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Rating: 
Summary: From the Publisher's Website
Review: From the medieval crusades to the latest violence in the Middle East, warriors have long claimed the Bible's support for their battles. Patricia McDonald argues that many biblical stories, read as part of a canon from Genesis to Revelation, contain resources for turning violence to service of God and humanity. As varied and complex as life itself, these narratives can provide us with imaginative possibilities and steady motivation to move beyond the narrow defensiveness and self-interest that are becoming ever more problematic in an increasingly interconnected world."McDonald denies nothing of the violence present in the Bible, however, by careful, canonical reading she shows the ways in which violence in the Bible is characteristically overstated. This book is an act of courage that invites a wide and thoughtful reading." -Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary About the Author: Patricia M. McDonald is a lecturer in New Testament at Ushaw College, Durham, England.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid ideas but methodologically problematic
Review: McDonald seeks to offer a counter-perspective to those biblical scholars who see the Bible as more violent than peace-promoting. McDonald examines texts that are violent and shows that the violence of certain passages can be taken out of proportion. McDonald recognizes that violent passages exist in the Bible, but she attempts to qualify the level of violence in certain passages. McDonald specifically looks at passages in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Judges, Isaiah, the Gospel of Mark, and Revelation. From these 'violent' passages, McDonald takes on peace promoting views that have textual, personal, cultural, and evangelical implications. McDonald's studies of these passages are provocative and methodically disected. At some points, McDonalds explanations seem naive and erroneous, but, overall, this does not take away from her endeavour.
Methodologically, I have two problems with her work. First, from the outset she establishes that we live in a violent society and that scripture can contribute to that violence. McDonald, however, never adequately defines violence, and leaves the term ambiguous throughout her book. Good scholarship defines its terms at the beginning, and I did not feel McDonald did this.
Second, Johnson does not discuss every passage that endorses violence in the Bible. She asserts that to do this would be over burdensome. While I agree that this would be the case, the problem ensues on how she picks and chooses what passages to discuss. She never tells us why she chooses certain passages and why she neglects other passages. For this reason, we left at her mercy not to impose her agenda on us. I do not think that McDonald is being intentionally disinginuous, but at the same time, I would have been less suspicious of her work had she clarified her choices more thoroughly.
Overall, I think this work is solid and definately worth reading. At the same time, the reader should be aware of flaws in her methodology.
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