Foundations Journal Spring 2011

This links to the whole journal (which I have not read) but the second article on the OT and Evangelical Hermeneutics I skimmed through and it looked good: Foundations Journal Spring 2011.pdf

Genre identification is important for interpretation. Often a text will give clear signals. Just as ‘Once upon a time’ indicates that it is fairy tale and ‘On 11 September 2001’ tells us that it is history, so in Scripture ‘There was a certain man’ typically introduces a parable whereas ‘Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai’ announces that it is history. Some commentators will allow for the opinion that the book of Jonah is a parable, even though the evidence is against it, because such a view does not prevent us from learning its message. In the case of Daniel 1-6, it is much more difficult to make room for Lucas’ treatment of the genre because in this case it would undermine the text’s purpose and pastoral effectiveness: to supply encouragement to those under stress for their faith. It also runs counter to the evidence