What’s the Bible for? We asked dozens of writers to respond to this question in seven words or less, as well as to expand on their response in a few sentences. To see all of the responses together as they are posted, bookmark this page.
God’s assertion and subversion of distributive justice
The Bible is often read as a linear progress whose climactic conclusion is in its final chapter (Revelation). It is better read as a dialectical process in which, repeatedly, a world of distributive justice is both asserted as creation and then subverted as civilization—but both in the name of the same God. Examples: Genesis 1 or Deuteronomy 28; Daniel 2 or 7; Pauline Paul or Lukan Paul; Jesus in nonviolent or violent resistance.
