“Artists and interpreters over the centuries have turned this particular woman into a painted sex kitten who bewitched a divinely chosen king,” the Garlands said in a chapter excerpt reprinted with permission in the Baylor school of social work’s journal. Truett Theological Seminary, and wife Diana Garland, dean of Baylor’s school of social work who died of cancer in 2015, discussed it in their book Flawed Families of the Bible: How God’s Grace Works through Imperfect Relationships, published in 2007. The Denhollanders aren’t the first Baptist couple to broach the problem of misogynistic readings of the story of David and Bathsheba.ĭavid Garland, then dean of the George W. Still others pointed out that gender bias applies equally to both women and men.Ī woman who grew up being taught that Bathsheba purposely bathed in view of the king to get his attention called it “the Sunday school version of ‘what were you wearing when you were assaulted?’” “If she’s not dead, it means she’s an adulterous woman,” Mr. “Countless people have chosen death over violating their own consciences.” “If she wasn’t a willing participant, she could have simply refused and dealt with the consequences,” a male commenter argued against viewing Bathsheba as blameless in the affair. Others charged the couple with reading modern views into an ancient text. “You simply assume she’s too ‘clouded’ on the basis that you disagree. “You can disagree with her interpretation of Scripture without disparaging her as being too emotional to properly interpret Scripture or speak on this issue with clarity,” he replied. Jacob Denhollander rushed to his spouse’s defense. “I love what the Denhollanders have done for victim awareness, but this kind of thing is a perfect example of why it’s really dangerous to let your own experiences cloud the way you read and understand scripture,” commented a pastor in Chicago. 3 in response to a list of Bible characters who sinned which included the example, “David fornicated.” The comment expanded on something she had said on Twitter on Oct. student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “If you understand the power dynamics and you understand the Hebrew, and you look at the Levitical examples and discussion of rape, and you understand what Nathan is saying in his parable, it is abundantly clear from that text that David raped,” said Denhollander, whose husband, Jacob Denhollander, is a Ph.D. While the narrative focuses on the interaction between David, Uriah and ultimately the prophet Nathan, it is not uncommon for preachers to portray Bathsheba as a femme fatale. He sends for her while her husband is away at war, gets her pregnant and then seeks to cover his sin by plotting the husband’s murder. The reference is to the account in the 11th chapter of the second book of Samuel where David, a heroic figure in the Hebrew Bible, spies a woman bathing on a neighbor’s rooftop. “Who wants to see Gregory Peck as a sexual predator?” David and Diana Garland asked in a chapter on the story of David and Bathsheba published in 2007.
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