The Violence of Scripture

Overcoming the Old Testament's Troubling Legacy

Eric A. Seibert

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780800698256
• eBook ISBN: 9781451424324
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Introduction:
The Bible Should Never Be Used
to Harm Others

Humans have an amazing capacity to demonize their enemies, portraying them as the epitome of evil who must be eliminated at all cost. Time and time again “civilized” Christian people have committed genocide, practiced slavery, and in other ways demeaned “uncivilized” peoples because they saw them as evil. Using the Bible to justify this kind of behavior must stop.

—ESTHER EPP-TIESSEN 1

The Mystic River Massacre

On May 26, 1637, New England settlers attacked and burned a Pequot village, massacring approximately “700 elderly men and defenseless women and children.” 2 It was an utterly unjustifiable act of cold-blooded killing and unmitigated brutality. How could Puritans justify such carnage? By appealing to Scripture! John Higginson wrote a treatise defending the war against the Pequot generally, and the massacre at the village at Mystic River particularly, on the basis of Judges 20. This chapter in Judges describes intertribal warfare in which the Benjaminites are nearly annihilated by their fellow Israelites. According to Laura Donaldson, this particular Old Testament passage “provided the early settlers of New England with all the legitimation they needed to wage war against the Pequot.” 3

John Underhill, who was second in command on the fateful day of the massacre, also attempts to justify the slaughter by appealing to the Old Testament. He does so by alluding to David’s war with the Ammonites in 2 Samuel 12. 4 In an apparent effort to respond to some criticism of the Mystic River massacre, Underhill writes:

Great and doleful was the bloody sight to the view of young soldiers that never had been in war, to see so many souls lie gasping on the ground, so thick, in some places, that you could hardly pass along. It may be demanded, Why should you be so furious? (as some have said). Should not Christians have more mercy and compassion? But I would refer you to David’s war. When a people is grown to such a height of blood, and sin against God and man . . . he [God] hath no respect to persons, but harrows them, and saws them, and puts them to the sword, and the most terriblest death that may be. Sometimes the Scripture declareth women and children must perish with their parents. Sometimes the case alters; but we will not dispute it now. We have sufficient light from the Word of God for our proceedings. 5

As Matthew Kruer has noted: “The Puritans’ worldview was rooted in a Scripture that contained spectacular episodes of mass violence, and . . . these precedents provided a ready justification for those who sought to retroactively account for their ferocity.” 6 When the Old Testament is used to justify the killing of hundreds of “elderly men and defenseless women and children,” something has clearly gone terribly wrong!

Do No Harm

The premise of this book is simple and straightforward: the Bible should never be used to inspire, promote, or justify acts of violence. This means, among other things, that the Bible should not be read in ways that oppress or otherwise harm people. Yet, tragically, this is how the Bible has often been used in the past, and it is how it continues to be used by many people today.

In recent years, a number of books have appeared, highlighting the destructive way the Bible has been used to hurt others. 7 These books, with such provocative titles as The Sins of Scripture and The Savage Text, help people recognize how the Bible has often been read in ways that foster injustice, oppression, and death. 8 Biblical texts have been used to justify such things as warfare and genocide, violence against women, child abuse, religious intolerance, capital punishment, slavery, bigotry, and racism. The Old Testament has frequently been used in these ways, resulting in what I refer to as “the Old Testament’s troubling legacy.” As the subtitle of this book suggests, overcoming this troubling legacy is one of my primary concerns.

As we will see, the Old Testament’s troubling legacy is intricately connected to its many violent texts. It is difficult to read the Old Testament for very long without bumping into passages that depict or describe violence in some way. Many of these passages portray violence positively and sanction various acts of violence. Tragically, many of these texts have been used to inspire, encourage, and legitimate all sorts of violence against others over the years.

Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is also extremely problematic in this regard. It too has been used to inspire, encourage, and legitimate all sorts of violent acts and attitudes, and has been used to oppress, afflict, and harm countless individuals and groups over the years. 9 For example, some people have used New Testament texts to perpetrate violent acts against women and children and to legitimate immoral practices like slavery. 10 A handful of New Testament texts that speak disparagingly of “the Jews” have also contributed to an enormous amount of antisemitism, the tragic consequences of which are all too familiar. 11 Other passages, such as those related to the atonement and eschatological judgment, have led to distorted views of God and even caused some people to reject Christianity altogether. 12 Clearly, the Bible’s troubling legacy is not confined to the Old Testament. The New Testament is problematic as well.

That said, one may wonder why I have chosen to focus exclusively on the Old Testament in this book. First, given the scope and magnitude of the problem at hand, it seemed wise to limit my discussion to one part of the Bible rather than trying to do too much. Second, it made sense for me to focus exclusively on the Old Testament since this is my area of specialization. I feel much better equipped to deal with the problem as it appears in this part of the Bible given my particular training. Third, since the majority of the teaching I do is from the Old Testament, this is the context in which the problem most naturally arises for me.

Although this book focuses on the Old Testament, I believe many of the reading strategies that will be presented are equally effective in dealing with the New Testament’s troubling legacy. My hope is that people will find ways to use what is offered here to help them read both the Old and the New Testament in ethically responsible ways.

The Purpose of This Book

I have written this book with two particular objectives in mind. First, since I believe the Bible should never be used to harm people, I will advocate reading the Old Testament nonviolently in an effort to overcome the Old Testament’s troubling legacy. This involves reading in a way that values all people, promotes justice, and facilitates liberation. It requires reading in an ethically responsible manner, one that utilizes various strategies for critiquing, rather than perpetuating, the Old Testament’s positive portrayals of violence. Reading nonviolently means resisting all readings that—wittingly or unwittingly—cause harm, justify oppression, sanction killing, or in some way reinforce the value and “virtue” of violence. Ultimately, this way of approaching the Old Testament results in readings that are liberating and life-giving rather than oppressive and deadly.

Second, and relatedly, I have written this book to offer some guidance for dealing with violent Old Testament texts that sanction, and sometimes even celebrate, certain acts of violence. Since these texts are often the source of the problem, it is crucial to discuss how they should be handled. For example, what should we do when we encounter passages containing divinely sanctioned violence, such as the command to kill every last Canaanite? How should we respond to passages that sanction rape and other acts of violence against women? What principles should guide our interpretation and application of passages that endorse stoning rebellious children (Deut. 21:18-21), blasphemers (Lev. 24:16), and wayward worshipers (Deut. 17:2-7)? Since many people do not know what to do with violent texts like these, they often do nothing with them. While this is understandable, it is not terribly helpful. In light of the enormous influence these texts have had on readers over the years, and given the considerable harm they have done, it is unwise to ignore them. 13 Violent texts must be confronted honestly and directly. In this book, I will offer specific guidelines for how to read such texts responsibly by critiquing the violence in them while still considering how these troubling texts can be used constructively.

This book addresses issues that are significant to both religious professionals and lay readers. Since it is designed to be accessible to a wide range of individuals, I have tried to write at a level that will appeal to both general readers and to those with some formal training in biblical studies, theology, and related disciplines. While the book provides a good starting point for people who are wrestling with these issues for the first time, there is also much here for those who have reflected on these questions previously. Although I do not envision my primary audience being scholars already committed to—and engaged in—an ethical critique of Scripture, I hope that even these individuals will benefit from some of what they find in the pages that follow.

A Difficult—But Worthwhile—Journey

This book is going to deal with some of the most violent and unsavory parts of the Old Testament, parts that make many readers squeamish and are often quickly bypassed for greener pastures. If you have never lingered long over these troublesome texts, some of what you are about to read will be disturbing. As Cheryl Kirk-
Duggan acknowledges: “While many read the Bible for spiritual direction and personal devotion, to unearth the violence and know the impact of that violence requires a reading that can be uncomfortable for those seeking simple or easy answers.” 14 Yet, given the harm these texts have caused, simplistic answers are not only inadequate, they are dangerous. The presence of violence in the Bible constitutes a serious problem, one that needs to be confronted with eyes wide open.

