I thought I would do an analysis on themes and patterns that I see in the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel in the Biblical corpus. The Books of Samuel contain some of the most pivotal and controversial episodes in the entire Biblical canon I thought that I would look at some of those themes and flesh them out. For this post one major theme is words that lack substance. And we see this in the stories of Eli and David. Eli is a priest of God's Temple in 1 Samuel and David of course is God's chosen and anointed King. Both end up in situations where this is a reality. And we see this in the following examples.

Eli and his sons

One of the main features of the story of Eli is his relationship with his sons. The House of Eli as mentioned were leaders of the priesthood in Israel. In this vein, the Book of Samuel records that Eli's sons abused their position stating "Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord or for the duties of the priests of the people. When anyone offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself"(1 Samuel 2:11-14). In the Book of Leviticus it lays out an explicit order of how sacrifice was to be conducted when aspects of the livestock offered was given to the priest for consumption while the rest was devoted to the Lord as part of the ritual ceremony. Eli's sons were exploiting the sacrificial system and the people for the sake of their own greed and gluttony. It further states "Now Eli was very old. He heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of the meeting. He said to them 'Why do you do such things? For I heard of your evil dealings from all these people. No my sons; it is not a good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If one person sins against another, someone can intercede for the sinner with the Lord; but if someone sins against the Lord who can make intercession?"(1 Samuel 2:22-25).

There we see the sins of Eli's sons expanded to include sexual immorality even though they were priests. And Eli speaks strong words against their conduct. So surely Eli should be praised for that right? Well according to the Biblical narrative no. The Book of Samuel goes on to state "A man of God came to Eli and said to him 'Thus the Lord has said 'I revealed myself to the family of your ancestor in Egypt when they were slaves to the house of Pharaoh. I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to offer incense, to wear an ephod before me; and I gave to the family of your ancestor all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. When then look with a greedy eye at my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honour your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?' Therefore the Lord the God of Israel declares: 'I promised that your family and the family of your ancestor should go in and out before me for ever' but now the Lord declares 'Far be it from me; for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me shall be treated with contempt. See, a time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestor's family, so that no one in your family will live to old age"(1 Samuel 2:27-31). Eli may have spoken "strong words" to his sons. But those strong words meant nothing in the eyes of the Lord. Because he still maintained them in a position of privilege and power and did nothing to hold them accountable. Hence the text says that Eli "honored" his sons more than he honored the Lord. As a result God curses his entire house. This is a clear indictment on religious corruption and it is a clear indictment of religious leaders who talk a good game but who refuse to hold those they know accountable. God curses that type of behavior.

David, Amnon, Absalom and Tamar

In the Book of Samuel one of the tragic stories recorded is the story of Tamar and her brother Amnon. The Biblical recounting of these events states "Then David sent home to Tamar, saying "Go to your brother Amnon's house, and prepare food for him'. So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, where he was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes. Then she took the pan and set them out before him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said 'Send out everyone from me'. So everyone went out from him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, 'Bring the food into the chamber, so that I may eat from your hand'. So Tamar took the cakes she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her 'Come, lie with me my sister'. She answered him 'No my brother, do not force me; for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do anything so vile! As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, would would be as one of the scoundrels in Israel. Now therefore, I before you, speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you'. But he would not listen to her; and being stronger than she was, he forced her and lay with her"(2 Samuel 13:7-14).

The text then goes on to states "But Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore the long robe that she was wearing; she put her hand on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went. Her brother Absalom said to her 'Has Amnon your brother been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this to heart'. So Tamar remained, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom's house. When King David heard of all these things, he became very angry, but he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn. But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he raped his sister Tamar'"(2 Samuel 13:19-22). Text as everyone knows is record a story of rape and sexual violence that is inflicted on Tamar. When you analyze the role of King David in this story your immediately notice two things. First, David is the one who sent Tamar to Amnon. Willingly or unwillingly he put his daughter in harms way in the face of a sexual predator. The second thing present is the fact that it states David was "very angry". But that anger does not lead him to punishing Amnon. The text is record a leader who expresses outrage at sexual violence, but does nothing the way of accountability for the victim. This results in disaster for his dynasty because Absalom engages in vigilante justice where he ends up murdering Amnon, setting in motion a series of events that plunges the House of David into civil war. That civil war in turn ends up fulfilling the curse that the Prophet Nathan prophesied in 2 Samuel 12. Outrage with not action or accountability curses everyone involved and leads to a disastrous situation. This is the theme that we see in this story.

