As we continue to look at the timeless pattern of scripture, we need to realize that scripture is more than a series of writings of words that were given to a group of people within a particular period of time.  It is more than some anecdotal information that we can adapt for use in our lives.  Though scripture was given to a certain group of people and at a particular point in history, it is more than that.  We are not of that time, language or people and yet it does have a message for us today.  The Bible itself says:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword.  Piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And hidden from its sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Heb. 4:12-13, ESV)

The scripture is supposed to have an impact on our lives today.  Its message can be made relevant in our world by  doing just what the biblical thinkers did in times past.  Using its patterns to dialogue with the ideas and messages being put forth in our day to proclaim its message in our world. Though monotheism is a key encoded pattern in scripture it is not the only one.  Dr. Gary Salyer, puts forth some additional  key patterns that he sees within scripture.  Woven into the fabric of the New Testament he believes that there is a wisdom pattern and servant pattern.  The importance of these patterns can not be underestimated.  The wisdom pattern, is not just words or ideas that help us live but its main emphasis is found that it was pre-existent.  That this word or logos became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and that it was pre-existent points out further that Jesus is God, thus aligning itself with the monotheizing pattern above.

     There is an additional pattern that Dr. Salyer puts forth.  That is the pattern found in the person of Jesus, the pattern of being a servant, a servant unto death.  These last two patterns, carried through the oral period 30-65 CE, unto the present are found within the Christological hymns of scripture.  This last hermeneutical pattern of the servant not only shows us a pattern to follow, but in so doing, this particular pattern additionally functions to keep us on track as people.  Without this key pattern we could go off on many paths that could lead us astray.  By having this pattern as part of what we are to emulate, God reveals to us a pattern that we are reluctant to follow.  As part of our nature this is not what we as man would devise. 

  So far we have seen the patterns or templates that are embedded in within scripture.  A hermeneutic if you will, from which to maintain a consistent message beyond culture and time.

Picture: NYPL – Gutenberg bible, by jblyberg

Quotes: Gary Salyer,D., Dame Wisdom as the Mother of New Testament Christology

                ___________, Christological Hymns as Oral Hermeneutical Bouys for the Early (Oral) Period of Emerging NT Tradition

Tagged as: Hermeneutics, Pattern, Scripture