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

By Donn Morgan

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?

A study guide and template for creating safe spaces for conversation about the tough issues in which the bible may be dividing your community is found at the end of the book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596270586
• ISBN13: 9781596270589
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Seabury Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A worthy Book

Professor Morgan writes this book with clarity and compassion. He is very respectful of Holy Scripture; yet he carefully considers how controversial passages can be contradictory and confusing to readers. I recommend it.

Heartily recommended to Christian studies community library shelves.

The bible can be one of the most dividing things in all of the Christian faith - which is ironic since it's meant to bring people together. "Fighting with the Bible: Why Scriptures Divide Us and How It Can Bring Us Together" seeks to examine this strange practice among Christians to battle each other over the word of God examining the issue piece by piece and seeking out solutions to bring Christians closer together using the book that is meant to do so instead of driving them apart. The scholarly credentials of Donn Morgan, the president and dean of Old Testament at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, lend his words power and wisdom. Any biblical study group needs "Fighting with the Bible: Why Scriptures Divide Us and How It Can Bring Us Together" and it also heartily recommended to Christian studies community library shelves.

from book cover

This book appreciates the pluralism of the Bile and the church as well as the need to allow the mystery of God's holiness to dwell in that diversity. Our failure to acknowledge diversity leads to division and competing absolutes; to embrace it lets us live faithfully together. The author's wisdom, clarity, and thoughtful passion offer a great service to the church.