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

2. The Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy

15 chapTer 2 The old Testament’s Troubling legacy Biblical words have been used not only to kill, but even to justify that killing . . . . Quotations from the Bible have been cited to bless the bloodiest of wars. —John Shelby Spong1 Texts do more than they say. —David M. Gunn and Danna Nolan Fewell2 The Old Testament has often been read violently, in ways that have done enormous harm to people. Time and again, it has been used to sanction violence, promote injustice, and justify moral atrocities. People have appealed to the Old Testament to marginalize, oppress, and dominate others. This way of using and abusing the Old Testament has a long and ugly history, one that stretches all the way from the ancient world to the present day. Tragically, as in the case of the Mystic River massacre, the people responsible for these violent readings have often been Christians who have used the Old Testament to rationalize and legitimate horrible acts of violence against others. Before we can overcome this troubling legacy, we must first understand something of its scope and severity. Therefore, this chapter is devoted to exploring some of the ways the Old Testament has been used to justify violence against others. Although the examples given in this chapter are not meant to be exhaustive, they 16 The Violence of Scripture are representative of the harmful effects certain Old Testament texts have had over the years. Since we will only be able to deal briefly with each of the categories presented in this chapter, those who want a more extended discussion are encouraged to consult the sources mentioned in the notes. Justifying War Throughout history, numerous people have appropriated Old Testament language and imagery to support the cause of war and have drawn analogies between ancient Israel’s wars and their own. While many examples could be noted, a few should suffice. Of all the wars ever fought, the Crusades represent one of the most shameful chapters in Christian history. Attempting to recapture Jerusalem and other lands under Muslim control, Christians launched a series of military campaigns in which they committed unspeakable atrocities against Muslims (and others).3 For instance, when Jerusalem was recaptured on July 15, 1099, at the end of the first crusade, the crusaders brutally killed thousands of Muslims. Several eyewitness accounts of this event have been preserved for us. One comes from Raymond of Agiles, who wrote: Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies ; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands, and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one’s way over the bodies of men and horses. . . . [I]n the temple and portico of Solomon , men rode in blood up to their knees and the bridle reins. Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgment of God, that this place should be filled with the blood of the unbelievers, when it had suffered so long from their blasphemies.4 These Christian conquerors, who had ravaged the inhabitants of the city and had done such carnage, rejoiced and sang, fully confident that God was pleased with their actions. What led them to think that the slaughter of thousands of Muslims would please God? How could these Christians justify such barbarism? The answer, in part, was the Old Testament.5 Joseph Lynch argues that the Old Testament played a key role in legitimizing the Crusades. According to Lynch: “The crusades, especially the First Crusade, are not comprehensible without factoring in the Old Testament, which permeated not just the language but the self-view and behavior of the warriors.”6 Although Lynch is careful to say that “the Old Testament did not ‘cause’ the First Crusade or its violence ,” he believes “the Old Testament narratives framed the anonymous knight’s understanding of the crusade, and gave him and other contemporary historians (and maybe the participants) a way to talk about and to justify war.”7 The Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy 17 Sometimes, particular Old Testament texts were used to encourage people to take up arms or to support the Crusades. Pope Gregory VII, who was instrumental in rallying the troops prior to the first crusade, and who has been called “the most militant of the...