Daily Archives: February 23, 2009

Chaos and Order—Judges 19–21

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Here is the ninth in a series of Bible studies that present the Bible as being in the side of pacifism. In this essay, “Chaos and Order,” I look at the book of Judges, a challenging book to understand in relation to peace theology. I suggest that Judges helps us understand the context for Israel’s disastrous choice to turn toward human kingship with its picture of how, when “there was no king in Israel,” everyone did “that which was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The story told in Judges is important for peace theology primarily in its account of the struggles of Israel to live in the land–struggles that only grew in the years to come until, finally, the entire idea of God’s promise being channeled through a nation-state had to be abandoned.

Around the Internet

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Some excellent reflections on the state of America in the early days of the Obama administration from the indispensable Jonathan Schell.

Rumors of the demise of the Christian Right have been greatly exaggerated.

According to one of my favorite writers on economics, Dean Baker, baby boomers in the U.S. have just lost the largest amount of wealth of any age group of people in the history of the world.

Here’s an argument that small-scale, organic farming can play a major role in addressing the global food crisis.

The new coalition purporting to bring together politically liberal and conservative Christians to overcome poverty is deeply flawed, according to this article, by an entirely too benign approach to the role of wealthy people in fostering poverty.

A report on the hard times being faced by many of America’s small cities–including, in this article, Elkhart, Indiana.

 

All the “Around the Internet” links:

February 2009

January 2009

December 2008

November 2008

October 2008