The Bible is diverse and complex but it is dominated by violent images of God, violent story lines, and violent expectations and explanations of history. The Exodus involves genocide and ethnic cleansing but is understood within the tradition as a story of God’s liberating violence. Exile stories explain the people’s horrible historical plight under one crushing empire after another as a consequence of their sin and God’s punishing violence. Prophets promise that repentance and right conduct can lead to another round of liberating violence, historical reversals in which God “saves” Israel by crushing Israel’s enemies. Apocalyptic writers and prophets, including John the Baptist, portray violence as part of a cosmic struggle, with historical consequences, between the forces of good and evil, with hope rooted in God’s vindicating violence at the end of history as we know it. The Gospel writers offer competing and arguably irreconcilable portraits of Jesus: Jesus who loves enemies and calls us to be peacemakers; and Jesus who will return as violent, apocalyptic judge.

Violent images of God also frame many Christian rituals and have been used by Christians to justify violence, including Christian support for, and complicity with, destructive empire. The seminar will focus on these issues and explore alternatives to violent images of God and expectations of history rooted in the radical nonviolence of Jesus.

For what promises to be a very stimulating and controversial seminar, we are pleased to welcome Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, author of Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus, Is Religion Killing Us: Violence in the Bible and the Quran and Saving Christianity From Empire. You will not want to miss this one.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is Assistant Professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more than twenty years he has studied and written about the relationship of religion, violence and peace.

Fee: £20 (£10 unwaged)
Fee includes VAT and meal

Recommended reading: Jesus Against Christianity: Reclaiming the Missing Jesus and Saving Christianity from Empire by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer; God and Violence by Patricia M. McDonald (all available from Metanoia).

To book for the course, download the Cross-Currents Calendar and application form, fill out the application form and mail it, with the fee, to
London Mennonite Centre
14 Shepherds Hill
London N65AQ
For more details or to reserve a space, call 0845 4500 214.

A recording of the Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer seminar is now available to download.