Big Questions: God for People Who Wonder (BS8041L)

Content

In this unit students will consider how the Scriptures of Old and New Testaments represent living traditions rather than mere inert texts and continue to inform issues in the world. This unit will explore how Christian communities, including Lutheran communities, have understood and used the Scriptures in response to questions about the Bible's portrait of God; for example, the conquest of Canaan, acts of divine vengeance against transgressors and stories of sexual brutality appear highly problematical both to those stories within the church and by its critics. In grappling with the so-called dark side of God, this unit will explore ways of making sense of the troubling God of the text and how a biblical meta-narrative with Christ at its centre informs any response to contemporary questions about divine violence.

Learning outcomes

Pedagogy

Engagement with online learning materials, including audio/video, tasks, forums, and asynchronous discussion with lecturer

Indicative Bibliography

• Brueggemann, Walter. Divine presence among violence: contextualising the Book of Joshua. Eugene, OR: Paternoster, 2009.
• Copan, Paul. Is God a moral monster? Making sense of the Old Testament God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011.
• De Villiers, Pieter, and Jan Willem van Henten. Coping with violence in the New Testament. Studies in Theology and Religion 16. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
• Emilsen, William W., and John T. Squires, eds. Validating violence, violating faith? Religion, scripture and violence. Adelaide, SA: ATF Press, 2008.
• Lind, Millard C. Yahweh is a warrior: the theology of warfare in ancient Israel. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1980.
• Neville, David J. A peaceable hope: contesting violent eschatology in New Testament narratives. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
• Römer, Thomas. Dark God: cruelty, sex, and violence in the Old Testament. New York, NY: Paulist Press, 2013.
• Seibert, Eric A. The violence of scripture: overcoming the Old Testament’s troubling legacy. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2012. [Available as ebook from ALC Library]
• Thomas, Heath A., et al. eds. Holy war in the Bible: Christian morality and an Old Testament problem. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013.
• Trible, Phyllis. Texts of terror: literary-feminist readings of biblical narratives. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984.

Assessment