Amy and “Clobber” Verses
"Clobber" Verses
Episcopalians read the Bible canonically, that is, we read the Bible as a whole from Genesis to Revelation and consider individual verses or passages or even whole books alongside the entire Scriptural story of God's liberative, redeeming love of humanity and all of creation.
One of things I appreciate about how Lesa created the Bible Book Bracket summer challenge on social media and our website, is that she chose verses out of each book not to pigeonhole that book, but rather as a way to draw your curiosity about books that you may be less familiar with.
When folks seek to use Scripture as a weapon against others with whom they disagree - to "clobber" them over the head with Scripture - they sometimes choose one or two verses out of the tens of thousands of verses in Scripture and say that that one verse "is what the Bible says" on a controversial topic. In the nineteenth century, for example, pro-slavery churches chose this verse to justify white slaveholders' brutal oppression of black people: Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. (Eph 6:5)
There are about seven verses that are most used to argue that 'the Bible says" women cannot preach or teach in the church. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. (I Timothy 2: 11-13)
There are about eight verses that are most used to argue what "the Bible says" about homosexuality and are used to "clobber" all those in the LGBTQ community. (You can read about what the Episcopal Church about full inclusion and welcome in the church here.)
Bottom line: if someone quotes one verse or two and argues "that's what the Bible says," I invite you to get curious. Be skeptical. Go to the Bible yourself, read that verse and not only that verse, that chapter, that book, and in fact, read the whole of Scripture in community, in conversation with the tradition and using the gift of reason, and wonder: is that really what the Bible says? Amen.
