Violence in the Bible

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Violence in the Bible only became a scientifically treated overall topic of its own since around 1970. The multi-layered concept of violence is understood in the narrower sense as an exercise of power and violence that damages and destroys human life, in the broadest sense as an impairment of life in general. This plays a role in many scriptures :

However, these topics are usually not dealt with under the overall title "Violence in the Bible", but rather individually and under different questions, especially in biblical exegesis , systematic and practical theology , religious history , religious psychology , religious sociology and ethics . Therefore, this article offers an overview of violent texts in the Bible, their history of interpretation and today's criticism of them.

overview

Individual and social aggression , conflicts between different social groups , state, national and international exercise of power , structural and cultural processes of violence determine all areas of human existence, including religion . Even in the collection of biblical writings that was created over the course of about 1500 years one can find a large number of texts in which acts of violence, destructiveness , experiences of violence, violent fantasies and reflections on violence as a basic human problem, but also the legal limitation of violence, hopes for overcoming violence and alternatives to violent solutions.

The modern distinction between private and public authority only plays a limited role in the Bible. Rather, it is central there

  • the distinction and relationship between divine and human violence,
  • the distinction between lawful and unlawful violence,
  • the goal of overcoming all hostile powers, whose violence God's creatures are exposed to, through God himself.

How God's violence relates to that of man is a fundamental theological problem that runs through the entire Bible. God wants to “judge” human violence, limit it and place it under the protection of all life, understood as the right of the Creator to his creation. At the same time, however, violence appears as an integral part of the biblical image of God . This becomes a practical problem especially where the Bible is believed to be Holy Scripture and its texts are therefore used normatively for present-day action. They were often used to justify violent behavior, less often to criticize and suppress it. Even where God's violence is differentiated from that of human beings and opposed to it, God's actions are often described in images of violence that people influenced by Enlightenment and humanism reject and challenge them to criticize the Bible .

Traditional theological answers such as the separation of a violent Creator from a non-violent Redeemer ( Marcion ), the allegorical reinterpretation of biblical texts on violence, theses of a gradual moral " progress " in the Bible or the replacement of an ethic of violence from the old by an ethic of love from the New Testament have proven to be exegetically untenable and proven to be fatal in their historical effect. They are therefore predominantly rejected in university theology today.

According to Zick (2002), forms of interaction between groups are a realistic group conflict when there is competition for values ​​or claims to status positions , power and other scarce resources ; they can be defined in two ways:

  • in a positive dependency: here a collaboration and cooperation between the groups can be assumed;
  • in a negative dependency: here one group tries to achieve its goals at the expense of the other group or groups. This in turn leads to competition , violence, armed conflicts ( social interaction ) between the groups, but also to greater solidarity within one's own group.

A distinction must be made between an 'exochthonous' intergroup conflict , i.e. a conflict that occurs between different social groups, and an 'endochthonous' intragroup conflict, which is intended to prevent it from escalating into the destructive. Collective, organized violence developed as a cultural mechanism in the competition of groups for territories, raw materials, in short, means of production , especially with the beginning of the Bronze Age .

In the area of ​​the 'endochthonous' intra-group conflict, Goffmann (1963) endeavors to explain the social facts and processes by analyzing the smallest units, the interactions between a few individuals who are in direct interaction with one another, in terms of their dependence on surrounding social structures. A stigma is defined as an ascription of differences that have become perceptible or made that do not typically appear in the everyday world of imagination of the corresponding culture. Stigmatization can be represented by many different characteristics.

Hebrew Bible

Concepts of violence

The Tanakh knows dozens of roots that denote violent action. Most of them are also used for an act of God ( YHWH ).

Often z. B. the root

  • d (a) m for "blood, bloody act, blood guilt" or
  • hrm "destroy the for spell consecrate".
  • rzch the verb for murder, but is seldom related to God and clearly differentiated from other killing even in humans.