As we proceed, we will need to ask some hard questions. We will also need to look at some passages in new ways. At times, this may feel uncomfortable. Reading nonviolently will require us to voice our opposition to positive portrayals of violence and to certain assumptions about violence embedded in these texts. This act of “reading against the grain” may feel unnatural to some readers, especially those who have never questioned or critiqued the biblical text in this way before. It will require them to rethink their view of the Bible and their understanding of how Scripture functions authoritatively. 15 But this way of reading is precisely what is needed to overcome the Old Testament’s troubling legacy. Given the concerns some may have about this way of reading the Bible, it may help for me to share a few words about my own faith commitment and view of Scripture before proceeding any further.

My Faith Commitment and View of Scripture

Sometimes people who focus on the violence of Scripture, or who emphasize certain problems with the Bible, do so in an effort to disparage the Bible and discredit Christianity. That is certainly not my intention. I am a committed Christian who actively participates in the life of the church and affirms the essential role of Scripture for Christian faith and practice. Thus, I write as one who deeply values Scripture, loves the church, and desires to see Christians use the Bible in a way that deepens their faith and strengthens their resolve to love God and others.

I have had an interest in the Bible for as long as I can remember. I was raised in a Christian home, attended church regularly, and decided to follow Jesus at an early age. The value and importance of the Bible were impressed upon me at home and in church, and my respect for the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is deep and profound. I continue to be amazed at how much influence these texts exert over many of my most fundamental convictions and beliefs. The Bible has played an indispensable role in my life in that regard. Reading the Bible has been a life-giving and faith-affirming experience for me, and I am convinced it is one of the most significant ways God communicates with people today. Scripture has been—and continues to be—formative and foundational in my life in many respects.

Yet, ironically, my love for the Bible is precisely what eventually led me to have such substantial difficulties with it. The more I read and studied the Bible, the more I realized how challenging some parts of it were for those wanting to use it as a guide for faithful living and theological reflection. For all its benefits, I began to recognize that the Bible was not without some significant problems. I discovered that the Bible sometimes promotes values that are objectionable, encourages behaviors that are unethical, and portrays God in ways that are unacceptable.

Unfortunately, some readers uncritically embrace these problematic perspectives, internalize the text’s accommodating attitudes toward violence, and then use these texts to hurt others. Far too many people have been abused, oppressed, violated, and victimized by those who read the Bible this way. As one who loves Scripture and loathes violence, I find this to be terribly distressing. Therefore, I have written this book to encourage people to read the Old Testament more ethically and less violently, in ways that help rather than harm.

Since I will be urging throughout this book that people read the Old Testament nonviolently, I should also describe my personal convictions as they relate to violence and nonviolence. As a lifelong member of the Brethren in Christ Church, a denomination rooted in the Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan traditions, I embrace the church’s strong commitment to nonviolence, peacemaking, and reconciliation. Personally, I regard all forms of violence as inappropriate for Christians, and I cannot condone the use of violence in any situation. We have been created to love and serve one an...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction: The Bible Should Never Be Used to Harm Others
• Chapter 2: The Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy
• Chapter 3: The Pervasive Presence of “Virtuous” Violence in the Old Testament
• Chapter 4: The Danger of Reading the Bible
• Chapter 5: Developing Good Reading Habits: Becoming Ethically Responsible Readers
• Chapter 6: Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently
• Chapter 7: Confronting Canaanite Genocide and Its Toxic Afterlife
• Chapter 8: Keeping the Old Testament from Being Used to Justify War
• Chapter 9: Preventing Violence against Women
• Chapter 10: The Necessity and Urgency of Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently: Some Conclusions
• Appendix: A Brief Word about Biblical Authority
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index of Biblical References
• Index of Modern Authors