"Literary" just means there's a style to it, there's an artistry to it, it has a literary form to it. It does not at all need to be contrary to a robust sense of biblical history. For me, it's like a lot of things in the Christian life and in theology - it's a both-and. If you try to force a dichotomy - it's got [to] be this or it's got [to] be that, it's like the two natures of Christ, or it's like human freedom and divine sovereignty - when you pit them against one another where one gets to win and the other has to absolutely lose, you're not going to be a good theologian.
I think we ought to approach all of the Scriptures in the same way and that is to recognise it's a very human book full of human failings, in terms of the characters that are presented, human in terms of the personalities of the authors that come through very strongly, and the experiences of the authors that come through very strongly all the way through the Bible. But at the same time, the Scripture itself says these men who were authors of Scripture were carried along by the Holy Spirit. There's an impetus and a divine agency so that this truly is not merely human words about God, but this is God's word to humanity. There is no reason in the world that we can't fully appreciate both of those aspects. I think if we take one at the expense of the other, we're not going to understand Scripture in all of its richness.
- Phil Ryken, How to Become a Better Bible Reader
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