The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy

by Eric A. Seibert

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2012

Overview

No one can read far in the Old Testament without encountering numerous acts of violence that are sanctioned in the text and attributed to both God and humans. Over the years, these texts have been used to justify all sorts of violence: from colonizing people and justifying warfare, to sanctioning violence against women and children. For those who read the Bible as Scripture, these depictions of “virtuous” violence pose tremendous moral and theological challenges. What can be done to stop people from using the Old Testament in such destructive ways, and how might these violent texts be read more faithfully?

Eric Seibert faces these challenges head-on by confronting the problem of “virtuous” violence and urging people to engage in an ethically responsible reading of these troublesome texts. He offers a variety of reading strategies designed to critique textually sanctioned violence, while still finding ways to use even the most difficult texts constructively, thus providing a desperately needed approach to the violence of Scripture that can help us live more peaceably in a world plagued by religious violence.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“Obviously, some violent Old Testament texts do not fall neatly into one category or the other” (Page 28)

Product Details

• Title: The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy
• Author: Eric A. Seibert
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 232
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. › Hermeneutics; Violence in the Bible
• Resource ID: LLS:VLNCSCRPTR
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T06:34:34Z

About Eric A. Seibert

Eric A. Seibert (PhD, Drew University) is a professor of Old Testament and has served as the president of the Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society. His most recent books are The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament's Troubling Legacy and Disarming the Church: Why Christians Must Forsake Violence to Follow Jesus and Change the World.