That is all.
I want support for this.

I was told by other reddit fourms that I was "In a cult" and Forcing my Faith on others.

I guess I should just make a cloistered group. The Outside world doesn't want out help.
I'm growing bitter.
I wanted to help unhoused and poor trans women. As I am a trans woman as well who has tried to help others as I can. But due to my faith and personality I have been ostracized from many trans spaces.
It feels like no one understands me except other Christians.

But because the charity is via a church I was told to fuck off.

Even though I know trans women irl who have gotten help from churches before and have not complained when the church said their being was disordered.

I'm so tired.

I want to be a sister that invites my trans siblings who are struggling people into her community so that they have a place to sleep and to eat and clean up. Just that.

But people think by doing this I'm forcing my faith on others.

I want to make the world a better place for my trans sisters.
But I guess all i'm doing is hurting others because to many of my trans sisters God is not real and that my faith is evil.

I love Jesus with all my heart, but I feel despondant.

I really wish to be like a nun. I want other trans women who wish to work on such a mission to be by my side.
I even have a location I could use.

I'm not a kind person I'm to critical of others. I need to stop judging.

To put it as short as possible, I grew up in a rather hostile environment of a poor majority black district of the US. My family was good for the most part, but outside the house there was a big pressure to remain guarded and the abuses by peers and adults fostered a very cynical view of humanity.

I had been raised in a moderate version of Christianity leaning somewhat right depending on the family involved. I continued developing my faith but ran into a crowd of “friends” who leaned much more right leaning and came to pivot beliefs around that. They brought some level of sense to the “evil” I had seen in my former community, and painted a rosy picture of returning to tradition, authority and order to solve it. I did not know it at the time but I had basically been assimilating into a ethnic cleansing cult, which had painted their beliefs as a natural branch of Christianity which held the only solution to bring about heaven on earth.

Eventually I ended up separating from them, but not before those tenants tore a still under repair hole in my family dynamics and other fruitful relationships. In addition to hard stalling my sense of identity and personal belief. I am thankful to God I did not end up worse off or dead like some of the people I knew from that time - but it still feels like those tenants have a hold over me and prevent me from moving forward as a whole. Double so now that I’m in a relationship that’s supportive, and have been trying to unpack the gender dysphoria that guilt tripped me into working myself to the point of chronic disability as a form of penance.

I’m at the point where I really need to find some way to move forward and have all of my mental and spiritual faculties in alignment to not waste the opportunities I’ve been given to improve. This community seems to have a much better alignment of spirituality, so I appreciate any sense of direction on this topic. Thanks in advance!

I was pushed away from Christianity by conservatives until I broke up with her. We had a talk and google made me realize conservatives aren’t really actually Christians. I didn’t realize there was a whole spectrum on Christianity until now. How are people so far from literally what the Bible tells us to do in trying to be like Jesus’s human ways? Why do they try to be like God and judge, command and pretend they don’t sin or make mistakes? To go deeper in my thinking I currently think that there’s things in the Bible that could be results of the times it was written in and that I can easily be altered (just look at trumps special Bible) It’s so obvious that hate based on differences, hypocrisy and killing is a human flaw that God would never ask us to do. There shouldn’t even be a spectrum. Also why is family centralization a main thing with them like people who model themselves after Jesus aren’t capable of doing that

If there is anything you need praying for please write it in a comment on this post. There are no situations "too trivial" for G-d to help out with. Please refrain from commenting any information which could allow bad actors to resolve your real life identity.

As always we pray, with openness to all which G-d offers us, for the wellbeing of our online community here and all who are associated with it in one form or another. Praying also for all who sufferer oppression/violence, for all suffering from climate-related disasters, and for those who endure dredge work, that they may see justice and peace in their time and not give in to despair or confusion in the fight to restore justice to a world captured by greed and vainglory. In The LORD's name we pray, Amen.

Jesus said he would judge each person based on whether he or she fed the hungry, clothed the naked, invited the stranger in, cared for the sick, and visited the imprisoned.

I’ve noticed most in the GOP-captured church see all of these items as matters of personal charity and do not consider them as relevant to public policy. It doesn’t even enter the discussion.