Intergroup conflicts

Here tried a group - in covenant with Yahweh standing Israelites - their goals at the expense of the other group or groups to achieve. Thus, in Ex 34.12 to 13  EU , Ex 12.2-3  EU to destroy the cult stele , images prompted their gods and altars after the goods of different ethnicities in possession of JHW-led group had fallen (see Historic Exodus research ).

In Psalm 79 Ps 79,6  EU , YHW offers that his anger should pour out over the non-religious group who do not know him and over every kingdom that does not invoke the name of YHW.

Exodus

The 2nd book of Moses , in Hebrew שְׁמוֹת Schemot , German 'name' , in ancient Greek Ἔξοδος Éxodos , German 'Exodus' , is the second book of the Torah and the Jewish Tanakh as well as the Christian Old Testament and thus the second book of the two Bible cannons . After Pharaoh has enslavedthe Israelites , YHWH sends Moses to free them. This is forcibly enforced by ten plagues , including rain of fire and the death of all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. Pharaoh's Egyptian army isdrownedin the persecution of the Hebrews in the divided Red Sea ( Ex 1–14  EU ).

The victory song of Mirjam ( Ex 15.21  EU ) is considered to be the nucleus of the Exodus tradition and the oldest Israelite creed in the Pentateuch :

"Let us sing to YHWH, for he has done a wonderful deed, horse and man he has thrown into the sea."

This raises the question for biblical theology whether Israel's God YHWH was originally a nationally limited god of war who saves one people by destroying another.

Land grab

The so-called conquest of land summarizes those events after the legendary exodus from Egypt and the subsequent desert migration that led to the settlement of the tribes of Israel either in the period from about 1230–1208 BC. BC ( Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age ). or during the reign of Thutmose III. until Amenophis II (15th century BC, New Kingdom ) are said to have led in Canaan . During the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age ( 'Sea Peoples Storm' or ' Dark Century '), the era of the conquest of the land fell.

In the Deuteronomistic History of the Books of Joshua to 2 Kings , many violent conflicts within and outside the Israelites and the later kingdoms of northern Israel and the kingdom of Judah are reported. Especially in the pre-state judicial period , the defensive war appears as an action of God when there is an external threat to existence, who “chooses” a charismatic military leader to summon the Twelve Tribes of Israel and lead them into a defensive battle. Such warlike violence may therefore be legitimized as holy war .

In the context of the conquest of the land , the Bible also reports on the extermination of foreign neighboring peoples of Israel on behalf of God who did not spare women and children. However, this was ruled out in the Torah as an injustice and tied to strict conditions - peace offer, failed negotiations - which, according to history, were not always adhered to. Historical research sees the biblical representation of the conquest of Canaan in part as a later back projection after the conquest of King David , because the settlement process took place for a long time as a peaceful infiltration of the semi-nomads and the Canaanite city-states initially survived. A commission from God to exterminate the Amalekites , for example , is interpreted as a subsequent tabooing of taking over their foreign cults.

The biblical historiography does not differ significantly from that of the oriental empires with regard to war. However, it interprets the catastrophes in the history of Israel following the appearance of the Israelite prophets theologically as judgments of God and the result of human failure, acts of violence and injustice, apostasy to other gods, etc. Also crimes by heroic figures like King David like his removal of Uriah for his purpose Taking a widow in marriage is narrated with critical intent.

In Deuteronomy or Hebrew דְּבָרִים Devarim , YHWH gives explicit instructions for dealing with the different ethnic groups, Dtn 5,32  EU , Dtn 7,1-2  EU , Dtn 7,16  EU and Dtn 7,20  EU . A tactical , strategic approach is also recommended when dealing with the conquests, Dtn 7.22  EU . Finally, the recommendations lead to a genocide of the conquered ethnic groups Dtn 20.10-17  EU , Dtn 2.30-34  EU , Dtn 3.1-4  EU . In Numbers or in Hebrew בְּמִדְבַּר Bemidbar this further instructions will be made about the femicide for women a man identified were or were mothers, Num 31.2 to 10  EU , Num 31.14 to 18  EU .

