[Vision2020] Evildoers and the Bible

[Ralph Nielsen]

 From the latest SBL Forum, issued by the Society of Biblical  
Literature.
Given these kinds of dominating effects, Schüssler Fiorenza has  
argued that the contents of biblical texts should be marked with the  
label: "Caution, could be dangerous to your health and survival."[2]  
Schüssler Fiorenza is not alone in making such a determination. As  
Krister Stendahl wrote years ago:

I would guess that the last racists in this country, if there ever be  
an end to such, will be the ones with Bible in hand. There never has  
been an evil cause in the world that has not become more evil if it  
has been possible to argue it on biblical grounds.[3]

[2] See Schüssler Fiorenza, Rhetoric and Ethic: The Politics of  
Biblical Studies (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999), 14.

[3] See Krister Stendahl, "Ancient Scripture in the Modern World," in  
Scripture in the Jewish and Christian Traditions: Authority,  
Interpretation, Relevance (ed. Frederick E. Greenspahn; Nashville:  
Abingdon Press, 1982), 205.