Disowning the Violence

Setting the Scene

Over many years I have been shocked, worried and puzzled by the many violent images of God in the Old Testament. I have met many other people with the same concerns. I also know people who have been completely put off the whole concept of a loving God and Christianity by reading accounts of God’s wholesale slaughter. Worse still, people who have never read the bible are negatively influenced by what they believe it says or what other people have told them it teaches.

When I was eleven years old, I had a school teacher who was the most wonderful storyteller. Everyone looked forward to scripture lessons. We cheered for David against Goliath. We saw the walls of Jericho come crashing down. We sympathised with the misery of the Israelite slaves. But then came the angel of death, killing the firstborn in every Egyptian family and I imagined all those dead people, including babies… and the soldiers bogged down and drowning in the Red Sea, and I thought: If God loves everybody, what about them? Did God love the Egyptians? Would God really kill innocent babies?

As a teenager, I picked up a bible and read the book of Joshua. I was horrified to read that God ordered the murder of the inhabitants of entire cities: men, women, children and animals. They don’t put that in the stories for children but it’s there and is an integral and significant part of the story. I was certain that could not be true. Because of this I wrote off the Old Testament – for years! If only someone had told me that the bible tells what people thought about God as much as it tells about God himself and that many horrific acts are attributed to God for which he could never have been responsible.

After many years of reading the bible and books about it, I worked out a theory about the violence which worked for me. I came to appreciate that the Old Testament as a whole had much to contribute to faith and worship and learned how essential its themes and ideas were to understanding the New Testament. But it is Jesus who gives us the clearer image of God and we must view the Old Testament with this in mind.

Ironically (God does have a sense of humour), it was an experience involving a verse from the disturbing book of Joshua which probably changed the direction of my life! (The whole story comes  in part 3 below.)

I continue to have a passionate belief that the stories of God zapping enemies cannot be true.  A series of people in bible studies and Sunday schools have found me annoying or a breath of fresh air, depending on their point of view. Realising there are things you do not have to believe can be a great relief!

The magazine, Big Issue, has a feature where a well-known person writes a Letter to my younger self. What follows in this book is the information that I would like to have been given when I was twenty or so years old and having huge issues with the Old Testament, particularly the destructive acts of God, which traditional answers did not satisfy.

I would like to be able to pass this on to anyone who has problems coming to terms with difficult issues in the bible and is looking for answers, especially those who are troubled by the violent nature of God portrayed in much of the Old Testament. There is an answer.

I hope that anyone having the same concerns which I grew up with, will find this a useful introduction to a possible solution and that those who do not see a problem might start to reconsider and view the destructive episodes in a different light.

I want to make it absolutely clear that I value the bible and nothing that follows is intended to undermine its importance or anyone’s faith. Research has enhanced my faith by removing some obstacles and thereby making the bible more understandable and believable. I hope it may be the same for you.

According to the Old Testament, God orders and carries out spectacular acts of violence. My object is to show that the way we interpret the bible as a whole gives us permission to discount the truth of this destructive and cruel image of God.

The route we follow

We begin by seeing the bible as a human book, which God adopts and uses. We acknowledge the huge importance of the bible and see Jesus and his life and teaching as the lens through which we need to view the world and other parts of the bible.

Chapters 1 to 4 describe examples of God’s supposed violence as described in the Old Testament, in war, harsh punishments, racism, sexism, other discrimination and praise of violent acts, to illustrate how extensive and shocking the problem is. Following each example, we contrast the actions with those of Jesus.  We consider the need to read against the grain and other ways of seeing the violence objectively.

Chapter 5 gives examples of how, throughout history, a literal interpretation of many bible stories has been used to justify and encourage violence.

Chapter 6 outlines attempts that have been made to justify God’s supposed violent acts.

Chapter 7 addresses the issue of biblical authority.

In part two we explore a range of topics, which considered together, build up a way of interpreting and understanding the bible which allows us to discount the truth of God’s violent behaviour.

We examine:

1. How the bible came to us: writing, editing, compiling, translating, involving debate and controversy.

2. Examples of contradictions, repetitions and mistakes. More evidence of a very human process.

3. Is it True?  Different kinds of truth and finding truth expressed in stories and myths.

4. Is it Historical? Definitions and interpretations of history. Did it really happen?

5. The Chosen People: How the Israelites wrote and interpreted their history. Or was it theology? Or was it politics?

6. Examples of very different and contrasting views expressed by biblical authors. What is the nature of God and what does he value? Some core Israelite beliefs challenged within the bible.