For the perpetrators, JHW ​​also provided coping strategies, because everyone who had mouldered a person or touched a dead person must undergo a desecration on the third and seventh day, Num 31.19-24  EU .

Enemy psalms

Feindpsalmen a traditional name for prayers in the Old Testament book of psalms , in which the prayer in his extreme distress implores God to destroy his enemies by force . Modern exegesis speaks of enemy psalms or retribution psalms . Here is Psalm 58 ( Hebrew תְּהִלִּים) (according to Greek counting the 57th) a psalm of David (מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד mizmor l e david ) who belongs to the series of "lamentations of the people".

Intra-group conflicts

The individual members of a group, the Israelites, not only strived for the satisfaction of their own needs, but also wanted to be protective and pro-socially active for other group members beyond themselves, in the sense of YHWH's stipulations. If an individual within the group contradicts his or her social affiliation, whether intentionally or unintentionally, this will be perceived as painful by an affected person. The consequences of “social pain” are activated through the interactive process of exclusion .

Biblical account of creation
James Tissot (1836–1902): Cain leads Abel to death

If one reads the Bible from the beginning, the history of violence begins with Adam and Eve's disobedience and God's reaction to it, the expulsion from paradise (Gen 3). Immediately after that, fratricide follows as an archetype of interpersonal violence (Gen 4), which soon increases to global malice: until God almost completely destroys the life he has created in the Flood in order to make a new beginning possible (Gen 6–9 ). After the flood, people are given control of the animal world. The permanent likeness of man to God is cited as the justification for the absolute taboo that will apply from now on to kill a person. The price for this, however, is that every person or every animal that kills a person should be killed for that person's sake ( Gen 9,5–6  EU ).

Parent narratives

Parent narrative or traditionally “father's story” refers to the collected narratives about the ancestral fathers and ancestral mothers of the Israelites in the 1st book of Moses ( Bereshit or Genesis ) of the Bible (chapters 12-50). The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are completely destroyed by “brimstone and fire” on God's behalf ( Gen 19: 24-26  EU ), after Abraham's appeal to God's sparing justice in the event that righteous people are found in these cities ( Gen 18, 20-22  EU ), has not been successful. Both cities are considered in the Bible as a proverbial example of human depravity and godlessness, which is shown in sexual perversions and rape ( Gen 19,5-7  EU ) and which draws the destructive judgment of God.

In Gen 34  EU tells how Simeon and Levi , two sons of Jacob , all male residents of Shechem after their circumcision in wound-fever are, abmetzeln. With this they avenge the rape of their sister Dina (Bible) by Shechem, who subsequently married them. Circumcision was the condition for connubium between the two families.

Cult sacrifice

As proof of Abraham's fear of God, God demands of him the near sacrifice of Isaac ( Gen 22  EU ). In the history of religion , human sacrifices are replaced by animal substitute sacrifices and henceforth are forbidden throughout the Bible; but also the animal sacrifices demanded in the Bible (e.g. Lev 5,7-9  EU ) are today subject to criticism as hostile violence.

At the time, however, the killing of animals for food was done as gently as possible (e.g. Dtn 25.4  EU , Spr 12.10  EU ). In the Jewish tradition of interpretation ( Maimonides ), the speaking donkey in the bileamer count was understood as a plea against cruelty to animals .

Violent punishment in the Torah

Various religious and profane crimes are legally sanctioned in the corpora of law of the Pentateuch , Dtn 21.22  EU .

Limitation of violence in the Torah

In its own context, the rule of eye for eye demands reasonable compensation for all cases of bodily harm. It occurs in all three important legal corpora in the context of such cases and for the first time in the ancient Orient forbade blood revenge by limiting retaliation to the extent of the damage. It was intended to prevent disproportionate punishment of the perpetrator and a spiral of retaliation by obliging him to make equal reparation for the damage. The commandment was probably not (no longer) literally obeyed when he was admitted to the Tanakh, as the examples in the context show ( if someone knocks out his slave's eye, he has to release him ).

