In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. – Judges 19:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 3, 2022): Judges 19

During the 1990s, I took a university course appropriately entitled "Christian Writing." Beyond just teaching writing skills, it also spent a considerable amount of time trying to define what exactly "Christian Writing" might be. And the discussion revealed that the answer to that question was not as obvious as we might have thought it should be. The tension of the question existed between the idea that "Christian writing was writing that centered on Christian topics and characteristics" to more simply "Something that was written by a Christian, regardless of topic." And so, within the walls of the classroom, the argument raged.

To enhance the discussion, we had several published Christian writers teach the class in addition to our professor. Decades later, I still remember the argument from two of the guest lecturers. One, a playwright, made the argument for the idea that Christian writing was something written by a Christian. He talked about his plays; few, if any, were on Christian topics. And his scripts also didn't necessarily reflect a Christian character. He professed to be a Christian, but his writing was filled with situations that went against some people's ideas of Christian ethics. For this playwright, he wanted his writing to be filled with real-life situations, which included the colorful language that you will probably never find Sunday Morning in church

One of the other guest lecturers was Janette Oke, an accomplished Christian romance writer. And she talked about her writing and how she went about forming a story. One of the students asked about the lack of swearing in her novels; Isn't colorful language just a part of life. I remember Oke's response to the question, there are many things, including swearing, that were a part of life, but no one needs to hear (or read) that. Two authors with a definite difference of opinion in how they approached their writing.

F. B. Meyer (1847-1929) was a Baptist Pastor and a personal friend of Dwight Moody. And Meyer had some simple advice for Bible readers regarding Judges 19. His advice; don't read it. No one needs to know this story. Specifically, he reacts to the first words of the chapter, "In those days Israel had no king" a phrase used repeatedly in the Book of Judges, and Meyer argues that that is all the reader needs to know. In response to Judges 19:1, Meyer writes, "It will be sufficient to ponder these words, which occur four times in the book, without reading further in this terrible chapter, which shows the depths of the depravity to which may sink apart from the grace of God" (F. B. Meyer).

Judges 19 is essentially a retelling of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, but without any interference by the hand of God. The result is a story about a xenophobic town and the gang rape and murder of a woman, an incident that becomes the ground for an Israelite Civil War. Meyer is right; the events at Gibeah is a terrible story, and it does show the depth of depravity to which we can all sink apart from the grace of God.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Judges 20