Comments on: The Bible as a storytelling pattern

By: Ken Rolph

Ken Rolph — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:35:42 +0000

There’s a lot of discussion of story patterns in the Bible floating around. Stories used to be the main method of passing on knowledge. We do it slightly differently, so miss out on some of the specific richness of biblical stories. I think a writer from a Christian perspective should immerse themself in biblical stories, especially Old Testament ones.

A handy guide to these patterns is Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken and others. My edition is InverVarsity Press 1998.

Just flicking it open I come across two full pages of detail on stories of surprise.

By: Kameron

Kameron — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:21:09 +0000

FR does have stories that include, and sometimes focus on, the gods. I think the Avatar series is the only one that really features the gods as significant cast members, and that was primarily for the purpose of transition from 1E to 2E. For the most part, however, events involving deities in FR are offstage.

By: bobisimo

bobisimo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:56:23 +0000

I have nothing to add to this post, but I will say that I enjoyed it and had never considered the two popular approaches before. I think both styles have their uses, but obviously which you choose affects how your mythology is viewed.

On a side note, but doesn’t the Forgotten Realms use both styles? I seem to remember (and it’s been far too long since I’ve read them) the Avatar series having all the gods acting, more or less, similar to humans — but with more power. And then Ao stepped in and was the be-all, end-all that sent tremors through the world.