Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Chapter 1 Introduction: The Bible Should Never Be Used to Harm Others 1
Part 1 Exploring the Old Testament's Troubling Legacy
Chapter 2 The Old Testament's Troubling Legacy 15
Chapter 3 The Pervasive Presence of "Virtuous" Violence in the Old Testament 27
Chapter 4 The Danger of Reading the Bible 45
Part 2 Proposing a Way of Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently
Chapter 5 Developing Good Reading Habits: Becoming Ethically Responsible Readers 61
Chapter 6 Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently 73
Part 3 Applying Nonviolent Reading Strategies to Violent Texts
Chapter 7 Confronting Canaanite Genocide and Its Toxic Afterlife 95
Chapter 8 Keeping the Old Testament from Being Used to Justify War 115
Chapter 9 Preventing Violence against Women 129
Chapter 10 The Necessity and Urgency of Reading the Old Testament Nonviolently: Some Conclusions 147
Appendix: A Brief Word about Biblical Authority 159
Notes 163
Bibliography 193
Index of Biblical References 211
Index of Modern Authors 217