What do we do when the Bible turns up a doozy of a passage?
Rape, incest, murder, genocide, racism, sexism, other isms. Sometimes reading texts which are about very ancient peoples and cultures – but which we expect will inspire and inform contemporary faith – is a challenge. I’ve read a number of blogs recently, particularly on the subject of sexuality and gender identity, where people have done things with the biblical text which show this is a genuinely pressing subject – not just a hypothetical discussion for Bible nerds. How young adults make sense of challenging biblical passages is informing their lived faith in a very real way and we need to help people do that wisely.
It has made me reflect. What have I/we consciously or unconsciously taught them to do when faced with a tricky text? Ignore it? Skip over and turn to something comforting instead? And what are the long term implications of people losing confidence in Scripture because it’s often a challenging read? Read More
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