Does the Bible encourage intolerance?
MONTREAL, QC—Sacred texts—the Bible among them—have been used to justify all manner of evil. Some say the texts promote intolerance.
But a deeper look is needed to truly understand what the Scriptures are saying, maintain the presenters at a recent panel discussion on the topic.
Co-sponsored by the Canadian Christian - Jewish Consultation and McGill University's faculty of religious studies, "Do Our Sacred Texts Promote Religious Intolerance?" featured a rabbi, an imam and a New Testament professor speaking on how difficult passages in their own sacred texts have been used to justify things like murder, slavery, anti-semitism and spousal abuse.
It's important to have the right approach to difficult biblical texts, said panelist Ian Henderson, an associate professor of religious studies at Montreal's McGill University.
"Try to hear the whole voice of Scripture at once," said Henderson, remembering sadly that a German theologian once used Scripture to persecute Jews. "It's the same text which most clearly expresses hostility toward the Jews that most emphatically places Jesus and His followers among them."
"Our sacred texts can and have been used to do just about everything," said Rabbi Lisa Grushcow. "Biblical texts have been used to support slavery and to argue against slavery, to support women's rights and to work against women's rights. So, whether they actually do these things or not really does depend on how they're used."
Grushcow highlighted the importance of interpretation as a way to deal with difficult texts. She described how two passages are read together in a service, which allows for one to provide a commentary on the other.
Henderson used the metaphor of a set of tools to talk about the design function, or purpose, of texts.
"Hear what texts really were designed for," said Henderson. "We live in a time when a text can mean whatever you want it to mean. On balance, I want to challenge us that no, these texts can't mean anything I want them to mean."
Karen Hamilton, secretary general of the Canadian Council of Churches, moderated the panel.
"It's important to read our texts, read them thoroughly, and know the historical context," she says. "It requires study. In Christianity, in some ways, we have slipped away from the deep study of our tradition.
"We need to wrestle with Scripture. God never promised that it would be easy to read the biblical text. We are promised new life, forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit. But there's no promise that reading the Bible is going to be easy."
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