They will act instead like what matters most is how loudly you rebuke actions you determine to be societal “sins,” and how effectively you utilize the apparatus of the state to stop or punish these sins.

The kingdom of heaven on Earth is not of this world. It will not use fear of police power to enforce laws, written by a majority.... whether conservative or progressive...

The kingdom of heaven on Earth is not of this world. It will not use fear of police power to enforce laws, written by a majority.... whether conservative or progressive...

God forgive me. The flesh is weak. I am feeling so mentally weak, I just need someone to talk to, I need someone to guide me.

So I’ve lurked here a few times, and I’m genuinely curious,

What is Radical Christianity? Is it taking Jesus’s teachings to the extreme or at least being extremely proactive about them?

Also, given how the term “radical” has been used lately, especially in describing certain Islamic sects, why use that term of all things?

I live and minister on a small estate (housing project) with significant deprivation. We tried to get CAP life skills going here because we thought it'd be useful, but it was really difficult to get any movement despite it all seeming straight forward. COVID didn't help but even after that I juts couldn't get momentum.

This year at a Christian conference I was worshipping and I percieved God tell me that He didn't allow it because He had more in mind for the people on my estate than learning how to cope with intergenerational poverty and exploitation wages.

I don't really know what to do with that other than pray about it.

How would you go about challenging intergenerational poverty and exploitation wages?

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCmae3xPlZx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I'm an agnostic atheist so I guess I don't really belong here, but I have to say I was really blown away when I fell down an internet rabbit hole about this dude.

He was a vegan abolitionist by the end of his life, and he refused to even use animals for transportation. This was the start of my rabbit hole: https://youtu.be/gIkQrr8pgSI?si=syR8XAQfjXIs8XOh

It makes me wonder how often the excuse "they were just a product of their times" really isn't valid.

What’s everyone reading this season?

If there is anything you need praying for please write it in a comment on this post. There are no situations "too trivial" for G-d to help out with. Please refrain from commenting any information which could allow bad actors to resolve your real life identity.

As always we pray, with openness to all which G-d offers us, for the wellbeing of our online community here and all who are associated with it in one form or another. Praying also for all who sufferer oppression/violence, for all suffering from climate-related disasters, and for those who endure dredge work, that they may see justice and peace in their time and not give in to despair or confusion in the fight to restore justice to a world captured by greed and vainglory. In The LORD's name we pray, Amen.

I've wondered this since I was a teen.

I've wondered since my mom propped up a relative changing her college and career path entirely (think engineering to literature in terms of drastic change) because her parents didn't understand her original major and didn't like it. Mom said she was honoring her parents...clearly to convince me I should take her advice about my college path too. I'm not accusing them of abuse, to be clear, but it rubbed me wrong that this was honoring? Just do whatever? And it got me to thinking.

What does "honor your father and mother" mean in the face of abusive parents? What are you meant to do? Or evil parents - pushing you to do morally depraved things?

What does Holy Family day mean to those of you with abusive parents?

For context, the only things i have ever stolen are small food items from large grocery store chains or chain pound/dollar stores. My family is alright financially however I do not have much money myself. I never really thought of it as a sin and I am not certain on my religion but I am really looking for advice.

Siblings in Christ,

To start, I know many of you are not of my particular denomination; I'm an Anabaptist, and furthermore I belong to the Church of the Brethren. Our reading of the bible (especially from the Sermon on the Mount) concludes that all war is sin, and that we as Christians must not partake in violence, study the art of war, or even aid those who would cause violence, such as serving in the military in a non-combatant role (medic, cook, etc.)

That being said, with the rise of hatred against the marginalized in my community and especially the mass hardening of hearts signalled by the election of Donald Trump, I'm starting to fear more and more for my safety. I don't want to be a martyr, but I don't want to be a Zealot, either. I just want to live a peaceful and normal life, but my circumstances as a woman and a child of immigrants may make that impossible, and I fear that violence - either against me or from me in order to protect myself - may become inevitable.

Is there any scripture you all know that might affirm my belief of peace, or convince me that things will be OK if I stay the course? All I can think about is the verse about those who save their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for Him will find it, and that doesn't seem to bode well for me on this plane of existence.

On this day we remember those whose lives were cut short at the end of the fascist sword. On this day we Christians refuse to trample the living memory of our martyred Trans* Comrades-in-Christ.

