The Drama of Scripture

There are a number of ways of engaging Scripture...

One is to engage it through the Lens of a Story.

Stories are powerful. They shape how we see the world.

Scripture is the most powerful story ever recorded.

It is literally, HIS-STORY. It is the Story of God’s pursuit of humanity. In fact, you can take the first 3 chapters of Genesis and the last 3 chapters of Revelation and you have pretty much the complete story in and of it self. Now much happens, we know in between…

If Scripture were a Drama or a Play, it could be broken up into 6 Acts. Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, in their book Drama of Scripture, The: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story do a great job of laying out Scripture in such a fashion. I often reference this book and walk through this framework when introducing/teaching through the storyline of Scripture.

Scripture as a 6 Act Drama

1. Creation: God Establishes His Kingdom
2. Crime/Crisis/Fall: Rebellion in the Kingdom
3. Israel: The King Chooses Israel
   1. Scene I: A People for the King
   2. Scene II: A Land for His People

Interlude: Intertestamental Period 

       4. Jesus: The Coming of the King - Redemption
       5. NT & the People of God
             Scene I:  New Testament and the Early Church – Jerusalem to Rome
             Scene II:  the ongoing story of the Church – To the ends of the Earth
       6.   Restoration of all Creation: The Return of the King

Helpful tips for engaging Scripture through the lens of His-Story.

1. Begin to see Scripture as more than a collection of stories in which we can extract morals and principles from. It is useful for this, as well as for establishing doctrine and teaching. But, all of that needs to be framed in the context of the over-arching narrative of Scripture.
   
2. Begin simply by reading through the Bible.(systematically // chronologically).
• Bible Reading Plans.
  
3. The following are some books and resources I've found helpful in this area:
   
• God's Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible, 
•  Drama of Scripture, The: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story
• Whole Bible Story, The: Everything That Happens in the Bible in Plain English and  
• The Story, NIV: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People. 

All of human life is shaped by some story.

I can only answer the question
“What am I to do?”
if I can answer the prior question
“Of what story do I find myself a part?”


(Alasdaire MacIntyre)

The way we understand human life
depends on what conception we have of the human story.
What is the real story of which my life story is a part?
(Lesslie Newbigin)