On Preaching the Rape Texts, with Jen Pollock Michel
Jen Pollock Michel joins Matt, Derek, and Alastair to discuss the troubling — and important — passages of Scripture that deal with sexual violence.
Jen Pollock Michel, writer and Mere Fidelity listener, sent in an important and challenging question by email: There are several passages in the Bible that deal with scenarios of sexual violence. What is the best way to preach these texts, without traumatizing or triggering the congregation? We decided to not only address this question on the show but bring her directly on as a guest to talk about it.
Dinah’s Lament: The Biblical Legacy of Sexual Violence in Christian Interpretation, by Joy Schroeder
Passages referenced:
Dinah: Genesis 34
Lot’s Daughters: Genesis 19
The Levite’s Concubine: Judges 19
Hagar: Genesis 15-16
Bathsheba: II Samuel 11-12
Tamar: II Samuel 13
The Book of the Month is All Thy Lights Combine: Figural Reading in the Anglican Tradition. Figural interpretation has been a trademark of Anglican devotions from the beginning. Anglican readers—including Tyndale, Cranmer, Hooker, and Lewis—have been figural readers of the Bible. Edited by David Ney and Ephraim Radner, the essays in All Thy Lights Combine explore how the Anglican tradition has employed figural interpretation to theological, Christological, and pastoral ends.
Timestamps
Follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing and show notes. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.