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The author, Val Greenwood, decided to leave the poetry of the Old Testament out of his book, I Will Make of Thee a Great Nation. Poetry books inlude Psalms and Song of Solomon. I think that Psalms is one of the most important books in the Old Testament. It shows the feelings of the people of that time and their devotion to God. Why do you think Greenwood left them out? Do you agree with his decision?

Well in the context of the book, Val D. Greenwood was telling stories of events that happened in the Old Testament. Since the poetry books didn't quite convey actual events, it was okay to leave them out.

Sam_Ibeh wrote: ↑02 Aug 2019, 08:04 Well in the context of the book, Val D. Greenwood was telling stories of events that happened in the Old Testament. Since the poetry books didn't quite convey actual events, it was okay to leave them out.

I agree, I think given what Greenwood was trying to accomplish, it was acceptable for author to leave out song and poetry.

I think it was acceptable that he left them out based on the purpose of the book being to tell the individual stories in the Old Testament. However, I love reading the Psalms!

For the author's purpose, I think it was acceptable to omit the Psalms and Proverbs. However, the Psalms are a favorite of mine, too.

The poetry in the Old Testament was really was very eye-catching and beautiful. It's a shame that the author had to leave them out.

I agree that Psalms is one of the best books of the old testament but maybe the author just didn't connect with it as much as other readers do. I would have included it but to each their own.

It is a controversial decision -- no doubt about that. The poetry books, especially Psalms and Proverbs, are easy to read and understand; they are relatable and appealing to most readers. However, they do not recount stories per se. That might have been the reason.

I don't agree with the decision. I, too, value the Psalms and believe it would've added great weight to his message.

The books of poetry don't quite tell a story. It is even common to read one psalm that speaks about different occurrences. If one were to narrate the Psalms as events, they would make up an entire book and that's without the other books of poetry. I don't mind the omission.

I agree with the most about the psalms, and them not exactly telling about specific occurrences. The Song of Solomon (sorry, I am not sure what is the correct name in English, as it is not my first language. In Lithuanian it is called The Song of Songs), in my opinion, carries a lot of value and could have been mentioned in the book.

Well, I think he left it out because it doesn't have a direct story line. For example, most of the chapters in the book of Psalms were written by David, but they were written at different periods of his life which have with different story lines.

I'm guessing it's because the poetry is easily accessible, so there's no need to includes it in the book.

I agree with this decision because poetry is a different matter, considering what the aim of the book is. However, I hope Greenwood will discuss poetry in another book. It would be interesting.