Wilma Bailey led a Follow Jesus ’25 seminar titled “Finding Peace in the Old Testament,” showing participants that violence in the Old Testament is often used as a warning of what not to do.
By Jessica Griggs for Mennonite Church USA
Wilma Bailey leads “Finding Peace in the Old Testament” seminar at Follow Jesus ’25.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (Mennonite Church USA) — In a crowded room, full of pastors, educators, students and general conference attendees, Wilma Bailey, professor of Hebrew and Aramaic Scripture Emerita at Christian Theological Seminary, led Follow Jesus ’25 participants in an Anabaptist Bible study, with the goal of “Finding Peace in the Old Testament.”
Leading into the seminar, Jonathan Mark, pastor of First Mennonite Church Reedley (California), said, “I am looking forward to an Anabaptist Bible study, especially one with Wilma Bailey. She has come to our church in the past, and I’m looking forward to hearing her speak again!”
With only 45 minutes available in the seminar timeslot, Bailey took participants through the Hebrew Bible, from Genesis to Joshua to 2 Kings to Job to Psalms to Micah and Isaiah. She explained how many of the Old Testament texts interacted with other ancient Near Eastern texts to provide peaceful alternatives to the violence that appeared in the other religions’ accounts. She also shared that many of the Old Testament texts that seem to show God condoning violence may instead contain mistranslations of the Hebrew language that misrepresent the actual context. Additionally, she argued that many of the violent texts in the Old Testament are examples of what not to do.
“Ultimately, I would argue that these violence texts are actually meant to show violence doesn’t work. I think people have really misinterpreted these texts showing violence. It’s not saying this is what you should do. It’s saying the opposite, that it doesn’t work. If you take it by force, you lose it by force. Take by the sword, perish by the sword.”
After the seminar, Erica Lea-Simka, the southwest regional representative for Mennonite Women USA, said, “I continue to grow in the belief that the Hebrew Bible is really misunderstood, especially by Christians, and I know that I need to do some of that work for myself. Of course, the topic of peace is going to be a winner at a Mennonite gathering, but specifically, I think it is time well spent to reevaluate what are often used as ‘clobber passages’ against Jews and against a peaceful God.”
Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination, founded in 2002 by the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Members of this historic peace church seek to follow Jesus by rejecting violence and resisting injustice. MC USA’s Renewed Commitments state the following shared commitments among its diverse body of believers: to follow Jesus, witness to God’s peace and experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit. Mennoniteusa.org