Fighting with the Bible: Why Scripture Divides Us and How It Can Bring Us Together

In times of conflict, the Bible is often used as a club to beat those
whose opinions differ from one’s own. We recoil from such usage,
yet the Bible actually represents many diverse and conflicting
points of view. It is like a library, full of books that speak to all
sides of every question.

Like Christians today, the communities and individuals who
wrote the biblical texts often strongly disagree with each other.
Ruth and Ezra, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Micah and Joel, Deuteronomy
and Daniel, Mark and John… what would they say to each other?
Do they have anything in common? Each of these voices is firmly
committed to his or her specific view of “the truth,” whether it
reflects a particular place or community, a prophet, a style of worship,
or an “understanding” of who is in and who is out.

The author guides us in considering how we can do justice to
this welter of disparate voices. What can the Bible teach us about
living together? How can we use it as a powerful resource for
understanding and for moving beyond conflict?Donn Morgan