The Bible and Violence

The Bible and Violence is a definitive, inclusive, and comprehensive two-volume reference work on the challenging and troubling theme of biblical violence. This is the first major resource to cover this topic, and it does so across 100 specially commissioned contributions. The contributors outline the range, depth and varieties of violence in biblical texts, and the violent ramifications of uses and receptions of the bible in history and culture.

Volume one covers specific textual instances of violence within the bible, from the Hebrew Bible through to the New Testament, as well as issues relevant to biblical times, such as sacrificial violence, and Messianism and violence. The resource also provides articles on apocryphal and Gnostic texts.

Volume Two examines the ways biblical texts have been used to justify or perpetuate violence across historical and cultural contexts, as well as the harmful consequences that arise from particular interpretive traditions. Topics explored include homophobia, racism, violence against women, sex work and slavery, and colonial violence. Some specific topics treated in greater depth include both gendered forms of harm and forms of slow violence, including inter-generational and psychological violence.