosophical
statement about life. Instead it is an account of man's struggle with the question of meaning in
life. In the same way it would not be correct to take Proverbs as though it were a book of
instructions to the believer like Paul's instructions to Christian churches. A proverb is more likely
to be an observation about life than a command to be obeyed. When it comes to Job it is vital to
realize that opposing points of view are being advanced by different speakers and the reader
must be careful to distinguish between the views being criticized as inadequate and those being
recommended.
Letters
During the New Testament period there were a number of formal rules for letter writing
as there are to a lesser extent today. Paul follows the usual practice of his day by the way in
which he begins and ends his letters, and also by his practice of dictating them to a scribe then
merely adding a personal postscript or salutation in his own handwriting (Ro 16:22; Col 4:18;
2 Th 3:lf.).
In some parts of his letters Paul answers points from a letter that has been sent to him
(1 Co 7:lff.). In fact, in 1 Corinthians he seems to be going through a letter the church in Corinth
had sent, answering it point by point (7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1) and sometimes even quoting from it
(8:1,4). By understanding the nature of letters we recognize that Paul's letters are more practical
advice given to a specific situation than exhaustive discourses on a given subject.