Theologian NT Wright claims Adam and Eve were 'human-like creatures,' Jonah and the great fish a 'folk tale'
Job
Wright suggested the book of Job, the oldest book of the Bible, functions as a crafted morality tale or folk tale, possibly from the post-exilic period, with elaborate Hebrew poetry resembling a Shakespeare play rather than verbatim dialogue.
He likened Ezekiel's reference to Job as a righteous man to that given to a folk hero. “I don't think there's anything in the book of Job which forces me to say, ‘No, actually, there was this chap and he did have three friends and he did have all these sons and daughters,” he said. “... It looks to me very much like either a morality tale or a folk tale to make a particular point.”
Noting the book contains what he called “odd vocabulary,” Wright — who acknowledged he finds Hebrew, the language in which Job was written, “quite difficult” — compared the book’s style to a Shakespearean drama.
“It's clearly been written up almost like a Shakespeare play,” he said. “Interestingly, did Hamlet really exist? Possibly not. Did Richard III really exist? You bet he did. But the way Shakespeare has put words into Richard III's mouth is to make a particular point and so on. So it may be asking the wrong question as to whether they really existed, and it can become rather reductionist.”
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
