Disarming Scripture: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives, and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did

Description

"A God of love and genocide? For many Christians the problem of violence in Scripture can result in a crisis of faith--especially when we see how such passages have been used throughout history to justify horrific bloodshed in God's name. Moving beyond typical conservative and liberal approaches, which seek to either defend or whitewash over violence in the Bible, Disarming Scripture takes a surprising yet compelling approach: Learning to read the Bible like Jesus did. Along the way the book deals with some very big issues, ranging from passages commanding genocide and infanticide in the Old Testament to passages in the New Testament that have been used to justify slavery, child abuse, and state violence. The take-away is an approach to scripture that not only sees questioning as an acceptable part of a healthy faith, but as an absolutely essential part of it"--Back cover.;Part I: Violence and the Old Testament. Confronting violence in scripture -- Reading the Bible like Jesus did -- Paul's conversion from violence -- The divorce of ethics and exegesis -- Facing our darkness -- Part II: Violence and the New Testament. Reading on a trajectory -- God and the state sword -- A practical guide to enemy-love -- Undoing judgment -- Re-thinking biblical authority. Part I: Violence and the Old Testament. Confronting violence in scripture -- Reading the Bible like Jesus did -- Paul's conversion from violence -- The divorce of ethics and exegesis -- Facing our darkness -- Part II: Violence and the New Testament. Reading on a trajectory -- God and the state sword -- A practical guide to enemy-love -- Undoing judgment -- Re-thinking biblical authority.