I agree with your insights and propositions, and also the acknowledgment that there is no single solution to the problems that these violent texts raise.
Just some thoughts to extend the discussion. Is there really a way to read a violent text non-violently? Perhaps for the intellectual person it is understandable, and much more for the theologian. Even then, as you rightly pointed out, one cannot avoid encountering violence being perpetuated through the Scriptures. I haven't done sufficient academic and intellectual reading on this topic, but I believe the tension I encounter between the existence of good and evil in the same God lingers in the minds of many other readers of the divine text. In reading the violent text in a non-violent way, is a person trying to see the evil side of God in a good way? Is the reader to constantly be trying to find reasons to avoid ascribing evil to God?
In Deuteronomy 32:39 for instance, we encounter the God who puts to death and makes alive. The violent and brutal manner in which some of these texts appear is not merely to express some reality in a nuanced/vivid imagery to carry across a message. I believe that it is the reality that is expressed to portray the exact effect it is communicating. Our human understanding of power is to exert its force to carry out one's intended end. Every obstacle must be removed with force in order to achieve an end if one has power. Not to exhibit the power to uproot and destroy what prevents one from achieving an end is seen as weakness. It is a contest, more or less. The same person who is capable of doing good can also accomplish evil, at least to protect the ones he or she loves. This human way of thinking is extended to God as well.
Expressed in another way, if my God is good, then this God should do everything to defend me from my enemies, and if possible, eliminate them and destroy their properties to keep me safe. The intensity of the hatred my enemies have for me should reflect in the ferocity with which God deals with them. This is how I can demonstrate to everyone that my God is powerful. I do not expect this God to deal violently with me if I keep all his commandments. Wanting to ascribe goodness to God always is problematic for the faith. Perhaps, one could attempt to redefine what power means when it resides in God. That this power is incapable of hurting our existence as human beings is something that we cannot comprehend.
Can God always ensure my safety and good life if he does not hurt others? Can God always keep me happy by not allowing my loved ones to suffer accidents, diseases and death? One can try to interpret violence in the biblical texts in a non-violent way, but it is a reality that has to be embraced and acknowledged. The same God who gives life can take it away. I do not think that God can always take away evil without causing harm to another person, even if that person is innocent.
Our varied contexts in daily experience influence what aspect of God we lift our voices to. And this God's will is carried out through the medium of human beings, as far as our human understanding goes. Can a suffering community/person refuse to act when confronted with elimination? Would the God to whom they cry not empower them to destroy their enemies instead? Just as a person does not hear the voice of God literally in an explicit command in order to carry out a good act, the same person cannot be expected to receive an explicit command to carry out destruction of one's enemies. To say that God did not ask a person to carry out an evil act by oneself before its execution is like begging the question altogether.
Eventually, humanity is responsible for its actions. God will remain God, and full human comprehension of his ways will remain the darkest of all mysteries. Has God evolved in the way we perceive him? Is he a new God or the same Yahweh who now chooses to suffer with suffering humanity and refuses to use his power even when his loved ones face hardships that cannot be overcome without violence? That means that true power, as can be ascribed to God, must take on a new definition. Otherwise, occasional violence must be part of the spiritual equation.
I agree with your insights and propositions, and also the acknowledgment that there is no single solution to the problems that these violent texts raise.
Just some thoughts to extend the discussion. Is there really a way to read a violent text non-violently? Perhaps for the intellectual person it is understandable, and much more for the theologian. Even then, as you rightly pointed out, one cannot avoid encountering violence being perpetuated through the Scriptures. I haven't done sufficient academic and intellectual reading on this topic, but I believe the tension I encounter between the existence of good and evil in the same God lingers in the minds of many other readers of the divine text. In reading the violent text in a non-violent way, is a person trying to see the evil side of God in a good way? Is the reader to constantly be trying to find reasons to avoid ascribing evil to God?
In Deuteronomy 32:39 for instance, we encounter the God who puts to death and makes alive. The violent and brutal manner in which some of these texts appear is not merely to express some reality in a nuanced/vivid imagery to carry across a message. I believe that it is the reality that is expressed to portray the exact effect it is communicating. Our human understanding of power is to exert its force to carry out one's intended end. Every obstacle must be removed with force in order to achieve an end if one has power. Not to exhibit the power to uproot and destroy what prevents one from achieving an end is seen as weakness. It is a contest, more or less. The same person who is capable of doing good can also accomplish evil, at least to protect the ones he or she loves. This human way of thinking is extended to God as well.
Expressed in another way, if my God is good, then this God should do everything to defend me from my enemies, and if possible, eliminate them and destroy their properties to keep me safe. The intensity of the hatred my enemies have for me should reflect in the ferocity with which God deals with them. This is how I can demonstrate to everyone that my God is powerful. I do not expect this God to deal violently with me if I keep all his commandments. Wanting to ascribe goodness to God always is problematic for the faith. Perhaps, one could attempt to redefine what power means when it resides in God. That this power is incapable of hurting our existence as human beings is something that we cannot comprehend.
Can God always ensure my safety and good life if he does not hurt others? Can God always keep me happy by not allowing my loved ones to suffer accidents, diseases and death? One can try to interpret violence in the biblical texts in a non-violent way, but it is a reality that has to be embraced and acknowledged. The same God who gives life can take it away. I do not think that God can always take away evil without causing harm to another person, even if that person is innocent.
Our varied contexts in daily experience influence what aspect of God we lift our voices to. And this God's will is carried out through the medium of human beings, as far as our human understanding goes. Can a suffering community/person refuse to act when confronted with elimination? Would the God to whom they cry not empower them to destroy their enemies instead? Just as a person does not hear the voice of God literally in an explicit command in order to carry out a good act, the same person cannot be expected to receive an explicit command to carry out destruction of one's enemies. To say that God did not ask a person to carry out an evil act by oneself before its execution is like begging the question altogether.
Eventually, humanity is responsible for its actions. God will remain God, and full human comprehension of his ways will remain the darkest of all mysteries. Has God evolved in the way we perceive him? Is he a new God or the same Yahweh who now chooses to suffer with suffering humanity and refuses to use his power even when his loved ones face hardships that cannot be overcome without violence? That means that true power, as can be ascribed to God, must take on a new definition. Otherwise, occasional violence must be part of the spiritual equation.