Scripture Passage to Told Story

An overview of the steps in taking a literate Scripture passage and developing it into an oral narrative to be told; some options for sharing or crafting a Bible story for telling and what is gained or lost.

In the Bible we have good literature for reading, but for telling we need good oralature. While the stories and many of the teachings in the Bible started out as oral accounts, when they were written and later carefully translated, the result is good literature which is the way we read, but not always the way we talk. While we are familiar with and perhaps even partial to the paraphrased and conversational English texts, this is not so easy to do among a people where holy books must be put into a high or literary language, often quite different from the way people speak in their everyday communication.

To bring God’s Word to oral learners who often do not possess a written language or, if so, the literacy competency to read it, the Word must be communicated clearly in a manner not unlike their oral communication patterns. To do this means that after Bible stories are chosen as part of a storying strategy for a people, then the stories usually need some shaping, preparation or crafting for comprehension when told, simplicity for remembering and ease of their retelling.

When chronological Bible teaching was being shared in the Philippines and first popularized, there was in the original materials not much emphasis upon the told story as upon the exposition taken from the written story—teaching from the story but not really telling the story, at least not in the early methodology materials that were shared. Two early story models in the Philippines were developed which used paraphrased Bible stories. In each case the English versions for sharing were really back translations from original local languages into English. So I can’t vouch for the orality factor in the originals. When it was discovered that export of these early materials to neighboring people groups did not work well, then the need arose to choose new lists of stories and decide how to tell them for comprehension and appropriateness to deal with prevailing worldview realities. Without guidelines at that time many mistakes were made as attempts to tell the stories sometimes resulted in misunderstanding, loss of interest by listeners, rejection of certain stories as not being socially appropriate, or increased hostility as listeners reacted negatively to the stories from their previous experiences or teaching by gatekeeper leaders.

Missionaries who heard about this new chronological Bible teaching method were asking where to get a set of stories. When early sharing of the Philippine materials outside that country did not work well, I was left with the need to find what would work. Over a period of several years around 1989-91 there were at least three significant finds. Stories attracted attention and interest, provoked desired response and were more likely to be shared among others in the people group. It was during this time in one country that it was discovered that Muslims living among the non-Muslim population were attracted to the stories and would listen attentively and not cause disturbances as they did during traditional extension teaching by local Christian leaders. It was further discovered that certain stories worked better than others where there was a choice of which story to use. And last is that different people groups (reflecting differing cultural and worldview realities) needed to hear the stories told differently. Some of the stories were overly long and complicated. Some of the stories needed either lengthy explanations before telling, or debates afterward to defend the story because of some culturally objectionable element in the story. What evolved then was a taxonomy of story formats ranging from the verbatim to crafted, recast, dramatized, sung, or danced forms which achieved the desired interest and acceptance of the stories. It was the beginning of an answer to the question: How do you tell such and such story?

Our topic is Scripture Passage to Told Story. What follows is a brief overview of story formats and processing that help to make this transition from the printed page to the spoken word. I take responsibility for what follows as it reflects my own experience in the developing CBS or Bible Storying methodology. I share this to provoke your thinking about preparing the Bible stories for telling among oral learners (and others who being literate prefer oral learning). As with other CBS methodology materials I offer this as being more descriptive than prescriptive.

First, let me share some thinking about format classifications that have been helpful in teaching storyers as they develop their own story sets. These classifications are arbitrary but serve the purpose of illustrating the various advantages and disadvantages from making the adaptations. Many of these format illustrations and comparisons are given in an unpublished paper available from author.¹

