What if we approached the Bible with the same kind of attention we give to a great poem or novel? The biblical authors were artists who made deliberate choices about imagery, metaphor, repetition, and structure. And if we believe that Scripture is divinely inspired, we ought to take those artistic choices seriously. There’s a great deal of meaning to be discovered in how the Bible communicates, especially in the images and patterns that develop across its many books.
In this first episode of a new members-only podcast series, I explore what it means to read the Bible as a work of art. We’ll consider why reading Scripture like an IKEA instruction manual might leave us missing something important, what David means when he calls God his rock, and why Jesus chose to teach through stories that sometimes take a lifetime to understand. Along the way, we’ll consider how our habits of analysis can sometimes get in the way of seeing the larger literary work.
I’ll also share how this way of reading Scripture has shaped The Darkling Psalter. Each poetic rendition grows out of an ongoing conversation with the original psalm and the larger biblical imagination. In this series, I want to take you behind the scenes of that process and explore some of the literary techniques and biblical connections that have informed these poems. My hope is that you’ll come away with a few new tools for reading Scripture and perhaps begin noticing things that have been there all along.
Listen to more from the Darkling Psalter on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube, or Instagram.
(There is no paid content beneath this paywall… I just had to put it in the post so free subs would get the preview of the post too… —Andy)
