Epistle: The epistles are letters written by leaders of the early church to churches or individuals.

Apocalyptic: Apocalyptic is a style of writing that is highly symbolic, concerning end-of-the-world events.

the Bible—a book made up of many books—contains many different styles of writing, so we must properly recognize the literary categories of each passage we read in order to understand it correctly.

Prophecy is used to communicate God’s commands, accusations of sin, calls to repentance, threats of punishment, comfort, and promises of future blessings.

Taken as a whole, the Bible belongs in a literary category all by itself—it is revelation (or “proclamation”). It announces a message from God to us, giving us insight into Truth and reality that we would not otherwise have. It also demands a personal response on our part, and we will stand before God to give an account of ourselves for whether or

Narrative: Narrative is a text that makes its point primarily by telling a story.

A fifth and final realization is that responding to the Bible correctly involves more than understanding it, more even than obeying it. It also involves what I call following it.

I must avoid hijacking the text to serve my own selfish desires, interests, or preferences—whether by accident or purposefully.

A third realization that has changed my approach to the Bible is the conviction that my goal in interpreting Scripture is not to see what I can get out of the text, but to identify and understand what God has put into the text.