Understanding Violence in the Old Testament

I was literally just struggling with this issue and +Barron decides to upload a video about it the very same week. The Holy spirit is working in him for sure

20:00 St Ireneus's position 27:30 St. Augustine and St. Aquinas' positions 32:00 Origen's approach 40:00 allegorical vs historical view

I’m a confessional Lutheran and I love this channel. Thanks for your work Bishop Barron.

It was reading of the Documents of Vatican II that led me to begin my journey into the Catholic Church at the age of 70 after a life time as a faithful Protestant.

I was debating with a Protestant online recently. He kept telling me all the sins of the Catholic Church in history. Finally I told him, “If u hate the Catholic Church, you must double hate the Bible with all its violence and sin and corruption.” He never talked to me again.

"We must distinguish between what's in the Bible and what the Bible TEACHES." - Bishop Robert Barron on 'Understanding Violence in the Old Testament.'

Fr, Mike Schmitz at Ascension Press is also working through the Old Testament in his excellent Bible in a Year series. Catholics need sound Biblical instruction.

Philosopher Paul Conan says that we should read these violent passages in the ancient Near Eastern narrative. N.T Wright has also made this point. He says that the narrative was hyperbolic and written as a performance art since most listeners could not read. Phrases like utterly destroy, put to death, totally obliterate were idioms that signify a total victory. This helps to explain why in Joshua 10:40; 11;15 the Canaanites are utterly destroyed, yet in Joshua 23:12-13 the Canaanites continue to be in the land. Putting to death can be taken to mean a victory over sin. This helped me to get past the violence and instead to the message. Thanks to Brandon and the Bishop for another great discussion.

Dear Bishop and Brandon, it’s very illuminating for me personally given l am just a beginner in terms of my relationship with HIM but l am making significant progress in my search for His holy Will. God bless you. Praise the Lord

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 📖 Distinguishing between what's in the Bible and what the Bible teaches: The Bible contains diverse texts from different contexts and literary genres, so proof-texting is insufficient for understanding its teachings. 09:19 📚 Reading the Bible with sophistication: The Bible is a complex collection of texts that require careful consideration of historical, literary, and cultural contexts for accurate interpretation. 13:32 🕊️ The role of the Church in biblical interpretation: The Catholic Church emphasizes reading the Bible liturgically and within the context of magisterial teaching and tradition. 16:49 🛑 Rejecting Marcionism: Avoiding the simplistic notion of separating the Old and New Testament gods, and rather reading the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. 20:26 📖 Divine Pedagogy Approach (St. Irenaeus): The Bible represents an ongoing education of humanity, with different stages of revelation appropriate to the audience's understanding. 23:30 🪶 Anthropomorphic language and progressive revelation: The Bible uses language suitable for the audience's comprehension, such as anthropomorphic descriptions of God in earlier stages of revelation. 26:23 🚶‍♂️ The accommodation theory: God accommodates His revelation to human understanding at different points in history, using the language and concepts familiar to each era. 29:36 🕊️ The overarching themes of love and redemption: Despite challenging passages, the Bible's fundamental message centers on God's love, mercy, and the story of salvation. 30:49 🌅 The fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New Testament: The New Testament sheds light on the Old Testament's deeper meanings, revealing its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. 32:06 🧠 Intellectual and moral growth in understanding God: Just as humans develop intellectually and morally, the understanding of God's nature and revelation matures throughout the biblical narrative. 22:49 🌟 Different perspectives on interpreting violent passages in the Old Testament. 23:17 🌌 Gradual revelation: God's evolving self-revelation in the Old Testament. 24:28 📖 Irenaeus' perspective: Old Testament as God and humanity mutually preparing for Jesus' incarnation. 25:38 💬 Reading violent texts as metaphoric expressions of God's power in Israel's development. 26:46 🌞 Progression of understanding from primitive metaphors to the love revealed in Jesus. 27:27 ⚖️ Divine justice approach: God's prerogative to take life away, using secondary causes. 29:43 🛡️ Divine justice approach: Using Israel's armies to express God's justice against wickedness. 31:47 💭 Allegorical approach: Reading Old Testament stories as allegories of spiritual struggle. 33:10 📚 Reading the Bible through the lens of the crucified Lamb of God. 35:13 🔍 Historical sense: Acknowledging the historical grounding of the Bible, though not in modern historical writing style. 39:11 🌍 Interpreting events as theologically elaborated history rather than modern historiography. 44:41 🧠 Carl Jung: Jung's influential ideas, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. 46:07 🤔 Jung's agnostic tendencies and psychologization of biblical language. 47:00 🤝 Balanced assessment: Jung's significance, improvements over Freud, and potential pitfa

In my last year of high school in 1972 (eek) Sister Valerian took us through the Documents of Vatican 11. She was an amazing teacher and we loved those lessons. She taught us how to read Church documents and he wisdom and insights were wonderful. I will always be grateful for her gift to us.

"The New is hidden in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New." "Every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old." Matthew 13:52b

"Allegories of spiritual struggle". This has fundamentally shifted my understanding of these texts. Thank you.

Bishop Barron thank you so much for your evangelization on Tube. I enjoy listening to your teachings and Sunday Summon. God bless you. I pray for you and all the people in Word on Fire .

Bishop Bob's Big Bible Commentary I will buy three copies if that's the title. ; )

The YouTube channel Lutheran Satire did a bit on Richard Dawkins’ objection on God being a moral monster and I loved their response. It was along the lines of “Did you honestly just argue that God doesn’t exist because He’s mean? If being a jerk made you suddenly cease to exist, then every war in human history would have ended the second it started!”

To be honest I was guilty of jumping on the VII bashing train calling for VIII without fully understanding VII, but I took the time and went through some of the documents the Trads were misinterpreting and I've changed my mind since. VII is misunderstood by many Catholics including me. Bishop Barron, I'm glad you've released this book to shed light on such a confusing and misunderstood topic.

Thank you for doing a show on that topic Bishop Barron, that was awesome! I’ve been reading the Narrative Books of the Bible and on Luke now. I’ve really enjoyed reading those books. Thanks Dave

This will be one of his most watched videos in a couple of weeks.

Thanks Bishop Barron. Looking forward to your book. I want to understand Vatican 2 once and for all.