Q.
Does God justify violence in scripture?
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We as the readers are left to choose what we do with that cry. Do we seek
vengeance? or work for reconciliation?Gary Peluso-Verdend
A.
One’s answer will depend largely on who you think wrote the
scriptures. If God is the author and God authorized everything
said in God’s name, then the answer is yes. However, if you believe
human beings authored the scriptures, sometimes inspired by God and some-
times justifying what they wanted to do or had done, then the answer is no. I
stand with the latter answer.
There are scores of references to doing violence in God’s name, with
several justifying reasons. If people are being attacked, they might pray for
strength against their enemies (self-defense). When the newly forming people
of Israel approached Canaan at the end of their desert wanderings, they began
their assaults on the people of the land believing (or writing later to justify
their actions) that God had given them the land (conquest). In Elijah’s infa-
mous contest with the prophets of Baal, God’s prophet exterminated the false
prophets (purifi cation), who promoted a polluting religion in the land.
Examples of violence in God’s name are evident in the New Testament,
too, but the examples differ from the Old Testament period. In the New Testa-
ment period, Israel lived as a client state of the Roman Empire and, as such,
did not have to wrestle with questions of national defense as it did during the
years between David’s reign (about 1000 B.C.E.) and the Babylonian captivity
(sixth century B.C.E.).
In fi rst-century C.E. Palestine, some Jewish guerilla groups (Zealots)
took action into their own hands and struck Roman targets directly. Others
prayed and dreamed of the day when Rome would be overthrown and God’s
reign would be established; this is the theme running through the book of
Revelation.
No, God does not justify violence or genocide through the scriptures, but
human authors do.Scriptural References
Genesis 6:5–7; 2 Samuel 13; Micah 6:8; Isaiah 11; Joshua 10, 11; 1 Kings 18:20–
40; Mark 13; John 1:14; 14:6; Philemon; Hebrews 12:2; Colossians 1:15