A Lens of Love by Jonathan L. Walton

Author:Jonathan L. Walton
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781611648898
Publisher: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Texts of Terror

To underscore the point that some illustrations and metaphors in the Bible are always inappropriate, let’s conclude this chapter with a few more examples. Biblical scholar Phyllis Trible famously discusses them in her book Texts of Terror. For instance, the writings of the Hebrew prophets are saturated with sexual and violent imagery to represent God’s commitment to an otherwise obstinate nation. In Ezekiel 16, the writer likens Jerusalem to a little girl born of an Amorite father and a Hittite mother (both avowed enemies of Jerusalem). The mother abandoned the baby in the blood of her birth in the land of the Canaanites. God took pity on her, cleaned her, raised her, and when her “breasts were formed,” God adorned her in beautiful leather, linen, and expensive jewels. But the girl became obsessed with her beauty and the attention it commanded. She became a harlot and began giving herself to other nations, not out of need, but to satisfy her lustful desires.

Ezekiel 16 describes God as a committed husband—a husband who demonstrates his love by exploding in wrath:

I will gather all your lovers, with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated; I will gather them against you from all around, and will uncover your nakedness to them, so that they may see all your nakedness. I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring blood upon you in wrath and jealousy. I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a mob against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; I will stop you from playing the whore, and you shall also make no more payments. So I will satisfy my fury on you, and my jealousy shall turn away from you; I will be calm, and will be angry no longer. (Ezek. 16:37–42)

According to this image, God’s key attributes are male dominance, power, and control. In multiple ways, this passage reinforces an understanding of the female body as primarily an object for male protection and domination. The narrative advances the belief that love and care come with the price of submission, obedience, and abuse.

The pronouncement also elucidates a relationship between male dominance and sexual violence. Few health professionals regard rape as primarily about passionate desire but instead about power and control. A rapist seizes control over the life of the victim. Rape is thus a declaration of war against another’s body with the sole purpose being to conquer and subdue. It is a dangerous and egregious error for anyone to employ a marital metaphor that depicts God as a jealous husband filled with rage. As Scripture, such a

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