• Verbatim Stories—This is the default format as the stories come directly from the printed page. Verbatim stories must be read or memorized for telling. There are advantages in that the storyteller cannot be accused of changing anything. An immediate disadvantage is that some stories are very long and may contain large amounts of non-critical detail that is confusing to oral listeners who do not know the story.
• Edited Verbatim Stories—This is an attempt to do some light editing of the story wording to perhaps shorten it a bit, to eliminate some of the non-critical details, but to preserve the original wording of what is retained. This can significantly help certain stories by simplifying them a bit for clarity, but the presentation still requires a careful reading or reciting of the memorized story which, if from one of the high languages, can still be difficult to understand by orals as it is not as they speak.
• Crafted Bible Stories—This is a broad category of appropriately re-worked or shaped stories that reflect development of a story so that it retains an appropriate amount of the verbatim wording (or nearly so), is enhanced by other story components or related stories, simplified by deletions or rewording of some of the factual content, and other changes made as needed for clarity and comprehension of the plot and general understanding of the story. There are several options for useful formats. More on actual story processing will follow after this list of formats.
• Story Clusters—This is one of the simpler options as several stories are told as part of a group of related stories. The parables of Jesus are one illustration in which several stories examine various facets of a theme and may be introduced and told as parts of Jesus’ larger teaching. Story clusters can also consist of stories juxtaposed to contrast the character of individuals illustrating good and bad. Story clusters can serve to provide theme-linked stories like the stories of Jesus’ authority over evil spirits. Chronological sequencing is usually not an issue as the stories are theme-related.
• Extended Stories—There are some stories which need either to be explained before telling in order to give a perspective, or that will benefit by joining an introductory story to the main story and possibly one or more follow-through stories to give closure. The advantage is that the perspective from the introductory story then helps listeners to process the main story correctly. Other extended stories are typically chronologically arranged stories of characters like Abraham or David. Main disadvantage is that the story set is longer and includes more details though the greater story impact may offset this somewhat. A typical story that benefits is that of David and Bathsheba when an introductory relationship story is added to show David’s relationship to Bathsheba’s husband and father (2 Samuel 23). The follow-through stories quickly mention the tragic deaths of four of David’s sons in fulfillment of David’s judgment against himself. Other commonly extended stories are the Birth of Jesus combining Matthew and Luke accounts plus a prophecy summary pre-story and the Passion story which is a collection of several chronologically sequenced component stories.
• Enhanced Stories—These are stories that benefit by contributions from several parallel accounts that add additional details. The Feeding of the Multitude is a good example. Of course, the same can be said of the Birth of Jesus story and the Passion story. So these categories are not mutually exclusive. The Hezekiah story in 2 Kings 18 benefits from additional details from the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 29 and references in Isaiah 36-37. Advantages are more details that fit the story and may help to illustrate the plot better, filling in gaps, etc. Disadvantage is a longer and more complicated story.
• Compiled or Synthesized Stories—This is a category of format that is very useful for certain portions of the larger Bible story but which had several built-in cautions. A compiled story is one that is assembled from existing scripture pieces which are not found in one Bible reference. When the scattered pieces are gathered and put into a narrative format a story emerges. Perhaps the safest illustration is that of a summary story of the prophets’ messages about the coming Messiah. The base reference is Isaiah 53 but other references come from a list of prophecies in Psalms and other prophets like Micah or Zechariah. But one story that has proved very useful among animists and some Muslims is the Creation of the Spirit World which deals with the creation of angels, their first estate and work, the rebellion of one who came to be known as Satan, and the work of evil spirits. The primary reason for telling this compiled story is to illustrate God as righteous Creator of the spirits and therefore the one who exercises ultimate authority over them. Not all may agree on the interpretation of common components in this story. And a compiled story can pose a unique problem for explaining to a newly literate person who wants to read it. Some other useful stories are one of the Bible, what it is and how it came to be, and a narrative compilation to introduce some of the characteristics of God before beginning the chronological stories.
  
  All of the above categories of formats have presupposed retaining as much of the original wording as possible while making some changes needed for clarity or for transitioning between component stories. Now we will mention some formats which alter the original wording but retain the overall storyline.
   
• Paraphrased Stories—There are really two types of paraphrased stories—those that are lightly paraphrased and those that are deeply paraphrased. Remember I said these categories are descriptive for the sake of illustrating the options.
   
