This semester I\u2019ll be teaching a course on the Old Testament \u201chistorical books\u201d\u2014Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Ezra, and Nehemiah. (I cover Chronicles as part of my Biblical Hermeneutics class under \u201cmidrash.\u201d)<\/p>\n
As I always do for my biblical canon courses, I read through that portion of the Bible during break. And as I\u2019m revisiting these stories, I\u2019ve found myself thinking, \u201cPlease, Lord, let these be greatly exaggerated if not largely manufactured stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
With hardly a break, I am struck (pun intended) by how casual and heartless the ancient Israelites were about violence and\u00a0vengeance.\u00a0The\u00a0ancient Israelites, by and large, were plain old nasty, mean, and not the kind of people you\u2019d want to cross\u2014or even playfully tease.<\/p>\n
. . . Or better:<\/p>\n
the Israelites we meet in the Old Testament <\/em>were that way.<\/h2>\nFrankly, I have no idea what \u201cancient Israelites\u201d were actually like\u2014those tending the sheep, growing their grain, telling stories to their children, hiding from invaders. We don\u2019t really know anything about them. We just know of a precious\u00a0few, and we only know\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>through what anonymous writers said about them probably many centuries later.<\/p>\nHow fair were these writers? Were they even trying? What ax were they grinding? What was their deal?<\/p>\n
At any rate, regardless of how they got there, the\u00a0people we meet in these stories have issues, and you can\u2019t help but wonder what the point of all this is in a holy book. If I were writing the Bible, I\u2019d throw in some more positive stuff\u2014like\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>glorying\u00a0in impaling or beheading your\u00a0enemies or people who\u00a0want to take your stuff.<\/p>\nOr at least have God step in now and then and say, \u201cHey, will you people cut. it. out?! Enough of this already! If you only knew the shelf life these stories will get and\u00a0how people are going to use them. . . . \u201d<\/p>\n
But God seems OK with it. At least that\u2019s what the writers have written.<\/p>\n
Yes, reading the stories from conquest to exile can be an eye-opening experience, not for the faint of heart, and probably not without someone to talk it through with. Sometimes I wish the Bible came with a toll-free customer service number. (And no, that\u2019s not what prayer is. Sheesh.)<\/p>\n
Even leaving aside the whole conquest of Canaan\u00a0(aka extermination of Canaanites<\/a> and any other living thing), people are dropping like flies. It seems like major death is the end result of nearly every story you read. People are just gonna die.\u00a0Brace yourself.\u00a0And often those killings are portrayed as good, just, honorable, and normal\u2014like, \u201cWhat\u2019s your problem? This is just what happens, you know?\u201d<\/p>\nI started going through these books and listing the violence and general vindictive nastiness, but then stopped. I have a busy schedule. Plus it\u2019s getting discouraging.<\/p>\n
All of this reminds me of a couple of things I tend to harp on, and I think for good reason.<\/p>\n
\n- Knowing something of when and why these stories were written might help us understand something of what the writers are trying to say. Discerning all this isn\u2019t straightforward by any means, but I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0worth the effort.<\/li>\n
- And after you\u2019re done with all that, we readers of the Bible still have to decide what\u00a0WE\u00a0<\/em> are going to do with all of it, how we are going to process it for our life of faith here and now. And that\u2019s not easy either.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
In\u00a0The Bible Tells Me So<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=inspirandinca-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0062272039\")
<\/em>, I basically come down on these two things as follows:<\/p>\n\n- I think that these stories were written in a tribalistic context, and thus reflect that context\u2014this is how stories of gods and nations were told.\u00a0\u00a0Further, the writers exaggerated and\/or freely shaped the past for theological and\/or propagandistic purposes.<\/li>\n
- I do not think these stories should be read theologically uncritically, meaning simply accepted as prescribing\u00a0what God is like. The Bible isn\u2019t a rule book<\/a> or owner\u2019s manual, and we don\u2019t get off the hook so easily. What God is like transcends the stories written about him.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
I\u2019ve said a mouthful\u00a0here, I know. Agree or disagree, but my thinking\u00a0comes from reading the Bible respectfully and carefully, not from an antagonistic or dismissive point of view.<\/p>\n
The Bible\u2014as it always has\u2014raises plenty of questions on its own. And when we engage those questions, we are joining a long and honored conversation.<\/p>\n
[The photo\u00a0above depicts a scene in Judges 4, where Jael drives a tent peg through Sisera\u2019s\u00a0temple and out the other side into the ground while he was sleeping. The story concludes, as if the reader were puzzled at this point, \u201c\u2014and he died.\u201d The\u00a0following verses make it clear that this was God\u2019s means of\u00a0subduing\u00a0the Canaanites.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\nThis blog was first posted in January 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[Please be patient as your comment is in moderation. Comments are normally posted within 6 hours but may take as long as 24\u2014longer if you\u2019re annoying. If you\u2019re a troll, I might just sneak up on you while you\u2019re sleeping and drive a tent peg through your brain.]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
How fair were these writers? Were they even trying? What ax were they grinding? What was their deal?<\/p>\n
At any rate, regardless of how they got there, the\u00a0people we meet in these stories have issues, and you can\u2019t help but wonder what the point of all this is in a holy book. If I were writing the Bible, I\u2019d throw in some more positive stuff\u2014like\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>glorying\u00a0in impaling or beheading your\u00a0enemies or people who\u00a0want to take your stuff.<\/p>\n Or at least have God step in now and then and say, \u201cHey, will you people cut. it. out?! Enough of this already! If you only knew the shelf life these stories will get and\u00a0how people are going to use them. . . . \u201d<\/p>\n But God seems OK with it. At least that\u2019s what the writers have written.<\/p>\n Yes, reading the stories from conquest to exile can be an eye-opening experience, not for the faint of heart, and probably not without someone to talk it through with. Sometimes I wish the Bible came with a toll-free customer service number. (And no, that\u2019s not what prayer is. Sheesh.)<\/p>\n Even leaving aside the whole conquest of Canaan\u00a0(aka extermination of Canaanites<\/a> and any other living thing), people are dropping like flies. It seems like major death is the end result of nearly every story you read. People are just gonna die.\u00a0Brace yourself.\u00a0And often those killings are portrayed as good, just, honorable, and normal\u2014like, \u201cWhat\u2019s your problem? This is just what happens, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n I started going through these books and listing the violence and general vindictive nastiness, but then stopped. I have a busy schedule. Plus it\u2019s getting discouraging.<\/p>\n All of this reminds me of a couple of things I tend to harp on, and I think for good reason.<\/p>\n In\u00a0The Bible Tells Me So<\/a> I\u2019ve said a mouthful\u00a0here, I know. Agree or disagree, but my thinking\u00a0comes from reading the Bible respectfully and carefully, not from an antagonistic or dismissive point of view.<\/p>\n The Bible\u2014as it always has\u2014raises plenty of questions on its own. And when we engage those questions, we are joining a long and honored conversation.<\/p>\n [The photo\u00a0above depicts a scene in Judges 4, where Jael drives a tent peg through Sisera\u2019s\u00a0temple and out the other side into the ground while he was sleeping. The story concludes, as if the reader were puzzled at this point, \u201c\u2014and he died.\u201d The\u00a0following verses make it clear that this was God\u2019s means of\u00a0subduing\u00a0the Canaanites.]<\/em><\/p>\n This blog was first posted in January 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [Please be patient as your comment is in moderation. Comments are normally posted within 6 hours but may take as long as 24\u2014longer if you\u2019re annoying. If you\u2019re a troll, I might just sneak up on you while you\u2019re sleeping and drive a tent peg through your brain.]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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