Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can't Ignore the Bible's Violent Verses

Philip Jenkins delivers a fearless examination of the dark and violent verses of the Bible-and a call for us to read them anew in pursuit of a richer, more honest faith. From “one of America's best scholars of religion� ( The Economist), this daring exploration of the Scripture's most difficult passages forces us to confront and accept the violence that was as integral to the formulation of Christianity's message as it was for many other of the world's religions, and shows us how a full understanding of the Scripture will allow us to finally move towards a more peaceful, spiritual world. Readers of Bart Ehrman's God's Problem, John Selby Spong's The Sins of Scripture, and Jenkins's own The Jesus Wars, as well as every Christian eager to square the recurrent violence of the Scripture with Christianity's enduring message of peace, will find these difficult questions explored in full in Laying Down the Sword.

Philip Jenkins, the author of The Lost History of Christianity, Jesus Wars, and The Next Christendom, is a Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion. He has published articles and op-ed pieces in The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Washington Post and has been a guest on top national radio shows across the country.