The biblical books do not reduce truth to a straight line...
The biblical books do not reduce truth to a straight line. Unlike the hugely influential philosophy of Descartes---his quest for “clear and distinct ideas”---the biblical books present reality from diverse points of view. They bring ideas into dialogue, and have sometimes been described as dialogical. C. K Barrett, for instance, uses “dialogical” to describe the theology of John’s gospel.
But dialogue or dialogical structure is much older than John’s gospel. It is emerging that many biblical texts consist largely of balancing “panels”---pairs of texts that are complementary or contrasting.
Panels in Hebrew poetry.:
Researchers are beginning to discover that many of the psalms are constructed of balancing panels. Psalm 69, for instance, is a great cry of lament, but its second part switches from lament to petition (69.14b-30). And then, to round off the psalm, there is a half-panel of divine praise (69.31-37).
Psalms 73-78 are quite diverse---they range all the way from justice to national history---but they all consist of pairs of contrasting panels. And there is evidence that a similar structure occurs in many other psalms.
For evidence and references, see Lawrence Boadt, “The Use of ‘Panels’ in the Structure of Psalms 73-78”, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66 (2004) 533-550.
Panels in Hebrew narrative.
What occurs in many psalms is emerging also in Hebrew narrative. The entire book of Genesis, for instance, traditionally divided into fifty chapters, can be divided more clearly into fifty-two panels; and the fifty-two consist of pairs---two of creation, two of sin, two genealogies, two for the deluge, two for Noah’s sons, and so on.
To start at the very beginning, the opening lines of the two creation texts (Genesis 1:1 and 2:4b) start with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet (b) and they balance one another, yet they are delicately diverse, and they complement one another:
In (b…) the beginning // God // created // heaven and earth…
On (b…) the day // Yahweh God // made // earth and heaven…
Each phrase has four elements (the time // the divinity // create/make // heaven/earth), but while the first text presents these elements in a way that emphasizes the transcendent or heavenly, the second gives priority to something more down to earth: Mysterious “beginning,” gives way to the simple word, “day.” --- Elusive “God” is expanded to “Yahweh God”, a name that is more specific and apparently more down to earth. --- Creating becomes simple making. --- “Heaven and earth” is reversed, giving priority to earth.