The Ten Commandments contain the unconditional prohibition of murder, robbery, adultery and coveting property of others, which is not tied to a single case. Thus, within the divine law applicable to Israel, a contradiction to the Noachid general retribution comes into view.

In its own context, the commandment to love one's neighbor is formulated as a conscious renunciation of revenge and hatred in order to overcome the escalation of violence and the causes of violence ( Lev 19.18  EU ). It is not limited nationally to Israelites, because it is on an equal footing with the commandment to protect foreigners and refugees ( Lev 19:23  EU ). Also love our enemies is in the Torah as enemies help with specific case studies offered ( Ex 23.4 to 5  EU ).

Political rule of God

God as Judge:
Judgment Day

On the one hand, God is referred to as “Lord of all lords and King of all kings”, who has all power. This is also expressed in the final sentence of the Our Father : "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever, amen."

On the other hand, it is stated that the power of government was transferred to the people: “Fill the earth and subdue it” ( Gen 1.28  ELB ).

New Testament

In its biblical narratives , the Old Testament shows a clear difference to the New Testament in terms of the quantity of violence .

The relationship of the biblical Jesus to violence

presentation

Posthumous action of Jesus of Nazareth - albeit interdenominational, of course - is also announced in the NT, for example at the Last Judgment (judging those who have already died, Mt 25.46  EU ) and in the Revelation of John (here also punishments for those still living) , but of far greater importance in the NT is his teaching and acting during his lifetime.

Violence is often suspected in the NT. Probably the most frequently cited example of violence preached by Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament is the verse after which Jesus said that he "did not come to bring peace, but the sword" ( Mt 10:34  EU ). This is contradicted: First, the sword is explained as a metaphor for the division among people, which the decision of individuals to follow Jesus brings with it, since the following sentence says: "Because (γὰρ) I came to the Son with his Father to divide and the daughter with her mother and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law "( Mt 10,35  EU ). That is, the text here explains its ambiguous metaphor of the sword itself, which is often the case in the New Testament. Second, violence is meant here only passively: His followers will experience violence through “the sword”, which is said to have been confirmed later in the persecution of Christians . However, it is by no means to be understood as active, for example as a call to violence or the tolerance of the use of force by Christians. In the same text it is announced immediately afterwards that his successors could also be expelled from their families, which can only be understood passively.

In general, Jesus of Nazareth is described in the NT as a non-violent person, the only exception being the cleansing of the temple by early Jesus.

However, some of his parables were handed down in rather drastic language or with draconian punishments. Furthermore, at the insistence of the ruling caste of priests or their representatives, Jesus of Nazareth repeatedly confirmed the validity of the Jewish legislation of the time (including the Torah, which was then partially adopted in the OT). Both of these have been used or abused by the Christian side until modern times to justify excessive violence in the name of the churches and states and their wars, torture and mass missionaries. For some time now, however, these parables have been understood as a stimulus or even a provocation on the part of the narrator, which is intended to create dual narrative empathy in the audience.

Some laws of the Torah, today part of the OT, were clearly changed or revoked by Jesus or punishments - as with the planned stoning in " Jesus and the adulteress " - were prevented and thus prohibited. In the Sermon on the Mount he expressly rejects any counter-violence, including self-defense, and instead, love of the enemy is commanded ( Mt 5 : 38-48  EU ):

“You have heard that it was said: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! But I say to you: do not resist anyone who harms you, but if someone hits you on the right cheek, then hold the other out to him as well. If someone wants to argue with you and take your skirt away from you, let them have your coat too. If someone needs you to go a mile, go with them two. Give to whoever asks you; whoever wants to borrow from you do not refuse. "

Jesus throws the merchants out of the temple ( El Greco )

