The Aesthetic Character of the Bible
What is the factor that unites the diverse books of the Bible? What has the Pentateuch common with the Apocalypse, or the Song of Songs with the Pauline epistles? Martin Luther determined the justification of the sinner to be the doctrine that joins all the books of the Bible together, written on every page of it. As persuasive as this view is, it is hardly tenable. Indeed, there are many pages of the Scripture that do not mention the justification of the sinner. Justification is a good nominee for the uniting bond between the various texts of the Bible, but not an entirely satisfying one. I argue that the thing that joins all the literary genres and individual books of the Bible is their aesthetic character. This is not a highly original statement, but rather something very obvious. The aesthetic character of the Bible can be perceived along the following traits: Musicality. Many texts of the Bible are made for singing, Psalms in particular. There are many other songs, too: in the Pro