Reconciling Violence and Kingship: A Study of Judges and 1 Samuel

by Marty Alan Michelson

Through careful reading of the stories at the end of Judges and in 1 Samuel, Reconciling Violence and Kingship demonstrates that events surrounding Saul have significance independent of David and preceding David's kingship. Michelson argues that Saul's kingship is uniquely important in establishing the person of the king, who was inaugurated in order to minimize violence.

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 2011

Reviews

[Randy Mccracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reconciling Violence and Kingship is a study of the beginnings of the Israelite monarchy based on an examination of Judges 9, 17-21, and 1 Samuel 9-11. In this book author, Marty Alan Michelson, proposes that a new understanding of the establishment of Israel's monarchy is possible when the above texts are viewed through the lens of Renee Girard's philosophical theory of institutionalized violence. This theory involves the "textual interplay of desire, mimesis, rivalry, and scapegoating" (p. 2–more on this below). Along with Girard, Mickelson contends that institutionalized violence leads to social stability (p. 8). To put it in Mickelson's words, "In this study we will demonstrate that in the storied movement toward monarchy, the chaotic violence becomes controlled violence that prevents its further escalation. Through the monarch, violence is transformed into an event that, while violent, reconciles conflict that might otherwise lead to chaos, dissolution, or anarchy" (p. 2).
The rest of this review can be found at: http://www.biblestudywithrandy.com/20...