“You have heard that it was said: You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become children of your Father in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and makes it rain on the just and the unjust. For if you only love those who love you, what reward can you expect for it? Don't the tax collectors do the same? And if you just greet your friends, what are you doing special? Do not the Gentiles do the same ? So be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect. "

At the same time, however, Jesus shared the biblical idea of God's final judgment and used it in his preaching to justify the new non-violent behavior required. In many passages of the Gospels, Jesus, like biblical prophets, threatens God's judicial acts, Gehenna and eternal punishment. This sermon is in the context of his proclamation of the kingdom of God . For believers in God, as in the Old Testament, it expresses the inevitable consequences which, among other things, the human exercise of power over people will have (e.g. Mt 5,22.29.30  EU , Mk 9,43.45.47  EU and others ). God is meant here as the one who ensures that his rights on earth prevail in the fate of men. Similar threats are uttered against the refusal to preach and insistence on sin ( Mt 10.14  EU , Mt 11.23  EU par., 8.12 EU , Mk 9.42  EU , 16.16 EU ; Joh 3.18  EU , 15.6 EU and others) and in the "woes against the Pharisees and the scribes" ( Mt 23.15.33 EU and parallel passages  ). It is disputed which of these texts go back to Jesus himself and which come from early Christian community theology.

In the parable of entrusted talents in Luke 19, a king calls for the killing of his enemies.

Quote (Luther Bible 1912):

"But those of my enemies who did not want me to rule over them bring here and kill them before me."

Different translations choose different terms for the act of execution. Newer transmissions use z. Sometimes less drastic names. The standard translation Lk 19.27  EU speaks, for example, of "put them down before my eyes". Further variants are “kill them before my eyes” (New Life); “You should be executed before my eyes!” (Hope for all) or “Slay them before me” (Revised Elberfelder).

According to the biblical scholar Joachim Jeremias , Jesus meant himself by the murderous king

“In Matthew, the merchant is allegorically interpreted in terms of Christ, his journey to ascension, his subsequent return to the parousia , which brings some access to the messianic meal of joy, and others the rejection into utter darkness. The version of Luke goes even further on the path of allegorization: the merchant becomes king, the whole parable to announce and justify the postponement of the parousia . "

The biblical scholar Joachim Gnilka , on the other hand, does not interpret this passage as a self-statement from Jesus:

“In the Lukan version of the parable of the entrusted funds there should be an allusion to Archelaus . It is assumed that in the episode of the aspirant to the throne [...] and the cruel revenge of the newly recognized king on his return ( Lk 19.12-27  EU ) a reminiscence of the process of the appointment of Archelaus as ethnarch in the year 4 BC. Chr. Exists. "

The Torah expressly recognized Jesus as the valid will of God, interpreted it for Israel and commissioned his followers to teach all peoples in his interpretation ( Mt 28.20  EU ). Unlike the evangelist Matthew, he probably did not demand literal compliance with all commandments ( Mt 5,17ff  EU ), but interpreted traditional commandments differently from case to case: Some he tightened, others relativized and tended to completely abolish. This applies in particular to offenses punishable by the death penalty according to the wording . In Mk 10.4  EU the betrayal of women by her husband is denounced; the lawful offering of the sacrifice is relativized ( Mt 5,23f  EU ). According to John 8 : 1–11  EU , Jesus is also said to have prevented the lawful stoning of an adulteress . This text is missing in some of the oldest Gospel manuscripts, but due to some details it is still often considered to be original, since it  corresponds factually to quotes from Jesus such as Mt 7.1  EU - “Do not judge so that you will not be judged!” -.

Apparently Jesus once also exercised violence himself: All the Gospels report on the cleaning of the temple , during which Jesus drove traders and money changers out of the forecourt of the temple in Jerusalem ( Mk 11.15–19  EU par.). According to Jn 2 : 13-22  EU , Jesus used a “scourge made of ropes”. However, it is not said that he hit people with it. In accordance with his command not to strike back, during the trial before the Sanhedrin he confronted one of the servants of the high priest who beat him ( Jn 18:23  EU ).