Written here so that none may forget the purpose of our exercise: "We observe this day of mourning to reaffirm our commitment and loving-kindness towards one of the world's most-heavily marginalized groups, we do this to affirm the inherent human dignity of every person regardless of status or creed because the face of G-d lays not in the poor alone but all others pushed to the margins of society or otherwise denied life here on Earth by those who hate us." --MC

We invite everyone to join in prayer with Saint Jeanne d'Arc in petitioning The LORD, Our God, creator of Heaven and Earth, for the liberation and safety of all LGBTQIA+ folk all over the world -in Christ's name- so that His Glory may be more greatly revealed to all. Amen.

The topic of violence and atrocities in the Old Testament is a well known area of theological and ethical discussion and debate. For those who have seen some of my posts, they might known that I have had extensive public discussions and debates on the topic. Each of them seeking to probe the issue from different angles. What we see in the OT are multiple voices and perspectives. Some justifying violent atrocities. Others condemning and resisting violent atrocities. And some simply narrating and describing. For this post I want to problem the question of what we do with voices in the canon that explicitly seem to sanction and justify violent atrocities. For this I am going to use as my conversation partners C.S Lewis, Rowan Williams and Franz Fanon. Fanon is the well known and famous anti colonial theorist who wrote the Wretched of the Earth and was famous for his participation in the Algerian war of Independence against France. Lewis as everyone knows is the famous Christian apologist and author of the Narnia series. Rowan Williams is the former Archbishop of Canterbury and an eminent theologian in the Anglican communion. These are some of the perspectives they have that I think is useful to meditate on when speaking about this topic.

C.S Lewis: The Goodness of God vs the Inerrancy of our interpretations

Because C.S Lewis is seen as a conservative religious figure people might be surprised at some of the views and perspectives that he holds on certain topics. Not least his rejection of the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. C.S Lewis was explicitly confronted with the topic of Old Testament violence and one of the fascinating things about his answer is this. He didn't seek to defend it. In fact in the context of Joshua spoke his "atrocities and treacheries". He states in this context that if a choice had to be made between the "Goodness of God" v the "inerrancy of scripture" the former always has to be chosen. Always. In response to potential rebuttals to this, he states that while Christian doctrine speaks of the fall of humanity, scripture does not say that we are "as fallen as that". Scripture itself is always pointing to the fact that God placed the moral law on our consciences. And that moral law is itself a reflection of the goodness of God. What this means is that when we then read something in scripture that seems to contradict the basics of the moral law, even if it is justified "in the name of God" we can challenge that view and perspective. Now I don't agree with Lewis's specific example with Joshua, but I agree with the general premise and I would widen that premise to include not just the topic of the "inerrancy" of scripture, but also the "inerrancy" of interpreting divine revelation. The most famous example of this is the Prophet Samuel. Samuel as we know, is the one who gives King Saul the infamous decree concerning Amalek, where he explicitly says destroy even the women and children. And Samuel states "thus says Lord". Now as readers of the text, if we read the text through the lense of God's goodness as one of his attributes should be we allowed to challenge Samuel's interpretation of the word of the Lord in the name of God's own moral law? I would say yes. Because Samuel, even though he is a prophet, he is subject to the same errancies that you or I are. The example of Samuel is something I am going to come to recurrently.

Rowan Williams: The Nature of scripture, revelation and its multiple voices

Rowan Williams the former Archbishop of Canterbury also addresses this issue in a little known book he wrote called "Being Christian". And in it Williams explicitly points out the multiple voices present in scripture. The best example of this is Jehu and his violent revolution against the House of Ahab. In the Book of Kings Jehu and his faction justify Jehu's coup in the name of avenging the crimes committed against Naboth and his family. But then in the Book of Hosea the violent atrocities of Jehu himself is condemned. We clearly see here debate and self criticism. Dr Williams explains it this way by states " I’m sure the tyranny and idolatry of the royal house of Ahab was a scandal that needed to be ended. But, human beings being what they are, the clear word of God calling Israel to faithfulness and to resistance was so easily turned into an excuse for yet another turn of the screw in human atrocity and violence. And we’re right to shed tears for that memory.’ That to me is a very powerful moment in the Old Testament: a recognition that it is possible to grow in understanding and to think again about the past."(Being Christian, pg 38-39).