  • Lightly Paraphrased Stories commonly are stories that are summarized to serve as bridges between the major stories being used for teaching. Also these may be stories that have been reworded in much simpler language and organization while retaining the basic original storyline. Nothing (no comment or teaching) is added in doing this rewording. Children’s stories are typically lightly paraphrased. The story of Joseph may be paraphrased as a summary bridging story to get the descendants of Abraham into Egypt. Likewise the Judges stories might be summarized to connect from Joshua to David. No teaching is inserted nor is the story halted for comment. It is just reworded, usually without including any of the character dialog, so that it can be told simply and in summary form. The major disadvantage is that for new readers the story may sound different to the verbatim written story. Lack of dialog also minimizes the life in the story as it becomes a simple descriptive narrative of what happened.
  • Deeply Paraphrased Stories are those that are not only reworded, but which may be somewhat reorganized, significant teaching inserted as explanation, interpretation or conclusion, or the story may be stopped for extensive comments or references and then restarted. While many of the early story models were like this, I would strongly advise against it. Oral listeners cannot distinguish what is Bible and what is inserted teaching. So anything added inside the story then becomes “Bible” unless they can read and see what is real and what is not. This category of story really is for making the storyteller feel better for not leaving out anything important to the storyteller. Stories that are interrupted may be perceived as different stories.
     
• Recast Stories—This is still a form of crafted story but it is significantly changed from the original. The storyline is usually kept and the characters may be kept in a general way, but the story could be relocated to another setting or land, the characters may be of another culture, religion or sex, and the actual plot details altered a bit to be in harmony with the other changes. Why would anyone want to do this? This story format can be useful in certain instances to better relate to those hostile to the Bible or Christianity but who might respond to the moral or spiritual values the story depicts. Teenagers sometimes relate better initially to a story closer to their world. One of the best examples of this is a resetting of the parable of the Two Men Who Went to the Temple to Pray retold as Two Men Who Went to the Mosque to Pray.² The parable of the Prodigal Son is an often recast story. Evangelistic films produced in Thailand recast the stories of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan and the Rich Fool.
• Folk Media Formats—I am going to group several additional story formats under this heading as all of these require a representative of the local culture to adapt them. The Bible story would need to be appropriately taught to some talented person in the local culture who could then develop the story into a performance or cultural form for use.
  • Story Chanting—Some tribal groups have a cultural practice of chanting epic stories as well as other stories that may be considered heritage or important to remember. I observed a tribal man in Thailand chanting the stories of Genesis which he had somehow committed to memory and could reproduce with a poetic rhythm. It is said that many of the parables of Jesus when put back into Aramaic take on this quality.
  • Story Songs—Many cultures sing the things they need to remember. Story songs appear to take on one of several characteristics. Some are epic or ballad songs that tell a whole story in one continuing song. Some are sung in verses that deal with events or characters and are connected by refrains that introduce and continue a story theme. Songs may be about God, story characters or about a people and what happened. No doubt Psalm 78 and 105/106 were story songs of Israel’s history with God.
  • Dramatized Stories—These are good ways to illustrate certain of the Bible stories but due to changes that come into play in the drama process should be coupled with the told story. One of the changes that most often occurs is the addition of nonbiblical dialog to give important characters something to say. A classic example is that of Peter and John at the Temple gate in Acts 3 where Peter does all the talking leaving the lame man and John speechless. In a good drama John would be the foil to Peter’s speaking. The lame man would certainly have said something as he begged. The other caveat comes about when the acting or staging introduces things that may compete with the original story, detract from the plot, or even distort the plot.
  • Danced Stories—I almost hesitate to put this one in unless you have experienced cultural interpretative dance common in many cultures. Hand, eye and other body movements all have meaning. Dances follow many different types of music and rhythmical sounds to play out the story. While the dancers may know the Bible story quite well, I always felt a little bit better if the story were told to listeners before the dance which then illustrates or acts out the story.

Back to Crafting the Actual Story from Scripture for Telling—Let’s go back to processing the individual story for telling. I tell those who are preparing stories for telling to read the stories first in the larger context of stories and then the individual story aloud several times to be sure that it is well known. It is helpful to make a list of things in the story that are new to you and not fully understood. A number of books have been written to help storytellers understand the Old Testament and New Testament stories. One I like for the Old Testament is He Gave Us Stories³ . Another that is helpful in understanding the parables of Luke is Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes⁴ .