The goal of Jesus' preaching, however, is to overcome the usual fixation on violent solutions and a new non-violent way of dealing with one another in Daniel's hope that God's righteous judgment will end all human systems of violence ( Mk 10 : 42-45  EU ):

“You know that the rulers of this earth oppress their peoples and that their mighty do them violence. But it should not be like that among you, but whoever wants to be great among you should be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you is the slave for all. Because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the multitude. "

Paul wrote to the Roman Christians ( Rom 13 : 1-2  EU ): “Everyone should obey the bearers of state power. For there is no state authority that does not come from God; each one is instituted by God. Anyone who opposes the state authority is against the order of God, and whoever opposes it will be subject to judgment. "

At various times, rulers have interpreted this as a God-given monopoly of force.

Opposite this concept is the principle of the separation of church and state , which is anchored especially in western constitutions .

On the one God is called Richter describes the most recent day court will hold on all mankind and every single person.

On the other hand, the Bible speaks of the fact that the authorities also speak and should speak justice. Once again, the monopoly of power and jurisdiction, often quoted by the rulers, is confirmed “by God's will”. The violence in the Bible is often interpreted in Christian theology as the result of the human fall , which shaped the structures of creation, so that only Jesus Christ, who died of this murderous violence for people, could redeem humanity from it.

criticism

Images of violence, motives of oppression, injustice, expulsion and murder are often used in the parables in particular. To many it seems paradoxical and inconsistent to preach non-violence with the help of violent images, or even to threaten extreme and eternal punishments. This can be the expression of a development of the way of thinking, from the historical Jesus to his post-Easter reception. Georg Baudler wrote:

“If the historical Jesus, at least in the beginning of his work, addressed by the late Jewish apocalyptic, still spoke of judgment, hell, and eschatological horrors, the Jesus, who is told about Easter, about the cross and resurrection, is clearly characterized by unreserved love of the enemy, by renouncing retribution and by his willingness to respond to evil with good. "

From this point of view it appears as if the attitude of consistent nonviolence emerged from the events of Jesus 'crucifixion, and therefore from the impression that Jesus' behavior left behind, and not from his earlier teaching. In addition to the episode of the cleaning of the temple, the willingness of some of Jesus' disciples to use force shortly before the crucifixion ( Lk 22.49  EU ) could also speak for such a view - however, Jesus immediately intervenes against this willingness of his disciples to use force: “Then Jesus spoke : Let it go! No further! ”(Lk 22:51).

For the anthropologist René Girard ( The Scapegoat , chap. 14), however, the Gospels justify the use of this “language of violence” in the parables: In Mk 4,33  EU this is given as the only language understandable to the audience of Jesus. It is precisely the blindness caused by violence that prevents people from learning the truth about violence, according to Girard, referring to Mt 13:13  EU :

"That is why I speak to them in parables, because they see and yet do not see, because they hear and yet do not hear and understand nothing."

From a psychological and philosophical point of view, the demand for complete non-violence is repeatedly criticized. Friedrich Nietzsche , for example, assumed that aggression inevitably belongs to human emotions, so that the ideal of "non-violence even in thought" is unattainable in this world. It is argued that attempting to taboo and suppress such emotions would have negative psychological consequences and could be counterproductive by preventing sensible handling of one's own aggression. It is also pointed out that Jesus is not entirely free from aggressive features in his own actions.

