Reading Scripture, Rejecting Violence

This last week several friends invited me to offer thoughts and resources on how to address the question of how do we read the violence contained in Scripture, and therefore, how do we respond to those whose theology makes room for the use of violence by Christians.

Interestingly, I had mostly put the first question aside as irrelevant, at least personally.

About two years ago I made a week-long retreat in Colorado with a good friend and spiritual director. I was deeply concerned about this issue and having a hard time moving forward in my spiritual path because of it. I was also in the middle of a difficult conflict that seemed to be intertwined with the scriptural issue. I didn't really seem to get very far at this time so shelved active attempts to resolve the issue, mostly.

In response to my friends' recent requests I've re-engaged the question searching out resources on the issue and come acrosss some interesting websites and blogs. Interesting on several levels. Firstly, to see the pretty big split in theological readings of Scripture towards violence. From one group assigning all actions to God, whether we perceive them as "good" or "bad", arguing that because God is totally good and has a perspective much larger than any human, God's actions may look bad to us now, but are in fact part of a much larger good. The other perspective is God is completely good and therefore will never do anything we percieve as bad or evil or violent. Violence, therefore, comes from outside of God, predominantly from Satan and other beings that work against God's purposes. The second level of intereset was the difficulty with which these two "camps" have in dialoguing with each other.

Web blog comments generally don't allow for a positive and transformative conflict experience. There will be one group who argue their point of view, another group arguing theirs, and much name calling and dire proclamations hurled back and forth. There may be one, or two individuals who raise a more conciliatory voice to the discussion, asking questions, seeking some understanding, but they seem to be generally ignored on the whole. So the capacity for healthy conflict in these discussions are low. This is also interesting to me as I prepare myself for moving to the US next year and consider how to approach the roots of violence there.

So how have I dealt with the problem of violence in Scripture? I have several propositions on dealing with this:

Firstly, a clear rejection of the use of Scripture to endorse or promote any act of violence (in all it's forms) towards one person or group on another. And this goes right down to the cultural level. Any attitudes of hatred, racism, sexism, genderism - any form of domination - are to be rejected. Scripture, distressingly, has been used to promote all kinds of violence, from domestic violence to genocide. I emphatically reject this reading of Scripture.

Secondly, a change of language that no longer refers to Scripture as "the Word of God". "The Word of God" is used synonymously with "Scripture" and I think that is problematic making room for the abuses I mentioned above. The Word of God, according to Scripture, is God who enlightens us, and I would also say enlightens our reading of Scripture. Scripture is certainly useful for "traininig in righteousness" but must be read in the light of Jesus, first, as well as in appropriate context. If not readings of Scripture that lead to violence and domination tend to creep in quite quickly.

Thirdly, I suggest the employment of Nonviolent Communication principles in reading Scripture, that is to say, working hard to understand the feelings and needs expressed by the author of Scripture, particularly with those passages we find most difficult to grapple with. For me those passages are the ones where violence is endorsed, directly or indirectly, and where God and Jesus are described as having violent characteristics as in the book of Revelation.

I actually spent some time writing down some "psalms of renunciation" to the violence within Scripture and done because of our violent interpretations of Scripture. I found that incredibly freeing and I have renewed energy to re-engage Scripture on the whole, and those parts I have generally avoided.