Search Results: non-violence
Creach and the Command to “Utterly Destroy”
Category: General
…be ready. (Do you have any idea how much work it takes to get a new website ready? For cry’n out loud!) We’ve been discussing (among other things) the problem of Old Testament violence on this blog the last couple months. Without question the most offensive aspect of Old Testament…
The Benefit of the Doubt
Category: General
Tags: Faith, ReKnew
…they sincerely doubted certain beliefs! * Finally, the model of faith that encourages people not to doubt can be very dangerous. Most of the religiously motivated violence in history — which is at least an ingredient in most violence in history — has been carried out by people precisely because…
A Police Officer Questions Pacifism
Category: General
Tags: Non-Violence, Pacifism
…violence as he can, his ideal will is non-violence. On this note, it’s interesting that just before Paul taught that God uses sword-wielding governments to “exact vengeance” (ekdikos) (Rom13:4), he told Christian to “never exact vengeance” (ekdikeō), but to instead leave all vengeance to God (Rom 12xxx) – who, we…
Reviewing the Reviews: Tom Belt (Part 1)
Category: General
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology, Reviews, Tom Belt
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
…non-specialists than my other academic works (e.g. God at War). 2. Tom notes that I provide no definition of violence, and he thinks this is a huge oversight. Response: It’s true I provide no formal definition of violence, and while this may have been a mistake, it was not an…
A Great Weekend at “The Meeting House”
Category: General
…series on non-violence that they’re doing called “Inglorious Pastors” (what a title!). You can listen to the whole series here. This is a remarkable Anabaptist congregation with an outstanding teaching pastor, Bruxy Cavey. To be honest, their whole leadership team rocks. The Meeting House averages about 5,500 attenders each week…
Jesus’ Repudiation of Old Testament Violence
Category: General
…out of fidelity to Jesus, I feel compelled to emphatically repudiate it’s violence. What’s interesting is that Jesus himself repudiated the violence of the Old Testament — despite his belief that this collection of writings was inspired. Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and…
Love and Violence
Category: General
Tags: Augustine, Cruciform Theology, God is Love, Violence
…and early fifth centuries as they faced the unenviable challenge of trying to reconcile the NT’s teaching on love and non-violence with the practical realities the church faced once it accepted the political power Constantine bestowed on it. Nevertheless, the NT doesn’t leave us in the dark as it concerns…
Podcast: How Can I Protect My Kids from the Violence in Media?
Category: ReKnew Podcast
Tags: Media, Movie Review, Violence
Greg looks at ways to help strengthen non-violence in children in a world saturated in violence. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0308.mp3…
Violent Parables?
Category: General
Tags: God's Character, Jesus, Non-Violence, Parables
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Some try to argue that Jesus did not make loving enemies and refraining from violence an absolute mandate. They make their case on the basis of several passages from the Gospels. The first concerns the cleansing of the temple which we addressed here, while the second is about how Jesus…
Back up Colson Review
Category: General
…about in the world through political means. The only hope is in the coming Kingdom of God that is manifested in …ordinary , individual lives, in the breaking of cycles of violence and evil, in the paradoxical power of forgiveness, in the actions of those little platoons who live by…
A Review of Colson’s God & Government
Category: General
Tags: Book Reviews, Reviews
…about in the world through political means. The only hope is in the coming Kingdom of God that is manifested in …ordinary , individual lives, in the breaking of cycles of violence and evil, in the paradoxical power of forgiveness, in the actions of those little platoons who live by…
Compassionate Dominion and Factory Farms
Category: General
Topics: Creation Care
…the covenant I am making between me and you [Noah] and every living creature with you…” (Gen. 9:12, cf. 16-17, emphasis added). So too, as we saw in the last blog, the covenant of non-violence God says he’ll make in the coming Kingdom epoch includes the animal kingdom (Hos. 2:18)….
Review of Colson’s God & Government
Category: General
…, individual lives, in the breaking of cycles of violence and evil, in the paradoxical power of forgiveness, in the actions of those little platoons who live by the transcendent values of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the kingdoms of this world, loving their God and loving…
Myth of a Christian Religion Endorsements and Reviews
…might call it a revival) against the modern idolatries of secularism, nationalism, religion, judgmentalism, individualism, violence, social oppression, racism, greed, ecological abuse, and sexual exploitation. Perhaps the most striking chapters for me were the ones attacking Christian “Nationalism” and “Violence,” chapters which include a reproduction of Lars Justinen’s controversial painting…
The Patriot’s Bible and Justified Torture
…one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever witnessed coming from a Christian publishing house. One of the more unsettling aspects of the Patriot’s Bible is the way it unashamedly glorifies nationalistic violence. Almost every nation and tribe throughout history has shared the idolatrous assumption that its military victories were…
Where are the Blessed Peacemakers?
Category: General
Tags: Non-Violence, Peacemaking
Religion Dispatches Magazine posted an article recently on embracing non-violence in the Christian tradition. In it, Elizabeth Drescher argues that the violent imagery in Paul’s writing accounts for a great deal of the violent posturing going on in churches today, but she also argues that these images have been misapplied…
Unpacking Revelation: Is it Literal?
Category: General
Tags: Bible Interpretation, Book of Revelation, Jesus, Violence
Topics: Biblical Interpretation, End Times
According to many scholars as well as many Christian laypeople, the Jesus we find in the book of Revelation engages in a great deal of violence. This violence reaches a zenith in chapter 19 where we find Jesus going out to make war on a white horse (v. 11). He…
Crucifixion of the Warrior God Update
Category: General
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology
…Scripture: on the one hand, we encounter images of God commanding and engaging in horrendous violence: one the other hand, we encounter the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus, whose loving, self-sacrificial death and resurrection is held up as the supreme revelation of God’s character in the New Testament. How…
Yahweh as the Dark Knight
Category: General
Tags: Character of God, Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology
Topics: Attributes and Character
…God who could accomplish his goals non-violently and needed to instead believe Yahweh was a more ferocious violent warrior god than the gods of the other nations, Yahweh humbly stooped to take on the appearance of a rather typical ANE warrior deity who commands and engages in violence. All the…
Who Curses the Earth?
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, The Fall
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
…are responsible for them. If it is granted that the cross reveals a God who is altogether non-violent, then a cruciform interpretation of the curse that now afflicts the world would lead us to conclude that God is not in any way bringing about, or responsible for, the violence and…