Structure | Knowable Word

What Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) Taught Me About Bible Study

November 22, 2013 By Peter Krol

In honor of the second “Hunger Games” movie opening this weekend, I’m updating and reposting this article (originally published June 4, 2012) about the novel Catching Fire.

I just finished reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, part 2 of the Hunger Games series (see here for my thoughts on the first book). The plot pacing and literary devices were similar to the first book, but a few new things struck me in this volume that help with Bible study.

1. Structure is Your Friend

The Hunger Games is divided into three parts; each part had nine chapters. Not bad. It helped me to remember the flow of the story: the Tributes, the Games, the Victor.

Catching Fire has the same structure: three parts with nine chapters each. A nice, memorable flow: the Spark, the Quell, the Enemy.

I must admit, I looked ahead to the third book. Guess what? Three parts, nine chapters each. Fantastic. That means the entire series is made up of nine parts with nine chapters in each part. Beautiful symmetry!

It can’t be an accident. In fact, most chapters (and some of the parts) don’t really end with a scene change the way most books do. Collins clearly set things up to have the right number of chapter and part divisions.

How does this help with Bible study? Biblical authors employ the same tactic. They consciously structure their books so readers can easily remember and assimilate the material. Here are some examples.

The Plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7:14-10:29), organized as three sets of three plagues each. Notice how the first plague of each set begins with something like “Go to Pharaoh in the morning…” (Ex 7:14, 8:20, 9:13). The tight organization contrasts with the utter chaos resulting from the plagues, and it helps us appreciate the power and majesty of the Lord.
Jesus’ Sermons in Matthew (Matthew 5-7, 10, 13, 18, 23-25), dividing the Gospel into five sections. Each section highlights a particular aspect of what it means to be Jesus’ disciple. The book climaxes with the Great Commission to go out and make disciples (Matt 28:16-20).

Pay attention to structure, as authors use it to couch their main points in a memorable way. For more help, I highly recommend The Literary Structure of the Old Testament by David Dorsey.

2. Plot Twists Have Always been in Style

Catching Fire has lots of plot twists. Some are clearly foreshadowed; others caught me by surprise. Modern stories seem boring if they’re too predictable, but Collins delivers engagingly.

Plot twists are not a modern invention; the Bible showed us how to do it long ago.

Readers of the Old Testament expected the Messiah to deliver Israel (Acts 1:6), but who would have guessed that God himself would become a man, be born of a virgin, live in poverty, and die in great shame? If the rulers of this age had known it, they would not have crucified Jesus (1 Cor 2:7-8). Many today still read the Bible but miss Jesus, the main point (2 Cor 3:12-16).

Now that we know the end of the story, however, we can go back and get the point.

P.S. For a fantastic review of the content and ethics of The Hunger Games, see N.D. Wilson’s article posted by Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition. And for a keen but scathing review of the popular response to the Hunger Games franchise, see Scott Mendelson’s review at Forbes.

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What to Observe: Structure

September 11, 2012 By Peter Krol

Rock singer Geddy Lee of Rush once said, “That is what intrigues me; songwriting and song structure and expression.” As the holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in Music, I agree.

Much music is based on an ABA structure. You start with a musical idea, develop that idea (or go to a second idea), and then return to the main idea. “Three Blind Mice” is a good example, where the line “three blind mice” represents the A section, and the stuff in the middle is the B section.

Similarly, when we learn how to study the Bible, a good skill to develop is how to observe structure. It is another thing to observe, after words and grammar.

Let’s observe Luke 2:1-24 as an example. Look at the flow of the story:

A The pomp of the Roman government and census

B Joseph and Mary give birth to a son

C Shepherds were living out in the field

D An angel appeared with a message about the Lord

E An army of angels appeared, praising God, saying:

F “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace”

E The angels left and went back to heaven

D The shepherds believe the message from the Lord, and they go, sharing it

C The shepherds return to their field, glorifying and praising God

B The son is named Jesus

A The humility of Jesus’ family (who couldn’t afford sheep for sacrifice)

Such an outline, where the second half is sort of a mirror image of the first half, was really common in ancient literature. One reason why they did it was to make it easier to hear the passage read aloud. You could hear the story move in towards a climax and then unravel back out.

It helps to observe such things, because the climax of such a structure usually comes at the center. In this case, we see that God is concerned with his own glory (in contrast to the glory of Rome), and he will use Jesus to bring about peace between himself and those with whom he is pleased.

Other parts of the Bible use more logical structures. For example, look at Hebrews 2:17-7:28.

I. Jesus is a merciful and faithful high priest – 2:17-18

A. Jesus is a faithful high priest – 3:1-6

B. Application – 3:7-4:14

C. Jesus is a merciful high priest – 4:15-5:10

D. Application – 5:11-6:20

II. Jesus is a high priest like Melchizedek – 6:20

A. Explanation: how Jesus is like Melchizedek – 7:1-28

This outline covers just a portion of the book of Hebrews. The entire book is structured similarly: a point is stated, then explained and applied. The application leads into the next point, which is stated, explained, and applied.

Observing the structure is one step in our study. Once we see it, we’re better equipped to identify the sections so we can interpret and apply them.

We’ve now had three posts on specific observation skills: observing words, grammar, and structure. Have you noticed how each post had a common structure? Check ’em out again, and use your new-found skills when you study the Bible.

Five Things to Observe

August 31, 2012 By Peter Krol

You sit down with your Bible, and you’re ready to study it. You pray and open the page to the right spot. Then…what? You see lots of ink and paper. You’ve heard these verses before.

You’d like to go deeper, and you don’t want to let familiarity get in the way. But what exactly can you do? What should you begin to observe?

Derek Bridges (2006), Creative Commons

Here are some ideas to get you started:

WORDS: Pay attention to the words. Count up how many times different words are repeated. Notice how different things are described or labeled.
GRAMMAR: Identify the subject, verb, and object of a sentence. What are the main verbs? Who is doing what, and where and how are they doing it?
STRUCTURE: How does the passage fit together? Break it into paragraphs. Pay attention to transitions.
GENRE: Is this poetry or prose? A letter or a narrative? Who is the author? Who is the original audience?
MOOD: What tone of “voice” is the author writing with? Does the passage inspire action, invoke emotion, or challenge assumptions?