A proponent of such theories, Gerhard Vinnai , wrote:

“A logic of prohibition cannot abolish wishful fantasies, but at best stir up such massive fears that these fantasies fall prey to processes of repression. They cannot destroy these, but only help to push them into the unconscious, where they, unprocessed by the consciousness, are able to develop a precarious dynamic. […] Repression prevents the possibility of sublimation, which allows instinctual gratifications to be achieved without the direct physical act of acting out. [...] Prohibitions of aggression may be necessary, but more peacefulness can hardly be achieved through them alone, but rather through a more conscious handling of aggressiveness. It makes it possible to process and defuse the aggressiveness in such a way that it can be incorporated into meaningful activities, such as the struggle for necessary changes. There is some evidence that Christian doctrine, which in the New Testament presents an apparently loving and peaceful God, did more harm than good in the fight against destructive forces. Where divine power, as in the Old Testament, also shows cruel traits, aggressiveness needs to be less taboo and is therefore more accessible to processing.
Whoever wants to love people must be able to hate the bad things that are done to them. A disturbed ability to love, as therapeutic experience shows, always has to do with a failure to deal with one's own aggressiveness. More ability to love can also be tied to its release if it makes it easier to draw boundaries where this is necessary. [...] Even Jesus is almost never free from aggressiveness in the fight against evil. In driving the traders out of the temple, he demonstrates their liberating effect on his faith. "

Violence suffered by Jesus and his followers

The New Testament primarily describes the life of Jesus as the Son of God , in which he suffers various forms of violence:

His death on the cross is portrayed as an innocent, violent death that he voluntarily undertook to atone for the sins of mankind.

The book of Acts describes the first violent persecution of Christians , including torture and murder .

Some of these representations are legends or narrative exaggerated. It is Z. For example, historically speaking, it is certain that Herod died 4 years before Jesus was born, and thus the alleged flight to Egypt is also very controversial. From a scientific point of view, however, there is no doubt about the historical reality of the persecution of Christians in early Christianity .

Primary texts

literature

  • Gerlinde Baumann: Understanding God's Images of Violence in the Old Testament , Darmstadt 2006
  • Paul Copan : Is God a Moral Monster ?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God , Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 2011, ISBN 0-8010-7275-1
  • Walter Dietrich , Moisés Mayordomo: Violence and Overcoming Violence in the Bible , 2005, ISBN 3-290-17341-0
  • Walter Dietrich, Christian Link : The dark pages of God: arbitrariness and violence , Neukirchener Verlag, Vol. 1, 4th edition 2002, ISBN 3-7887-1524-3
  • Jürgen Ebach : The legacy of violence. A biblical reality and its impact history , Gütersloh 1980
  • Klaus-Stefan Krieger: Violence in the Bible. A review of our image of God. Münsterschwarzach 2002, ISBN 3-87868-634-X
  • Heinz-Werner Kubitza : The delusion of faith. From the beginnings of religious extremism in the Old Testament. Tectum, Marburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-8288-3849-9 .
  • Norbert Lohfink , Ernst Haag (Ed.): Violence and non-violence in the Old Testament: Vinzenz Hamp on the completion of his 75th year of life. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau a. a. 1983, ISBN 3-451-02096-3
  • Norbert Lohfink SJ: Violence and Monotheism. Example Old Testament - (not published in print) Lecture at the Catholic Academy in Bavaria, Munich, May 9, 2003 Online version (PDF file; 77 kB)
  • Andreas Michel : God and violence against children in the Old Testament (FAT, Volume 37), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2003.
  • Hannes Müller: Roots of Violence in the Bible and Christianity , Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-00-011623-0
  • Eckart Otto: War and Peace in the Hebrew Bible and in the Ancient Orient (Theology and Peace, Volume 18) Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1999
  • Johannes Schnocks: The Old Testament and violence: Studies on divine and human violence in Old Testament texts and their receptions. Vol. 136 Scientific monographs on old and new, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 3-7887-2676-8
  • Erich Zenger : A god of vengeance? Understanding enemy psalms , Freiburg 1994

