I was going to continue my series on the Violence of God anyway… mainly because I need to study it for myself, and writing is one way I force myself to study.
But you may remember that a few weeks ago I ran a survey about whether you wanted me to continue writing about it on my blog or not. The survey was overwhelmingly positive. Here are the survey results:
Question 1:
While I am going to continue to study and write on this topic for my own sake, is this study on the violence of God in the Old Testament something you want me to keep publishing?
Yes: 96%
No: 4%
Question 2:
These recent posts have received hardly any interaction (which is fine … I don’t write posts just to get lots of comments) and I am trying to figure out why. If you like the posts on this topic but don’t comment on them, please share a reason why:
51% – I just don’t have anything to add. Keep writing though!
0% – I think you are way off base in your views on this, but don’t want to say so in the comments.
0% – I don’t really understand what you are writing about, so couldn’t leave a meaningful comment.
25% – I don’t know what to think about your view, and am waiting to learn more before I start leaving comments.
24% – Other
Here are some of the reasons people left for the “Other” category. I hope you don’t mind if I share them:
Jeremy, Thank you so much for all the posts .You are a great writer. You are open and direct in any topic you write. I have just read a few. Give me some more time to interact.
I’m keeping busy with my own projects at the moment. I’m enjoying reading your thoughts, but I just don’t have the extra time to hash them out with you right now. I’ll try to weigh in as I have time.
I only add when I have questions or when I think I have something to add to the conversation going on. If not I just read and enjoy. Sometimes I need to understand better what you mean by reading more posts.
actually I almost feel a little bit of a hit with each of your questions…..there are back posts on this I am still reviewing…..your thoughts are interesting but have caused some confusion as well…I want to give a fair hearing as I have been checking your blog for a few months now and read your books….
There is more to learn about God every day in ways you never suspect will happen. I always find out something new from your blog.I have found in my life (72 years) that most people will not comment on things they find is too hard to do. God be with you in all things you do and say.
This is a very difficult subject for many people. I think it is too early to form a cogent opinion. Keep on going.
You laid out wayyyy too much stuff to wade through to be able to intelligently interact. I think your basic premise is “Just as Jesus took sin upon Himself on the cross so that He might rescue and deliver all mankind from sin, so also God took violence upon Himself in the Old Testament so that He might rescue and deliver all mankind from violence.” which flows from your thought that Jesus is not violent while the God of the OT is violent. I don’t think your starting point is accurate. I don’t know that it’s possible to interact with you to sort that out. though. Commenting on your posts doesn’t seem fruitful. It looks like you just need to run through the process of sorting it out.
This a subject that has troubled me for sometime. I have basically given up trying to figure it but I am interested in reading your thoughts concerning it.
Please keep writing on this subject. I have not found a satisfying answer yet.
I love them! I also just found your blog a couple days ago, which I wholeheartedly feel is a God thing because I have been struggling with this issue but had no answers. I feel like I am learning so much but I probably won’t post often because I feel way inferior in my knowledge. Please keep posting!
I think you should write about whatever the Spirit moves you to write about. I think you’re somewhat off base because of your basic assumptions of infallibility and inspiration-as-dictation, but I want to finish reading it all before I comment further.
As if you don’t have enough already, I hear from nonbelievers that they not only have trouble with all of the violence in the Bible, but also with with the violence committed by the church and Christians throughout the millennia, supposedly with the blessing of God. I’m referring to such things as the Crusades, murdering abortion doctors, beating and murdering gay people, etc. As you undoubtedly know, that is also a very, very long list. The general consensus among many nonbelievers seems to me to be that the violent God who sent Israel to slaughter their enemies in Old Testament times continued to send his people to slaughter all kinds of people in the millennia following, continuing right up to our time. Those the Christians haven’t managed to slaughter will be summarily slaughtered by Jesus when he returns.
Sam, that is a very harsh and misunderstood position. Jesus was very clear with his time on Earth that we do not fight violence with violence, we fight violence with sacrifice. We don’t fight hatred with hatred, we fight hatred with love and forgiveness.
Revelation does not talk of literal slaughter, even though it uses violent rhetoric. It talks of spiritual warfare and spiritual victory.
For instance, when Revelation talks about the unsaved being cannibalized by the believers in Jesus, it is referring to the guilt that is on our hands if we do not strive to convert our friends to the faith. We obviously aren’t going to literally be forced to eat our friends and family.
No, Jesus isn’t going to slaughter people when he comes back and we are not being called currently to slaughter people.
Reread my comment. I did not say that is my position. It is the position/general consensus of many nonbelievers I know. Yes, love overcomes violence, not more violence, be it violence on the part of Christians or anyone.
Right. It is a terrible history and a terrible problem. I would say that as long as Christians base their life and theology on the Bible, we must have a better answer than the traditional Christian answer: “God is God and can do what He wants.”