Bloody, Brutal and Barbaric? Ep. 11 Yahweh as an Uneasy War God?

08/17/23 • 60 min

Summary

In this episode, we look at a number of the texts that describe God in the Old Testament as a warrior, and then at many of the texts that suggest that God is uncomfortable being associated with physical violence. We also delve deeply into a few particular texts. We look at the unique quality of the biblical creation story, and what it says about Israel’s God. We examine the gut punch that is the violence and suffering in the book of Lamentations. And we consider what the book of Jonah has to say about the universality of God’s love.
Notes
1) Other nations whose destruction God grieves include Tyre (Ezek 27-28), Egypt (Ezek 32:1-16), and Moab (Isa 15:5-6; 16:7-9; Jer 48:30-36).
2) Our thanks and appreciation to our partners:
A production of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence.
https://www.csbvbristol.org.uk/
Podcast cover art by Studio of Broken Things
https://www.facebook.com/ISA4048
Intro music "Br1ghter" by Tape Machines (feat. Le June & Nbhd Nick)

Send us a text

Previous Episode

Bloody, Brutal and Barbaric? Ep. 10 Ancient War Atrocities and Our Modern Context

Send us a text

Summary

In this difficult and sobering episode, we look at a range of ancient – and not-so-ancient – war practices that were common in the Ancient Near East. But though we talk about what these horrific practices entailed (we hope, in ways that are not unnecessarily gruesome), what’s most interesting is in their connection with scripture. While scripture is aware of all these practices, biblical law disallowed virtually all of them. We begin to talk about the ultimate justice of God, which is a subject we will take up more in future episodes. And we start to ask uncomfortable questions about whether war practices have actually changed that much.

Notes

1) Further on the subject of forced stripping, Dr David Tombs has done extensive work on sexual violence in the context of torture and terror, focusing recently on Jesus as a victim of sexual humiliation/violence:

Reaves, J. R., Tombs, D., & Figueroa, R. (Eds.). When did we see you naked? Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse. London: SCM Press, 2021.

Tombs, D. The crucifixion of Jesus: Torture, sexual abuse, and the scandal of the cross. Abingdon: Routledge, 2023. doi: 10.4324/9780429289750 (available free online from publisher)

He also presented many of these thoughts as part of this recent CSBV webinar: Unspeakable: Preaching and Trauma-Informed Theology. Lent Book Club

2) Webb and Oeste refer in Chapter 13, footnote 34, to a Babylonian lament that recoils from the ripping of pregnant women, English text of which may be found in Shalom M. Paul, Amos, Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991, p. 68.

3) Imprecatory (cursing) psalms are a cry of the powerless for justice, and for God to act in ways that those who have been abused cannot. A recent CSBV webinar may be of interest: Cursing with God: The Imprecatory Psalms and the Ethics of Christian Prayer. Lent Book Club

4) The Toronto Star article on war rape in Ukraine that Kate referenced: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2023/01/25/it-is-clearly-a-strategy-the-truth-is-emerging-about-russias-use-of-rape-in-the-war-on-ukraine.html

5) On issues of trauma carried in the body, see van der Kolk, B. The Body Keeps the Score. New York: Penguin Books, 2014.

6) If you are interested in issues of Palestinian oppression and the misuse of scripture to provide the theological underpinnings for that oppression, check out this webinar with CSBV, and also our upcoming conference:

The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope. Lent Book Club.

https://www.csbvbristol.org.uk/annual-conference-2023/

7) Our thanks and appreciation to our partners:

A production of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence.

https://www.csbvbristol.org.uk/

Podcast cover art by Studio of Broken Things

https://www.facebook.com/ISA4048

Intro music "Br1ghter" by Tape Machines (feat. Le June & Nbhd Nick)

Next Episode

Bloody, Brutal and Barbaric? Ep.12 The Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus: A Conclusion to Bloody, Brutal, and Barbaric?

Send us a text

Summary
In this final episode, we look at Webb and Oeste’s insightful final chapter. Here, they look at how the death, resurrection, and final victory of Jesus forever changes – and in fact undoes – the place of warfare and violence in God’s kingdom. Jesus’ death undoes ethnic strife and conflict, but rather makes for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. We think about the power of having a God who meets us and even suffers with us in our hurt, and in the hurt and torment of the world. We look at the way that war in the New Testament is conceived of as spiritual struggle, and especially at the way that Revelation (though often used wrongly!) provides the ultimate subversive war text as Jesus himself on the last day speaks defeat of the enemies of God, and speaks peace into existence.
Notes
1) Exodus 26:31-37 gives instruction for the creation of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place was where the priests performed their regular duties, and contained the altar of incense, the table for the bread, the lampstand. The Holy of Holies held only the Ark of the Covenant, and only the High Priest could go there, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence. He was envisioned as enthroned upon it, "between the cherubim" (Isa 37:16). The direct, unmediated presence of God was dangerous to sinful humans. The instructions in Leviticus 16 that detail how the high priest is to enter the holy place is closer to hazmat protocols than what we perceive of as worship. Thus when the curtain tears at Jesus' death, access to the divine is suddenly, vividly, and even (one might say) violently restored.
2) Webb and Oeste scooped up much that they had to leave on the cutting room floor and included it in a fabulous set of appendices, which are available for free (link below). They are well worth the read to investigate many of these issues further.
https://www.ivpress.com/Media/Default/Downloads/Excerpts-and-Samples/5249-Appendixes.pdf
3) Our thanks and appreciation to our partners:
A production of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence.
https://www.csbvbristol.org.uk/
Podcast cover art by Studio of Broken Things
https://www.facebook.com/ISA4048
Intro music "Br1ghter" by Tape Machines (feat. Le June & Nbhd Nick)