Web links

Bible exegesis

Bible review

Christianity Practice

Others

  • Cyprien R. Longayo Pongombo: On the "violence" of God in the Bible. Approaching a phenomenon with many facets. In: Nadja Rossmanith, Sandra Kaeßmayer, Christian Wagnsonner (eds.): Languages ​​of Holy Scriptures and their interpretation. Institute for Religion and Peace, 2015, ISBN 978-3-902-761286 , pp. 49–71 [1]
  • Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger: Law and violence in the Old Testament. In: Nadja Rossmanith, Sandra Kaeßmayer, Christian Wagnsonner (eds.): Languages ​​of Holy Scriptures and their interpretation. Institute for Religion and Peace, 2015, ISBN 978-3-902-761286 , pp. 7–33 [2]
  • A selection of the many atrocities in the Bible. After Karlheinz Deschner : criminal history of Christianity. Vol. 1: Die Frühzeit, Rowohlt, Reinbek, 1989, pp. 73–89 [3]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andreas Zick: The conflict theory of the theory of social identity. In: Thorsten Bonacker (Hrsg.): Sociological conflict theories: An introduction. Peace and Conflict Research 5, Leske and Budrich, Opladen 2004, pp. 409–426.
  2. ↑ Harald Meller , Michael Schefzik (ed.): War. An archaeological search for traces. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale): November 6, 2015 to May 22, 2016, Theiss, Halle (Saale) 2015, ISBN 978-3-8062-3172-4 , pp. 205–351
  3. ↑ Erving Goffman : Stigma. Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Prentice-Hall, Englewood-Cliffs, NJ 1963; German edition: Stigma. About techniques of coping with damaged identity. Translated by Frigga Haug. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-27740-9 .
  4. ^ Karl Heinz Hillmann : Dictionary of Sociology. 5th edition, Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-5204-1005-4 , p. 567 f
  5. ↑ see also Mem
  6. ^ Gerhard Johannes Botterweck , H. Ringgren (Hrsg.): Theological dictionary to the Old Testament , 10 volumes. Stuttgart / Berlin / Cologne 1973–2001
  7. ↑ References to the Tanach are referenced here and in the following to the Old Testament . Refer to the Hebrew text for a more precise interpretation
  8. ↑ Melanie Köhlmoos : Old Testament. (= UTB basics) A. Francke, Tübingen / Basel 2011, ISBN 978-3-8252-3460-7 , pp. 64-68
  9. ↑ The dating relates to the following period: about 48 years after the building of Pi-Ramesse until the Israelites were named on the Merenptah stele ; see also Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman: No Trumpets Before Jericho . P. 89.
  10. ↑ Melanie Köhlmoos : Old Testament. (= UTB basics) A. Francke, Tübingen / Basel 2011, ISBN 978-3-8252-3460-7 , pp. 72-79
  11. ↑ Hannelore Jauss : Praying curse psalms? To the problem of the enemy and curse psalms. In: Bibel und Kirche 51 (3/1996), pp. 107–115
  12. ↑ Raymund Schwager : Do we need a scapegoat? Violence and Salvation in the Biblical Scriptures. Kösel, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-466-20179-9 ; 3rd edition: Kulturverlag, Thaur 1994, ISBN 3-85395-191-0 ( online ).
  13. ↑ Manfred Görg : The “striking” God in the “older” Bible. In: Bibel und Kirche 51 (3/1996), pp. 94-100
  14. Jump up ↑ Sword or Peace - What Did Jesus Bring? - ... until the persecution . Geneva Bible Society website on the New Geneva Translation, accessed May 23, 2016.
  15. ↑ Joachim Ringleben: Jesus: An attempt to understand . Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 2008, ISBN 978-3-16-149832-9 , p. 377.
  16. ↑ Joachim Jeremias: The parables of Jesus . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 11th edition, 1998, p. 60.
  17. ↑ Joachim Gnilka: Jesus of Nazareth. Message and story. Herder's theological commentary on the New Testament. Supplement volume 3, Freiburg i. Br. 1990, p. 42 f; see. also Gerd Theißen / Annette Merz: The historical Jesus. 2nd edition Göttingen 1996, (p. 288).
  18. ↑ Georg Baudler: Violence in the world religions , p. 147.
  19. ↑ Gerhard Vinnai : Jesus and Oedipus , p. 154f.