Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book surveys some of the many topics that need to be addressed if one wants to think seriously about “scripture and violence.”It first provides a few general comments about “violence.” The book explores some questions more specifically about “scripture and violence,” many of which will be taken up again. It presumes only a very vague consensus that there are at least some things that can be defined as “violence,” some of which would not exist in an ideal world. The book describes a 2015 incident in which a poster referenced a story from the Hebrew Bible while glorifying a fatal stabbing. It also explores the complex relationship between scripture and real-world acts of violence.