From yesterday through tomorrow, I have been/am/will be in a New Testament colloquium on intertextuality in the book of Revelation with German scholar Stefan Alkier. Academically, I'm in over my head, and I'm still not sure what possessed me to give my entire weekend over to a non-credit class, but I've learned some interesting things.
What I've most resonated with so far was part of a paper Dr. Alkier is working on called "Witness or Warrior? How the Book of Revelation can help Christians live their political lives." He seeks to take back Revelation from fundamentalism (which he distinguishes from biblicism by saying it is always political in some way), which has over the ages used Revelation to justify violence and vengeance. Alkier argues that although Revelation does not shy away from expressions of anger and desires for revenge, even legitimating them, but its focus on the risen Christ demands that we leave acting upon such desires to God.
This immediately got me excited because I thought of Walter Brueggemann's book Praying the Psalms, which we read in Old Testament last year and about which I blogged a while back. Revelation, like many of the Psalms of vengeance, has had its place in the Biblical canon questioned for its violent and graphic content; but Brueggemann argues, as does Alkier, that to eliminate such texts is to be in denial that these feelings exist in humankind, which is dangerous. Brueggemann writes, "The real theological problem...is not that vengeance is there in the Psalms, but that it is here in our midst." Revelation, the Psalms and many other disturbing Biblical texts force us to confront feelings and passions that make us uncomfortable but which are very real.
I wasn't going to go here, but the next time I hear someone rant about how there are 109 violent verses in the Quran, I'm going to tell them to go read Psalm 137:7-9, 2 Kings 2:23-24, and Revelation 18, for starters. If you want more, this website lists no fewer than 1,199 Bible verses with "cruelty or violence."
Sunday, October 3, 2010
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Sunday, October 3, 2010
Witness or Warrior?
Posted by
Sarah S. Howell
at
1:09 PM
From yesterday through tomorrow, I have been/am/will be in a New Testament colloquium on intertextuality in the book of Revelation with German scholar Stefan Alkier. Academically, I'm in over my head, and I'm still not sure what possessed me to give my entire weekend over to a non-credit class, but I've learned some interesting things.
What I've most resonated with so far was part of a paper Dr. Alkier is working on called "Witness or Warrior? How the Book of Revelation can help Christians live their political lives." He seeks to take back Revelation from fundamentalism (which he distinguishes from biblicism by saying it is always political in some way), which has over the ages used Revelation to justify violence and vengeance. Alkier argues that although Revelation does not shy away from expressions of anger and desires for revenge, even legitimating them, but its focus on the risen Christ demands that we leave acting upon such desires to God.
This immediately got me excited because I thought of Walter Brueggemann's book Praying the Psalms, which we read in Old Testament last year and about which I blogged a while back. Revelation, like many of the Psalms of vengeance, has had its place in the Biblical canon questioned for its violent and graphic content; but Brueggemann argues, as does Alkier, that to eliminate such texts is to be in denial that these feelings exist in humankind, which is dangerous. Brueggemann writes, "The real theological problem...is not that vengeance is there in the Psalms, but that it is here in our midst." Revelation, the Psalms and many other disturbing Biblical texts force us to confront feelings and passions that make us uncomfortable but which are very real.
I wasn't going to go here, but the next time I hear someone rant about how there are 109 violent verses in the Quran, I'm going to tell them to go read Psalm 137:7-9, 2 Kings 2:23-24, and Revelation 18, for starters. If you want more, this website lists no fewer than 1,199 Bible verses with "cruelty or violence."
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