Just finished with the lecture/symposium on the Bible’s alleged legitimization of violence, in which Yale Professor John Collins (credentials and email) presented an incredibly persuasive thesis that the Bible, regardless of allegorical or literal interpretation, does legtimate violence. It turns out that the Bible is rife with scripture that not only condones acts of violence, but indeed commands it. Most were drawn from the Old Testament, but there were a few citations extracted from the New Testament. The panel of six, which included a Catholic Priest and Rabbi, all seemed to agree with the notion that the Bible legitimates violence, but, as with all scripture, hermeneutics and issues of understanding the text in a socio-historical context was the central issue.
Much ground was covered, but there was one point made that really struck me and seems especially pertinent in today’s society. Professor Collins made the point that an individual can just as easily extract scripture which commands violence, carry it out, and not be in absolute contradiction with the Bible. Of course he/she might not have taken the entire Bible into consideration, but then again, most people can not claim they’ve read the book in its entirety. Whether the reasons can be attributed to our denomination, our particular church, or parents, it seems safe to say that there are simply parts we focus on and parts we don’t.
Anyways…
A tremendous amount of anxiety fills me when I want to ask a question or make a comment in large classroom settings, so I felt that the case being that I was sitting in front of seven of the smartest and most distinguished professors in the country, I finally summoned all of my courage and asked this question:
I have some classmates who are in a course titled “The Problem of Evil” which addresses this central question: is an omni benevolent, omni potent, and omniscient God compatible with a world or creation in which there is such an obvious and abundant amount of moral and natural evil? Does the Bible’s legitimization of violence, whether it be allegorical or literal, diminish or even exclude the possibility of God’s omni benevolence?
I’m not quite sure what Professor Collins said to this, but I plan to email him the question and perhaps he will offer his opinion once more (I'll post it if I get a reply). Or if anyone wants to take a shot at it, feel free. After the series was over the head of the Philosophy department came over and congratulated me on asking such an articulate question. They say if you can reach one person…
9 comments:
your all over the place with the blog. one day its military, the next religon, the next its funny stuff... its a lot to take in.
You've got some nice pictures in your Flickr thingy.
Your pictures aren't terrible either. Of course never showing your face in a picture is always intriguing (sp?) Have a good life in the netherlands...
mike,
its true that someone can take something out of the Bible and use it for legitimating violence and it not being totally inlined with Scripture. But you can take any book or idea and do something similar. Anything taken out of context isn't really the true understanding of what it says.
for example, a topic sentance of a book may read: "I COMMAND YOU TO KILL PEOPLE" - then the rest of the book talking about why this is bad. But if you just read the first sentance you would think its ok to kill people.
thus, in any whole BOOK of the Bible talking about this, you must make a reference to the rest of it as a whole. taking something without the given context is going to give you false results.
Because the Bible is (for many) the ultimate Word of God, it has much more of an impact than just any ordinary book. So people can use or manipulate what it says for their advantage "in the name of God".
Great answer! Mr. Raybuck, you are quite correct!
Good job.
Of course there are a tremendous amount of problems when something is void of context. Also, if you add a bit of deconstructionism into the mix the problem is compounded. I feel that Professor Collins had a remarkable amount of "extracted" passages that can be very dangerous when in there rightful context, and even led to some bad things for a few certain people when in their appropriate context. Ultimately, I'd side with the point Corrie made when she said that we can never fully understand the "big picture" and what exactly God's plan is. This is a bit troublesome for people (it was for me) but you know...what are you gonna do? Thinking too much about that stuff might drive you insane, but it can be, as the Priest said, "a lot of fun." (I'm not on any side here-just bringing up some different sides of things, rather than just say what it is I'm supposed to...this is a trend that will continue)
you guys all thin youre so right and just say what your suppose to say. thats why no one wants to listen ever.
You guys, think you're so right and just say what your supposed to say. That's why no one wants to listen, ever.
I think this is what you were trying to say....
Just a little help...
Oh boy... Who in the hell is correcting spelling and grammar at 6:03 am!? The Daily Rice grows more strange every day... Read todays (wed.) blog for more on this... Setting a record for elipses as I type...
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