7. What is our image of God? How the story is told influences our perceptions.

8. We see the huge importance placed on the Law, and review some positive aspects and the different approaches of the prophets.

Throughout, we see the Old Testament as a product of its time, place, culture and consequent belief systems.

Part three looks at the positive side of the Old Testament and its relevance for today.

We see the bible as a vast cloud of witnesses ¹ spanning fifteen hundred years of people searching for God and being inspired to record their experiences and beliefs, which change over time as we might expect. This is an on-going story of which we need to be a part. It is a very human book which God adopts and uses.

We consider how much ideas change over time and why we should still read the Old Testament.

Lastly, we consider the important issue of how we teach the bible and present Christianity to the next generation and the world – the vital necessity of removing the image of God as a capricious tyrant.

Jesus: Our lens on the world

The Old Testament needs to be read through the lens of Jesus. In Jesus, God chose to live a real human life, suffering hardship, hunger, disappointment, frustration, insult, sorrow and betrayal. He died a humiliating and excruciatingly painful death on the cross, so that everyone could be rescued from sin and separation from God through his self-sacrificing love. Jesus’ miracles gave life and health. He gave new life and hope to sinners and outcasts. He transformed the lives of those who had ears to hear. He loved his enemies, as he taught others to do. He was passionate about condemning injustice and hypocrisy and was very forceful in criticising and challenging wrong actions and motives. Jesus warned of the damage people would do to their true selves by constant bad behaviour, but he never physically harmed anyone. He preached forgiveness. He forgave those who crucified him.² Even in his agony on the cross, he thought of his mother³ and the penitent thief.⁴ His whole life was one of self-giving love, service and compassion.

Human minds and hearts can never fully understand and know what God is like, but Christians believe that in Jesus we come closest to that knowledge. Jesus is the key to our understanding of God. He is the example, the yardstick with which to measure other events and attitudes, and the truth of what is said about God in other contexts, including other parts of the bible.  For Christians, Jesus must be the lens through which we look at the world and its problems and the troubling issues in the bible.

Notes:

1. Heb. 12:1

2. Lk. 23:34

3. Jn. 19:26

4. Lk. 23:43

Part One

The Problem

1. The Bible is a Very Human Book

Magazines often carry a disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor. I think it would be a good idea if every bible came with a similar disclaimer: The views expressed in this book are not necessarily those of God. A great deal of misunderstanding would be avoided.

The bible is a very human book but God has adopted it. He did not write it but he has accepted it as the record of his people’s search for him and their attempts, sometimes making mistakes, to understand him. God uses this bible, despite all its faults, as a vehicle for communication, to guide and inspire those who wish to be his children.

Most people love their children but that does not mean that they like everything they do or agree with everything they say. Hopefully, parents do their best to encourage, support and guide them as much as is possible. I’m sure that God does not agree with every statement made in the bible or endorse every action that its characters take. The many violent acts attributed to God in the Old Testament certainly come into this category. The bible expresses so many contrasting and contradictory views that they cannot all be correct; they cannot all be God’s opinion. The bible speaks with a disjointed chorus of human voices. That does not prevent it from being a unique source of inspiration which God can use to speak to those who have hearts and ears to listen and hear. God uses imperfect people and he can use an imperfect bible.

Regardless of its imperfections, this amazing collection of writings which we have come to know as, The bible has inspired people of many ages, races and cultures over the centuries, and continues to do so. Millions have heard God speaking to them through its pages, and come to know God in their lives. It brings us the inestimable love of God in the Good News of Jesus Christ. Its value and importance cannot be over-emphasised. Like people, the bible is more than the sum of its parts because God has adopted it.

Despite this, it is also true that many people are put off the bible and therefore put off Christianity by some troubling aspects of the bible. One major problem is the violent image of God portrayed in large sections of the Old Testament. Christians must reject this image and focus on Jesus.

2. The Violent Acts of God

There are hundreds of instances where God orders, approves, or himself carries out acts of extreme violence. They are disturbing. They are shocking. They are immoral. They need to be recognised as such. They are also an integral part of the Old Testament saga and cannot be ignored but they