Fighting with the Bible - Why Scripture Divides Us and How It Can Bring Us Together

In times of conflict, the Bible is often used as a club to beat thosewhose opinions differ from one's own. We recoil from such usage,yet the Bible actually represents many diverse and conflictingpoints of view. It is like a library, full of books that speak to allsides of every question. Like Christians today, the communities and individuals whowrote the biblical texts often strongly disagree with each other. Ruth and Ezra, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Micah and Joel, Deuteronomyand Daniel, Mark and John what would they say to each other?Do they have anything in common? Each of these voices is firmlycommitted to his or her specific view of ",the truth,", whether itreflects a particular place or community, a prophet, a style of worship,or an ",understanding", of who is in and who is out. The author guides us in considering how we can do justice tothis welter of disparate voices. What can the Bible teach us aboutliving together? How can we use it as a powerful resource forunderstanding and for moving beyond conflict?