Nuanced Violence

(Proverbs 16:29 KJV)  A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good.

Our common culture is making a strong statement about “violence” (2555).  We hear things like “violence is not the answer”.  If you just look at this verse and have a crafted definition of violence you might think the Bible teaches the same thing.

Not so.  Even in Proverbs you will find references to war that do not condemn it automatically.  You can find plenty of evidence for the Christian idea of the Just War.  One of the points of Just War is that you don’t commit violence for violence sake.  You restrain yourself. 

Here we are looking at the kind of person who says the end justifies the means and the end is what gets him what he wants.  It is hard to know a persons heart so we need to be very discerning when someone advocates force.

So?  The road of righteousness is rigorous because it requires us to engage our minds and our reason.  If you don’t you will get sucked into all kinds of problems.  This type of person gets a big thrill when he “entices” (6601b) us into folly.  Think.