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Join us for for #SheToo, a seven-part podcast series exploring some of the biblical texts that include violence against women. These 'texts of terror' have, at times, been used to oppress women or have just been ignored. But what happens if we take a closer look? Bible Society is not aligned to any single denomination and does not necessarily endorse every position taken here – but this podcast is offered to help listeners engage with themes in parts of the Bible that are too important to ig ...
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We’ve heard some strong stuff. Perhaps you knew these stories already but had you heard them preached about in Church? Is it really appropriate to do so? Rev Dr Helen Paynter thinks it is. In this final podcast she talks to Rosie Dawson about the need for Christians to find the resources in the Bible that can help them in their quest for sexual jus…
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This passage contains not a story about sexual violence, but a metaphor of it. The writer of Revelation uses the imagery of sexual violence to speak of the punishment that awaits the prophetess Jezebel who is accused of leading the church into idolatry. Dr Meredith Warren tells Rosie Dawson why she believes the language used in this passage is dama…
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In a world which – then as now – frequently divides women into Madonnas or whores, Tamar is the ‘perfect’ rape victim; virginal, beautiful, obedient. Her rape takes place within the Royal Household of King David. Tamar, David’s daughter, is raped by her half-brother Amnon. For the writer the rape is set in the larger context of the falling apart of…
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The story of the Levite’s concubine is brutal beyond words. The victim has no name and does not get to speak. She is betrayed by her husband and handed over to a mob to be raped and murdered. War and the trafficking and rape of many more women follows. What place has such a terrible story in the Bible? Dr Mary Evans believes that the narrator, inte…
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The story of Jephthah’s daughter is the tragic tale of rash promises and unintended consequences. The warrior Jephthah makes a vow to sacrifice the first person to come out of his house to greet him if the Lord gives him victory over the Ammonites. It doesn’t occur to him that that person might be his only child, his daughter. Rabbi Shoshana Boyd G…
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The story of Hagar is the most well-known of the passages under consideration in this series. Hagar is the slave of Abraham and Sarah who is required to bear Abraham a son, Ishmael, as a solution to the couple’s childlessness. Usually this story is read as part of the wider story about how Abraham came to be the father of two nations, through his s…
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Every reader comes to the Bible with their own history and set of assumptions. In this introductory episode, Rev Dr Helen Paynter tells Rosie Dawson which principles and commitments inform her engagement with Biblical texts about sexual abuse and violence.Bible Society #SheToo
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