Religion/The Bible and Violence

DOES THE BIBLE CONDONE VIOLENCE

I . INTRODUCTION

Bible texts contain many stories of violence and wars . The purpose of this is to explore basic interpretations of these Bible texts and discuss whether God , Who is the same in the Old and New Testaments permits Christian violence , and , if so , under what circumstances . This is an important because the Old Testament books form the bases of three major religions , Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . Many verses in the Bible can be quoted out of context to justify Holy Wars in different faiths and

splinter religious groups , as are taking place in the Middle Eastern countries every day . In this I will explore whether our understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ provides guidance for Christians about the use of violence or justifiable warfare

Bible quotes are from the Harper Collins Study Bible (NSRV . Primary references are Does the Bible Justify Violence ? by John J . Collins and Jesus and Nonviolence , A Third Way , by Walter Wink . My secondary references are a textbook discussing proper reading of the Old Testament Calvin : Institutes of the Christian Religion , Vol . XX and XXI writings on non-violence and what it means by Martin Luther King Jr , President Jimmy Carter , and Chaplain Charles Meyer and conclusions from The 9 /11 Commission Report . The goal of this is to understand better the objectives of the of the Old and New Testaments and the views of God presented therein the teachings of Jesus Christ on violence by studying Collins and Wink and review some of the opinions about violence and non-violent conduct in authoritative sources

II . MAIN POINTS

Whether or not one believes that the Bible condones violence depends on one 's personal authority given to the text . We must be careful in our reading of both the Old and New Testaments to consider both in light of the time period in which they originated . Even though each book describes historical events , we cannot read those books as if they were written as we today write history with concrete dates , people , and events . Biblical history is not an objective reporting of purely human events but rather an impassioned account of God 's acts in history passed down as stories and put in written form centuries later

Some modern believe that the Bible is not a model for morality it is a mirror for identity . It is inappropriate to look to the Bible as a guide for what to do . We should view the Bible as a mirror reflecting commentary and stories describing who we are and how we should interact with God and one another . In his book , Does the Bible Justify Violence , theologian John J . Collins argues that the Bible appears to endorse violence , which he defines as any attempt of an individual or group to impose its will on others by injury coercion , or killing . He demonstrates this by quoting Exodus 15 :3 , the Lord is a warrior . He adds

Thus says the...