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

Contents

v contents Acknowledgments ix Chapter 1: Introduction: The Bible Should Never Be Used to Harm Others 1 Part 1: Exploring the Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy Chapter 2: The Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy 15 Chapter 3: The Pervasive Presence of “Virtuous” Violence in the Old Testament 27 Chapter 4: The Danger of Reading the Bible 45 Part 2: Proposing a Way of Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently Chapter 5: Developing Good Reading Habits: Becoming Ethically Responsible Readers 61 Chapter 6: Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently 73 Part 3: Applying Nonviolent Reading Strategies to Violent Texts Chapter 7: Confronting Canaanite Genocide and Its Toxic Afterlife 95 Chapter 8: Keeping the Old Testament from Being Used to Justify War 115 Chapter 9: Preventing Violence against Women 129 vi Contents Chapter 10: The Necessity and Urgency of Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently: Some Conclusions 147 Appendix: A Brief Word about Biblical Authority 159 Notes 163 Bibliography 193 Index of Biblical References 211 Index of Modern Authors 217 To my Dad and Mom, Laverne and Kathy, for giving me a wonderful childhood, loving me unconditionally, supporting me always, and reading what I write. I love you! ...