The Violence Of The Biblical God

How can we make sense of violence in the Bible? Joshua commands the people of Israel to wipe out everyone in the promised land of Canaan, while Jesus commands God’s people to love their enemies. How are we to interpret biblical passages on violence when it is sanctioned at one point and condemned at another? The Violence of the Biblical God by L. Daniel Hawk presents a new framework, solidly rooted in the authority of Scripture, for understanding the paradox of God’s participation in violence. Hawk shows how the historical narrative of the Bible offers multiple canonical pictures for faithful Christian engagement with the violent systems of the world.

There is much violence in the Old Testament, both human and divine. Christians and non-Christians react differently to what they read about the God of the Old Testament. Some people are so affected by the violence found in the Old Testament that they give up on God, stop going to church and reading the Bible, and eventually lose their faith. Others are offended by divine violence and seek to find an alternative explanation for the violent acts of God in the Old Testament. A popular alternative in the twenty-first century is to return to the second century and adopt some form of Marcionism and make the God of the Old Testament to be a different God from the God revealed by Christ in the New Testament. The purpose of this book is not a defense of God and his use of violence. The author seeks to understand why God acted the way he did and to understand the reason for divine violence in the Old Testament. Yahweh did use violence in his work of reconciliation. However, the use of violence was necessary when everything else failed. Israel provoked God to anger. When God brought judgment upon his people, he did so with tears in his eyes.

The prevalence of evil and violence in the world is a growing focus of scholarly attention, especially violence done in the name of religion and violence found within the pages of the Old Testament. Many atheists consider this reason enough to reject the notion of a supreme deity. Some Christians attempt to exonerate God by reinterpreting problematic passages or by prioritizing portrayals of God’s nonviolence. Other Christians have begun to respond to violence in the Old Testament by questioning the nature of the text itself, though not rejecting belief in a good God. Wrestling with the Violence of God: Soundings in the Old Testament is a response to these challenging issues. The chapters in this volume present empathetic, holistic, and methodologically responsible readings of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. Contributors from different nationalities, religious traditions, and educational institutions come together to address representative biblical material that depicts violence. Chapters address explicit portrayals of divine violence, human responses to violence of God and violence in the world, alternative understandings of supposedly violent texts, and a hopeful future in which violence is no more. Rather than attempt to offer a conclusive answer to the issue, this volume constructively contributes to the ongoing discussion.

A dramatic tension confronts every Christian believer and interpreter of Scripture: on the one hand, we encounter images of God commanding and engaging in horrendous violence: one the other hand, we encounter the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus, whose loving, self-sacrificial death and resurrection is held up as the supreme revelation of God’s character in the New Testament. How do we reconcile the tension between these seemingly disparate depictions? Are they even capable of reconciliation? Throughout Christian history, many different answers have been proposed, ranging from the long-rejected explanation that these contrasting depictions are of two entirely different ‘gods’ to recent social and cultural theories of metaphor and narrative representation. The Crucifixion of the Warrior God takes up this dramatic tension and the range of proposed answers in an epic constructive investigation. Over two volumes, renowned theologian and biblical scholar Gregory A. Boyd argues that we must take seriously the full range of Scripture as inspired, including its violent depictions of God. At the same time, we must take just as seriously the absolute centrality of the crucified and risen Christ as the supreme revelation of God. Developing a theological interpretation of Scripture that he labels a “cruciform hermeneutic,” Boyd demonstrates how Scripture’s violent images of God are completely reframed and their violence subverted when they are interpreted through the lens of the cross and resurrection. Indeed, when read through this lens, Boyd argues that these violent depictions can be shown to bear witness to the same self-sacrificial character of God that was supremely revealed on the cross.

The Bible frequently depicts God as angry and violent, and sometimes depicts human violence as positive or even as commanded by God. This forms one of the most vexing problems in approaching Scripture and interpreting the Bible for preaching and teaching today. In this volume, Creach first examines the theological problems of violence and categorizes the types of violence that appear in scripture. He then wrestles with the most important biblical texts on violence to work through specific interpretational issues. This new volume in the Interpretation: Resources for Use of Scripture in the Church series will help preachers and pastors interpret those difficult texts, encouraging them to face violence in the Bible with honesty.

From the medieval crusades to the latest violence in the Middle East, warriors have long claimed the Bible's support for their battles. Patricia M. McDonald argues that many biblical stories, read as part of a canon from Genesis to Revelation, contain resources for turning violence to service of God and humanity. As varied and complex as life itself, these narratives can provide us with imaginative possibilities and steady motivation to move beyond the narrow defensiveness and self-interest that are becoming ever more problematic in an increasingly interconnected world.

Infanticide. Holy war. Divine wrath. Violence in the Old Testament has long been a stumbling block for Christians and skeptics alike. Yet conventional efforts to understand this violence-whether by downplaying it as allegory or a relic of primitive cultures, or by dismissing the authority of Scripture altogether-tend to raise more questions than they answer. God Is a Man of War offers a fresh interpretation of Old Testament accounts of violence by exploring them through the twofold lens of Orthodox tradition and historical context. Father Stephen De Young examines what these difficult passages reveal about the nature of Christ and His creation, bearing witness to a world filled not only with pain and suffering-often of human making-but also with the love of God.

Denominations from evangelical to mainline continue to experience deep divisions over universal social issues. The underlying debate isn’t about a particular social issue, but instead it is about how we understand the nature of scripture and how we should interpret it. The world’s bestselling, most-read, and most-loved book is also one of the most confusing. In Making Sense of the Bible, Adam Hamilton, one of the country’s leading pastors and Christian authors, addresses the hot-button issues that plague the church and cultural debate, and answers many of the questions frequently asked by Christians and non-Christians alike. Did God really command Moses to put gay people to death? Did Jesus really teach that everyone who is not a Christian will be assigned to hell? Why would Paul command women to “keep silent in the church?” Were Adam and Eve real people? Is the book of Revelation really about the end times? Who decided which books made it into the scriptures and why? Is the Bible ever wrong? In approachable and inviting language, Hamilton addresses these often misunderstood biblical themes leading readers to a deeper appreciation of the Bible so that we might hear God speak through it and find its words to be life-changing and life-giving.