Time and the proper identification of literature

For many years I held to a literal interpretation of the chronologies of the Old Testament.  So often people will make of the mistake of limiting their interpretive options to two, either a literal understanding of Scripture, or a nonliteral.  But this is a false dichotomy.  We are not restricted to only two options.  As is the case with literature, you must read the particular genre within its own rules.  One does not read poetry literally.  If someone says that they only have eyes for one particular girl, this is not read in a scientific sense, as if their eyeballs are only functional when around the one specific female.

When one reads a cookbook, one does not do so for romantic reasons or with the goal of understanding the world better.  The Bible, in the same line of thought, is not just a book.  It is a collection of letters, histories, poetry, apocaplytics and instructions.  You have to know and understand what it is you are reading.  One thing I like to say, when responding to those who say things like, no one in their right mind would read the Bible literally, is this.  The Bible may speak of things scientific, but it is not a science book and it was not given to us to teach us science.  The point of speaking about creation is not to give a science lesson in Newtons laws or the such.  It is to communicate that God is the creator and we are his creatures.  There is a specific relationship between us.

This brings me to the chronologies found in Scripture.  When we understand that the chronologies were not given to be a science or sociological study, we can understand that we do not need to read them literally, in order to read them honestly.  First, the chronologies were given to communicate that mankind has been descending from the singular Adam and that the sinful nature that we have inherited from is really truly part of the nature of man.  Second, the chronologies communicate that Jesus is truly a man.  A living, breathing, from the line of David, man.  He was not a ghost, a literary figure or a creative collection from various peoples imaginations.

So ultimately, we can read the chronologies in Scripture as chronologies but because they are not communicating scientific fact, we do not need them to be generationally succinct. There may be gaps.