But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they shall trouble you in the land where you are settling. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them. Numbers 33:55-56
In these texts of extreme violence, God not only orders the genocide of the Canaanites but is angry when some of them were spared. In Chapter 15 of the First Book of Samuel, we read that King Saul loses God’s trust, which is transferred to David, for having been too kind in sparing some Amalekites when God's command was to kill everyone, including women, children and the elderly.
The Old Testament is full of stories of violence that contradict the image of a compassionate and merciful God of the New Testament. This is the reason why the late atheist Saramago (the 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Literature from Portugal) said that the Bible was a violent book. Although fewer in number, however even in the New Testament we find some imperfections that could embarrass us.
History of Israel and the human nature
As far as the Old Testament is concerned, the Bible contains the history of Israel and the idiosyncrasies of the Jewish people, just as it has been throughout the ages. In this sense, the Bible is a literary work that is for the Jews what Camões’ The Lusiads is for the Portuguese and Shakespeare’s work is for the English.
In addition to the history and idiosyncrasies of a people, the Bible describes the fallen nature of the human being: the human being as he is, with his ups and downs, perfections and imperfections. Although inspired by God, the authors of the Bible did not sweep this fallen nature under the rug, because what is not taken on is not redeemed, as St. Athanasius later said.
The episode of the Pharisees bringing a woman caught in a blatant act of adultery (John 8:1-11) to Jesus can be read as a metaphor of what the Bible is: God's encounter with man, that is, the encounter of divine mercy with human misery.
From the beginning, right after the first sin, God did not abandon man to himself, but has been pedagogically accompanying him and sending him prophets, preparing him for His own coming as the model of human being to encounter the human being fallen into disgrace.
Jesus of Nazareth took on human nature, for he was like us in everything except sin, because sin does not belong to the human nature that God envisioned and created, but rather to the human nature that man ruined with sin. Jesus, God made man, takes on and accepts this fallen human nature, entering into fellowship with sinners, eating with them in their homes and walking in their company, without requiring them to change their lives. It is they who decide to change their lives when they find themselves unconditionally accepted by Jesus as they are, as seen in the episode of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).
You heard that it was said... But I say to you…
‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well…’ Matthew 5:38-40
‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…’ Matthew 5:43-44
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts his doctrine, which he metaphorically refers to as new wine, with the doctrine of Moses and the customs of the Old Testament. He also establishes a new and eternal covenant that revokes the old.
Therefore, the norm for us is what the New Testament says and what in the Old Testament is in line with the New. In the latter, it is God himself, through his son Jesus Christ, speaking to human nature from within human nature. With Christ and his doctrine in mind, anyone who intends to use the Bible to justify acts of violence is misinterpreting it.
Read the Bible from front to back
And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. (…) The Lamb went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. (…) ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation…’ Revelation 5:3, 7, 9
Unlike other books, the Bible should be read from back to front. It is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, that can "open", that is, interpret, the Bible. It is from Him, the definitive word of the Father, that everything must be read, because everything points to Him. He and He alone holds the key to its interpretation.
The Bible must be read from back to front, that is, the Old Testament must be read from the New, from the perspective we acquire from reading the New. In this case, the key to interpreting these texts is the figure of Christ as the sacrificial Lamb of God.
Read the Old Testament in a metaphorical way
Taking this into account, the violent texts, especially those calling for genocide, can have a symbolic and metaphorical value. In this sense, Israel represents the will of God, the leaven of the Kingdom of God, the people whom God has called to begin the story of salvation with Him for all mankind. The enemies of Israel, the Canaanites, Philistines, Amalekites, Babylonians or Assyrians, are enemies to the universal plan of salvation. The struggle ceases to be physical and becomes spiritual.
When fighting against evil, call this for what it is, we cannot use half measures, because evil is not eradicated with half measures, but with radicalism so to uproot it. Wiping out Israel’s enemies, killing men, women, children and even their domestic animals now has the sense of eradicating evil at its root. Likewise, addiction to tobacco, alcohol or any other addiction is also not fought with half measures, but with radicalism and determination.
Conclusion: The late writer José Saramago, an atheist and the 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Literature from Portugal, must already know that God does exist and that the Bible is made up of two Testaments – the Old, representing man as he is and the New, man as he should be, in the image of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
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