An epic poem based on The Drama of Scripture:
Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story
By Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen
Act 4: The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished
Act 5: Spreading the News of the King:
The Mission of the Church
Act 6: The Return of the King: Redemption Completed
Prologue: The Bible as Grand Story
The Narrative Unfolds
In the days of old
The wise men spoke
The oral tradition
From generation, to generation
They spoke, from every tribe and nation
Tales of God, creation, and Kingdom
Of Rebellion and kingdom’s fall
Israel, a people chosen—one and all
Restoration was initiated—Reclamation
And the silence loomed, waiting for first bloom
Then . . . the coming King
And rescue from the unrelenting doom
The wise old men shared with glee
Songs of redemption and community
Anthems to a King and psalms of eternity
Restoration and a new world we would see
The epic unfolding before us nightly
At campfire circle, as embers glow
The eldest would begin,
“This is how the story goes!”
© August 28, 2012, Robbie Pruitt
The Drama of Scripture
We are living in the greatest story ever told, God's story of love and His plan for redemption.
This grand narrative is larger than us, but it includes us nonetheless. The story is not about us, however, it is about the love of God in His son Jesus. According to The Drama of Scripture, this story is broken into six main parts: God's establishment of the kingdom in creation, rebellion of the kingdom in the fall of humanity, The King chooses Israel and redemption begins, the coming of The King, Jesus' redemption of His people, spreading the news of The King, and the return of The King, God's redemption completed.
While the Bible is composed of 66 individual books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, the Bible is a single narrative, a unified story. There is a "big picture" in the scriptures. We tend to only see the Old and New Testaments and individual books, but the Bible is a "Whole Testament." Scripture is a meta-narrative. N.T. Wright calls this "The whole sweep of scripture."
In looking at this overarching survey of the scriptures, The Drama of Scripture is a well done, simple, and straightforward resource. The book also suggests a
complimentary website filled with Power Points and other resources for teaching the book and communicating the "grand narrative" of scripture in six acts. The book and the website outlines the whole Biblical narrative in an easy to understand and comprehensive presentation.
We are living in this great story because of the Great Storyteller God. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, "I had always felt life first as a story and if there is a story there is a storyteller." We have a greater understanding of the Storyteller by looking at the story we are in through the scriptures. And the closer we get to the Storyteller, the clearer His story becomes.
The Drama of Scripture and its companion website are exciting resources, which aid us in studying The Storyteller and His great story found in the scriptures.
This review was adapted from my blog,
My Two Mites, and was also posted on Amazon.com, goodreads, and on Examiner.com.
