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

6. Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently

73 chapTer 6 reading the old Testament nonviolently Reading is not disinterested. Our interpretation of a text is the result of the kinds of questions we ask, and those questions are determined by our interests (acknowledged or not). —J. Cheryl Exum1 We ignore at our peril the potential for violence built into the Bible. —Alastair Hunter2 at this point, we are ready to discuss how one goes about reading the Old Testament nonviolently. How does one read violent texts in ways that are liberating and life-giving, and that reduce the risk of being used to justify further acts of violence and oppression? Although the approach I develop in this chapter does not constitute a formalized methodology that needs to be applied with exacting rigor and precision, it does involve a commitment to read the Old Testament in a certain way, from a particular perspective. The various reading strategies described in this chapter will provide a number of practical tools that are helpful for reading the Old Testament from this perspective. Although none of these strategies miraculously resolves all of the problems associated with the Old Testament’s troubling legacy, when taken together they go a long way toward resisting some of the most harmful effects of these texts. 74 The Violence of Scripture Those who are familiar with more recent ways of reading the Bible by utilizing various forms of postmodern criticism will recognize much of what follows.3 Many of the reading strategies I advocate, and the suggestions I offer, are derived from interpretive approaches such as reader-response criticism, feminist criticism, postcolonial criticism, ideological criticism, and deconstruction.4 I have found these approaches extremely helpful in my efforts to read nonviolently. Although I do not engage in any extensive theoretical or methodological discussion of those approaches in what follows, interested readers are encouraged to consult the more specialized studies referenced in the notes. five Steps in reading nonviolently I would like to suggest five steps that work together to help us read nonviolently. While I have arranged these in roughly the order one might use them, I would again emphasize that methodological precision is not my intent. The goal here is to develop a way of reading the Old Testament from a certain point of view. The first three steps—naming, analyzing, and critiquing the violence—are intended to limit and neutralize the harmful effects these texts often have on readers (and others!). The last two—using textual violence constructively and transcending the violence—have more to do with finding ways to use these problematic passages positively. I will argue that those who wish to read the Old Testament responsibly as Scripture must be willing to engage in an ethical critique of its violent texts while at same time considering how to read them in ways that enhance faith and affirm life. Doing one without the other is insufficient. The two must go hand in hand. Step 1: Naming the Violence Naming the violence we encounter in the Old Testament constitutes a first step toward reading the Old Testament nonviolently. Violent assumptions, attitudes, and actions should be identified and acknowledged as such. This takes patience and practice, but also courage and determination. Many readers would just as soon ignore these troubling texts, or at least the troubling dimensions of them, and pretend they do not exist. But this is not an effective way of dealing with violence in the Old Testament. As Nancy Bowen recognizes: “An ethical response to biblical violence requires naming it, for only then can we take responsibility for it.”5 Before we can name the violence, we must be able to see it. In some instances, seeing violence is relatively easy since it is such a prominent feature in the text. Numerous Old Testament narratives, poems, and prophetic oracles are laced with violent words, deeds, and images that are—or at least should be—immediately recognizable . We have already considered a number of passages like these, passages in which violence is unmistakable. Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently 75 Yet, ironically, even in some of the most violent texts, there is a danger of not actually seeing the violence. One reason for this—especially with the most familiar and well-known stories of violence in the Old Testament—is “textual blindness,” a phrase I have adapted from Don Everts. Everts talks about “home blindness,” a situation in which “we are so used...