Dr. Grant Lovejoy explores a number of considerations for the storyteller to learn the story well . In preparing the story content first he says to study the geographical, historical and cultural settings of the story. Then make a study of the characters and their family background and occupation. Then study their relationships with other people and with God. What are their character traits as revealed in their words and deeds? How does God’s Word evaluate their actions? What about their actions before and after the story? How might each character tell their story? Study the plot and the order in which events happened, causes and effects, conflicts that arise and how they are resolved, use of foils (any person or thing, that by strong contrast, underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another) and irony where there is a twist in the expectation of the plot or characters. Divide the story into scenes and visualize the individual scenes. Divide the story into chunks or sections that are related. Study what the story reveals about God and His character, will and way, and relationship with people. Notice the use of language in the dialog between the characters, descriptive words, repeated words or phrases, and evaluative or summary statements in the story. Notice what the story seems to give most attention to and consider the needs of the audience who will hear the story.

Added to the above, experience has taught us to simplify the number of proper names in a story. Some of the literacy workers suggest a maximum of three unless the names are already known from previous stories. Consider ways to reduce the amount of numbers used in the original story as large numbers may have little or no meaning in representing quantity as compared to some concrete expression like “too many to count” or like “the sands of the seashore” as used in the story of Abraham. Be aware of changes in names that refer to the same person. In 1 Samuel 13 the Israelites are also called Hebrews in the same story. To the listener is this another group of people? The same is true where God is referred to by different names. This is less of a problem with Muslims but could be a problem with Hindus. A valuable lesson I learned is not to forget the character dialog as this is often the life of the story. Also let the characters say the difficult things which challenge or arouse hostility. I like lots of testimony stories with Muslims where the characters tell who Jesus is. In using the dialog there are two major considerations: Replace the pronouns with proper names so it is very clear who is speaking to whom. And if the dialog quote is broken by referring to the speaker, rearrange it so that the story tells who is speaking to whom and the unbroken quote follows. Be aware that many of the “little” cultural details in a story may accredit the story as a good story. When Rebekah covers her face with her veil at the end of the story of A Bride for Isaac, this is not missed by women who note that Rebekah is a chaste woman of good character.

There are other things which may need leaving out of a story. I encountered some problem in telling the story of the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well where the disciples leave Jesus alone with a woman was not a good social scene. It was solved in the initial telling by omitting the departure of the disciples so that listeners did not stop listening to the remainder of the story. Be aware of issues or response that some stories like that of Jael and Sisera at the end of Deborah and Barak’s story may raise where a man enters a woman’s tent when her husband was not there (socially and morally wrong) and the woman kills a person who is under her roof implying under her hospitality and protection. In other words know how a story is going to land on the ears of your listeners. Will they hear the story as it was intended originally and as you told it or will the story raise issues that mislead or cause rejection?

My desire is that I haven’t paralyzed you with fear of making a mistake in preparing and telling Bible stories. We want to be good stewards of God’s Word to get a good hearing, to tell the stories accurately and well, and to keep our listeners with us until the end. A last thought that really belongs first. I have shared all these methodology details that we have learned through our experience as we began to tell the stories. Our work as biblical storyteller is a partner with the Holy Spirit. We need and pray for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit to prepare the stories well so that they accurately teach the Word in a manner in which it can be received by our listeners, understood, remembered and in time retold to others. We share the words of salvation and discipling through the stories. The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin and searches out the listeners’ hearts.

May God bless your efforts to prepare your stories for telling in a manner that glorifies God and leads many to the Savior, to a gathered New Testament church and to a discipled life.

J.O.Terry, Bible Storying Consultant & Trainer

[1] J.O.Terry, “Crafted Bible Story Illustrations”, unpublished paper available from author.
[2]  Martin Goldsmith, As quoted in Touching the Soul of Islam by Bill A. Musk, MARC, 1995.
[3] Richard L. Pratt, Jr., He Gave Us Stories:  The Bible Student’s Guide to Interpreting Old Testament Narratives, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1990.
[4] Kenneth E. Bailey, Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes:  A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables of Jesus, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983 (combined edition).
[5] Dr. Grant Lovejoy, “Preparing the Story Content”, PowerPoint presentation, International Mission Board..