But more than this Dr Williams also probes into the nature of how we understand Divine revelation. It is not simply a "revelation" about God. It is also a revelation about ourselves in terms of how we understand ethics, morality, culture, and God himself as well as our growth and development. Williams states "God is saying, ‘This is how people heard me, saw me, responded to me; this is the gift I gave them; this is the response they made . If in that story we find accounts of the responses of Israel to God that are shocking or hard to accept, we do not have to work on the assumption that God likes those responses."(Being Christian, pg 27-28). So let us go back to the example of Samuel. Samuel is in a tradition of warrior prophets. And in receiving Divine revelation he interprets that revelation through the lense of a militant tradition of total war. That is Samuel's interpretation. We do not have to view that interpretation as being inerrant. More to the point when we speak about Dr Williams question, we should ask ourselves were are we in the narrative. Are we at the point where just like Samuel the prophet we are saying "thus says the Lord" to justify violence and violent atrocities? Or are we at the point of someone like Amos, a writing prophet who in the name of the Lord challenges the violent atrocities of the nations(Amos 1) and calls for humanitarian justice even in the context of war? Are we at the point of Proverbs were we can categorically says that of the 6 things that God hates, the shedding of innocent blood is one of them(Proverbs 6).

Franz Fanon: Violence and its context

At this point it is easy to just dismiss violent episodes in the OT and just say from a progressive standpoint "well that was just their limited reading in their cultural context". To me that draws a "not so fast" response. And its "not so fast" because I still think that these passages are in the canon for a reason theologically. This is where I would like to bring in Franz Fanon. Fanon in the Wretched of the Earth makes a famous distinction between "violence" itself and "counter violence". In the context of colonialism and the power dynamics involved, "counter violence" is the force of arms of the native against the system of oppression imposed on them when their backs are against the wall. When looking at counter violence Fanon subtly insists that we cannot make ethical judgements of that without first considering the context that produced it. So let us use Nat Turner as an example. Nat Turner led the famous slave revolt in the U.S. During that slave revolt, militant factions killed not just the slave master, but the slave master's spouses and children. Same thing with factions during the Haitian revolution. That was violent. That was brutal. And many aspects of that violence we would challenge. However those of us committed to a progressive politics would also recognize that we cannot make any serious or legitimate assessment of that violence if we don't also look at the context or conditions that produced the Nat Turner rebellion. The criminal system of the Transatlantic slave trade where millions were tortured and abused on the slave plantation and millions more died during the middle passage. It was counter violence when their backs were pushed against a wall. Furthermore Fanon speaks of what he calls a "liberal mystique" when it comes violence and human dignity. It is a mystique that in practices says "everyone is equal" but unequally reacts to violence when only one side is doing it. Namely the side that is reacting when their backs are against the wall. It is also a mystique that creates a false equivalence when discussing violence. So in the context of the Algerian revolution, the violence of the Algerian nationalist fighting for independence is compared to the violence of the French who were maintaining a brutal settler colonial system over them that included a system of concentration camps where millions were placed. Furthermore the mask of that mystique pays attention to and condemns as uncivilized the killing of dozens of Frenchmen, but hypocritically ignores the whole sale massacre of thousands of Algerian men, women and children as well as their torture that triggers this response.

When integrating this perspective to the Old Testament, what I see in the Old Testament is a lot of counterviolence. Violence that is produced out of a certain context and certain conditions. Jehu's violence is an obvious example in terms of it being a reaction to the tyranny of the House of Ahab. So is the militant commands of the Prophet Samuel, which is a response to centuries of aggression and oppression by Amalek. As readers we have to ask ourselves if we read these stories holistically. Samuel's response can in no way be "justified" from a moral perspective. However do we limit our focus to Samuel's counter violence, or do we also look at the "back against the wall" conditions that produced Samuel's militant response and his militant interpretation of Divine revelation. Do we approach the text with a liberal mystique that gives a hypocritical mask of equality, while unequally assessing atrocities? Unequally assessing the violence of Jehu while ignoring the atrocities of Jezebel. Unequally assess the violence of Samuel without assessing the atrocities of Amalek and its King.

I hope folks reach a point where they give up trying to convert Imperial Christianity to the Gospel... LGBTQ+... women's ordination... non-violence.... etc. There are Catholic Workers out there to join.... or better yet.... "wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in my name" there is an outpost of the His kingdom.