ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THIS STRANGE AND SACRED SCRIPTURE
Chapter 5Killing All That Breathes: Violence in the Old Testament
Discussion Questions
How does religion inspire violence today? How does religion curb violence today? Since the war on terror began in 2001, people in the U.S. have debated whether it’s ever acceptable to torture another human being (like a suspected terrorist). What’s a biblical response to torture? Chapter 5 suggests it’s okay if Christians don’t have all the answers. What’s lost if we can’t explain parts of the Bible? How do we read the Bible differently if we’re no longer concerned about justifying it to people who don’t like it? |
Above: Gustave Doré's 1866 David Slays Goliath (see 1 Sam 17).
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A Quote to Contemplate
“By participating in our messy conflicts, God takes the road of suffering and death. Through such involvement, God absorbs the effects of sinful human effort and thus suffers violence…. That God finally experiences violence in the death of Jesus on the cross demonstrates that God himself gets caught up in the death that many people, including children, have had to experience, not least the Canaanites and the Egyptians.” (Terence Fretheim, About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions [Rev. ed.; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2009], 136-137)
“By participating in our messy conflicts, God takes the road of suffering and death. Through such involvement, God absorbs the effects of sinful human effort and thus suffers violence…. That God finally experiences violence in the death of Jesus on the cross demonstrates that God himself gets caught up in the death that many people, including children, have had to experience, not least the Canaanites and the Egyptians.” (Terence Fretheim, About the Bible: Short Answers to Big Questions [Rev. ed.; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2009], 136-137)
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Other Resources
Crossan, John Dominic. How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation. New York: HarperCollins, 2015. (Amazon)
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Moberly, R. W. L. Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013. (Amazon)
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Stone, Lawson. "Violence in the Old Testament: Seven Minute Seminary." YouTube. (Click here)
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