Biblical Violence

Biblical Violence
Date TBA
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The Biblical Violence Research Group is for those working on the hermeneutics of biblical violence in both testaments. Biblical violence can be found within every genre of the Bible and is not a homogeneous entity. It is variously condemned, described, implored, threatened, endorsed, or commanded. Biblical violence may be interpersonal, societal, or international. It may be military, sexual, or structural. It can be historical, mythological, and eschatological. There are many unanswered questions that fall within this broad theme, and at times they present enormous pastoral and even missional problems to the church. Further rigorous, confessional scholarship is imperative. For all these reasons, a wide variety of hermeneutical approaches to a wide range of texts is needed. This group’s engagement with biblical books provides a forum for specific, focused conversation and collaboration on the hermeneutics of violence which transcends a focus on any one book or corpus and dialogues across genres and testaments. Our 2023 session begins a new three-year cycle, with each year focusing on a specific text of biblical violence from diverse hermeneutical approaches. For the 2023 session, we invite proposals for papers on the flood narrative in Genesis. Please submit abstracts to Helen Paynter ([email protected]) and Trevor Laurence ([email protected]) by February 28.