A powerful story that retells events in history and that’s purpose is to give meaning and direction to a certain people in the present time are called narratives .All narratives have three basic parts characters, plot and plot resolution. These stories begin with a conflict or problem and end with the problem or conflict being resolved. The leading character is the protagonist, the character who causes the conflict is the antagonist and the additional characters who get involved in the conflict are the agonists.
In biblical narratives GOD is always the protagonist, the devil or evil power is always the antagonist and the additional characters the agonists are God’s followers. The plot of a biblical narrative is the struggle that GOD made Christians in his image and then Satan or evil enters in and tries to persuade GOD’s people to allow evil and sin to transform them. The conclusion of the biblical narrative happens when GOD saves his people from the hold of evil and transforms them back into his image.
As Christians we have to very careful when reading biblical narratives not to make some common mistakes. Understanding that these words of GOD are not necessarily direct words to us individually but a resource to guide us in daily living. Readers should not look beyond the immediate meaning of the text “allegorize” but instead focus on the clear meaning. Ignoring “decontextualizing” the history and literal text can allow the reader to make the scripture say what they want it to say and not what GOD intended. Focusing on certain words or phrases and ignoring others “selectivity” may cause the reader to miss the overall topic of the narrative. In reading we should never “moralize “assume that every narrative has a moral story to tell .Biblical narratives are never meant to apply to a specific person or group of people of today “personalizing” .We should never appropriate the text for foreign purposes “misappropriation” . Contemporary modern culture “false appropriation” should not be read into any bible narrative and one should not chose elements from here and there “false combination” and combine them if they are not directly connected in the scripture. In conclusion we as readers should never try to change the information “redefinition” presented to make it spiritually fulfilling to us personally.
In conclusion readers of biblical narratives must always be mindful that these may contain characters good and evil, wise and foolish, happy and miserable. That even though they were not written specifically for the reader, we can learn so much ,being ever mindful to obey what GOD commands of us.