Is the Bible a Tragedy or a Comedy?

Hey – Payton here.

Sliding into your inbox with one of the oldest questions in storytelling (and maybe life itself):

Is this whole thing a tragedy… or a comedy?

And the question that’s been itching at me like the scab on my left elbow all week: Which one is the Bible?

Let’s back up.

This week, we’re picking up with an old friend Aristotle — that storytelling philosopher who couldn’t help but categorize everything. And in one of his earliest surviving works of dramatic theory, Poetics, he gets to work breaking down the Tragedy.

Back then, stories had only two lanes.

There was no “drama” as a genre. No thrillers. No sci-fi, no rom-coms, no epic fantasy trilogies with dragons and twisted heroes.

Just two buckets:

• Bucket 1: Tragedy — where things fall apart.

• Bucket 2: Comedy — where things get made right.

And when you open the Bible it’s pretty clear which bucket it falls into at first: Tragedy.

But let’s pause and look at Aristotle’s definition.

He says a true tragedy involves a noble character who falls — not because they’re evil, but because of a tragic flaw (hamartia).

Hmmm… Sound familiar?

The Bible opens with humans—noble, elevated, created in the image of God. Royal stewards of Eden.

And within three chapters they blow it.

Yikes.

Enter exile.

Enter the slow spiral downward.

Generation after generation of failure, betrayal, bloodshed, sorrow.

It’s textbook Tragedy.

Let’s head back to Poetics for a second. Aristotle laid out six elements of Tragedy — things like diction, melody, and spectacle.

But two tower over the rest:

Plot and Character

In Aristotle’s view, you can strip away everything else. But if your Plot and Character aren’t doing the heavy lifting, the story falls flat.

That hit me.

Because when you look at Scripture, the Plot is relentless:

• From Eden to Egypt.

• From wilderness to war.

• From exile to exile again.

There’s a thread of redemption weaving through it all, sure — but make no mistake: this story spirals down before it lifts up.

And the Characters…

…start out shining.

• Adam walks with God.

• Israel is chosen as God’s people.

• David is a man after God’s own heart.

But they don’t stay that way.

• Each one stumbles.

• Each one breaks.

• Each one is, in their own way, undone by themselves.

That’s exactly what Aristotle described. His two favorite story beats:

• Peripeteia – a sudden reversal of fortune

• Anagnorisis – a gut-punch realization

The Bible has both, and often in the same moment.

Like when…

• Joseph’s brothers bow before the one they sold into slavery.

• David realizes he’s the man he just condemned to death.

• Peter hears the rooster crow and remembers Jesus’s words.

• Saul is blinded on the road and realizes he’s been fighting God Himself.

Every one of those moments stops the story cold.

They shift the momentum.

They make the tragedy personal.

This isn’t just abstract downfall. It’s intimate collapse. It’s the realization that I did this. That I am the one in need of rescue.

And it’s that kind of story — full of reversals, full of ruin — that makes what happens next so surprising.

So unexpected.

So divine.

It’s all tragedy, tragedy, tragedy.

Until the Bible pulls a move that would make even the Greeks do a double-take.

In ancient Greece, Comedy didn’t mean laughs and punchlines like Nate Bargatze doing another Netflix special or my personal favorite SNL skit.

It meant a story that ended in joy.

A story that moved from chaos → to order.

From exile → to home.

From sorrow → to celebration.

So what do you call a story that:

• Begins in Eden,

• Descends into death,

• And ends with resurrection, reunion, and restoration?

You call it a Comedy.

The Bible is a Tragedy that transforms into a Comedy.

Not because the characters redeem themselves. Not because the world rights itself.

But because God intervenes.

Every great story has a twist.

And the Bible’s twist is this:

• God steps into the Tragedy.

• God becomes the Tragic Hero.

• God takes on the flaw, the shame, the downfall.

• And in doing so… rewrites the ending.

That’s not a tragedy. That’s the ultimate Divine Comedy.

Why It Matters for Storytellers

If you’re writing stories (and let’s be honest, you are), remember this:

• Tragedy shows us the brokenness of the world.

• Comedy reminds us it can be healed.

Write both.

Let your characters break. Let them bleed.

Let them fall, like Saul. But don’t forget to let them rise, like Paul.

God is not afraid of Tragedy. But He’s always writing toward Comedy.

The good kind.

The true kind.

The kind where every tear gets wiped away.

Write on 🤙

Payton

PS: You may be wondering why the title Poetics. To Aristotle, “modern” aka ancient Greek storytelling stemmed from Homer’s two epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Payton’s Picks

🧠 Tactic: I’ve been using Hemingway Editor more often to simplify my writing. Not because I want my writing to sound like a robot. But because I want it to sound clear. If something reads like a tangle of ideas, it probably is. Hemingway highlights that—fast.

I’ll paste a paragraph in and immediately see the yellow and red highlights screaming back at me: “Too complex.” “Passive voice.” “Try again.” It’s humbling. But it works.

✍️ Quote: “I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes at 9:30 every morning.” — William Faulkner. Mine is around 5:36am.

📚 Book: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This one is required reading if you’re stuck, scared, or waiting for a “better” time to start. I've re-read it every year since 2020.

📈 Post: 

When you’re ready to go deeper, here are two ways I can help:

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I help Christian entrepreneurs, founders, and thought leaders turn their message and experience into compelling, high-impact content. If you need clear, story-driven writing for your emails, brand, or newsletter — Very Good Ghost is where I do that work.

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