Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.09.2008, Page 18

them into cosmic battles of good and evil, in which the authority and will
of a transcendent reality is implicated. If God tells you to kill someone, who
can argue with that? Although this point is often made in a muddled and
overstated manner, there is a serious point that needs to be considered: why
might someone think that God would order them to kill someone?
I must make two points clear here. First, I am a Christian, and write and
think from that perspective. Second, I regard the idea that all religions teach
pretty much the same thing as fatuous, lacking any empirical support. It
is an idea that is curiously favored both by theological liberals (anxious to
elevate the generic concept of “religion” above an specific religious system)
and atheists (anxious to show that religion is evil, by singling out a single
religion as representative of all - witness Sam Harris’ stereotypical account
of Islam).
As a Christian, I hold that the face, will and character of God are fully
disclosed in Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus of Nazareth did no violence to
anyone. He was the object, not the agent, of violence. Instead of meeting
violence with violence, rage with rage, Christians are asked to “turn the
other cheek”, and “not to let the sun go down on their anger”. This is about
the elimination of the roots of violence — no, more than that: it is about its
transfiguration. Does the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ command
anyone to kill in his name? Certainly some Christians argued so, especially
during the age of the Crusades. But that belief is deeply problematic when
confronted with the person of Christ. Christ commanded the sword to be
put down, not to be taken up, in his defence. The contrast with Islam is
particularly instructive at this point.
The importance of the witness of Christ on this matter can be seen in a
tragic event in North America, which took place in October 2006, within
a week of the publication of the God Delusion. A gunman broke into an
Amish school in Pennsylvania, and gunned down a group of schoolgirls.
Five of the young girls died. The Amish are a Protestant religious group,
who repudiate any form of violence on account of their understanding
of the absolute moral authority of the person and teaching of Jesus of
Nazareth. When those unfortunate schoolchildren were murdered, the
Amish community urged forgiveness. There would be no violence, no
16