Few lay Christians routinely practice the disciplines of ethics and hermeneutics confidently and appropriately. Many who have learned to practice these disciplines often leave that knowledge to gather dust between the covers of a textbook. This paper discusses how the various folklore or literary genres in the Bible are particularly suited for the study and practice of the three branches of Christian ethics. Lessons built on spiral logic or pedagogy patterns can use the genres of myth to teach meta-ethics, prescriptive narrative, and others for normative ethics, as well as descriptive narrative to teach and enact applied ethics. The practice of oral hermeneutics may pair with this course of study to deliver that ethical material from Scripture effectively to the oral majority or anyone who desires not only to learn ethics but to live them.
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Caroline is a cross-cultural worker from the United States living in Uganda. You will most often find her there with the Sudanese community, working on her PhD behind a computer or out in the wild, or her happy place in the kitchen, baking up some creativity and hospitality. God deepens her relationship with him through stories, so she loves to give that opportunity to others. She is a student of life, culture, and how to follow Jesus through stories, and she finds joy in empowering others to teach and learn this way so no one is excluded from learning or discipleship.
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