Encountering violence in the Bible
By: edited by Markus Zehnder and Hallvard Hagelia
Contributors: Norwegian Summer Academy for Biblical Studies. International meeting
Series: The Bible in the modern world -- 55; Bible in the modern world -- 55.
Publisher: Sheffield Phoenix Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Sheffield [England]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 309
ISBN-13: 9781909697010
Subjects: Biblical teaching; Violence; Christianity; War; Congresses; Violence in the Bible; Ethics in the Bible; Våld i Bibeln
Description: Our world is full of violence, with repeated acts of terrorism and generally rising rates of violent criminal acts as the most obvious forms of the phenomenon in the Western world. It even reached the peaceful shores of Norway in the summer of 2011. This was one of the reasons why the first international meeting of the Norwegian Summer Academy for Biblical Studies was devoted to the topic 'Violence as an Ethical Challenge in the Bible'. Eighteen biblical scholars from nine different countries (Joshua Berman, Lennart Boström, Friedmann Eissler, Torleif Elgvin, LarsOlov Eriksson, Karin Finsterbusch, Georg Fischer, Terence E. Fretheim, Hallvard Hagelia, Dana M. Harris, Robert L. Hubbard, Jr, Årstein Justnes, Gordon McConville, Kirsten Nielsen, Tommy Wasserman, Karl William Weyde, Peter Wick and Markus Zehnder) met on the beautiful premises of Ansgar Theological Seminary to discuss some of the most fundamental aspects of the topic. The papers presented at the conference are collected in the present volume, dealing mostly with the Hebrew Bible, but covering also the New Testament, Jewish literature from the Second Temple period and the Qur'an. The contributions reflect a refreshing variety of scholarly and theological approaches. One of the fundamental questions addressed in several studies is how biblical texts justifying violence can be properly understood and used today. Other questions raised are how violent some of the often-criticized biblical passages really are and how violence can be overcome. (Publisher).
Notes: Primarily papers from "the first international meeting of the Norwegian Summer Academy for Biblical Studies [on] the theme of Violence and Ethics in the Bible", held at Ansgar College and Theological Seminary (Ansgar Teologiske Høgskole) in Kristiansand, Norway, in 2012.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Why must Israel be warriors? : the constructive role of warfare in Deuteronomy  -- Joshua Berman; title: Uzzah's fate (2 Samuel 6) : a theological problem for the modern reader  -- Lennart Boström; title: God's power and man's vicegerency on earth : violence as an ethical challenge in Islam  -- Friedmann Eissler; title: Hasmonean state ideology, wars and expansionism  -- Torleif Elgvin; title: The enemies in Psalm 119  -- LarsOlov Eriksson; title: Violence against Judah and Jerusalem : the rhetoric of destruction within Jeremiah 1-6  -- Karin Finsterbusch; title: Who is violent, and why? : Pharaoh and God in Exodus 1-15 as a model for violence in the Bible  -- Georg Fischer; title: Violence and the God of the Old Testament  -- Terence E. Fretheim; title: Violence, judgment and ethics in the book of Amos  -- Hallvard Hagelia; title: Understanding images of violence in the book of Revelation  -- Dana M. Harris; title: Rest for the wary : cities of refuge and cycles of violence  -- Robert L. Hubbard, Jr.; title: Divine violence and the Dead Sea scrolls  -- Årstein Justnes; title: Human 'dominion' and being 'like God' : an exploration of peace, violence and truth in the Old Testament  -- Gordon McConville; title: The violent God of the Old Testament : reading strategies and responsibility  -- Kirsten Nielsen; title: Lectio vehementior potior : scribal violence on violent texts?  -- Tommy Wasserman; title: Holy war, divine war, YHWH war, and ethics : on a central issue in recent research on the Hebrew Bible  -- Karl William Weyde; title: Strategies for the prevention of the use of legitimate forms of force in the Sermon on the Mount and the problem of violence  -- Peter Wick; title: The annihilation of the Canaanites : reassessing the brutality of the biblical witnesses -- Markus Zehnder.