What do you think?
Rate this book
Must There Be Scapegoats: Violence and Redemption in the Bible
By applying Rene Girard's scapegoat theory to biblical texts, Schwager offers a revolutionary paradigm of biblical theory.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 30, 2025
A must read for any aspiring theologian or Bible nerd. Engagement with Girardian theory needs to be prerequisite for any seminarian. One need not agree with every facet of Girard’s framework but his central theses of mimetic rivalry, the scapegoat mechanism, and the deification of the victim absolutely need to be engaged with and incorporated into one’s theology and anthropology (if not ethics). This is not a beginner’s text for Girardian theory, and I would point to Raymund Schwager’s “Must There Be Scapegoats?” for a more introductory level text exegeting Girard’s thought.
One cannot read and understand Girard without being forever changed in the way they assess sociology, violence, and anthropology. The glasses he provides simply cannot be removed completely once put on. One quickly see how vacuous are the pundits (political or otherwise) who would use the scapegoat mechanism to try to cohere an in-group—how fallen, how unenlightened, and how unchristian.
My quote of the book:
“Violence is unable to bear the presence of a Being that owes it nothing, that pays it no homage, and threatens its kingship in the only way possible. What violence does not and cannot comprehend is that, in getting rid of Jesus by the usual means, it falls into a trap that could only be laid by innocence of such a kind, because it isn’t really a trap. There is nothing hidden. Violence reveals its own game in such a way that its workings are compromised at their very source. The more it tries to conceal its ridiculous secret from now on, by forcing itself into action, the more it will succeed in revealing itself.”
One cannot read and understand Girard without being forever changed in the way they assess sociology, violence, and anthropology. The glasses he provides simply cannot be removed completely once put on. One quickly see how vacuous are the pundits (political or otherwise) who would use the scapegoat mechanism to try to cohere an in-group—how fallen, how unenlightened, and how unchristian.
My quote of the book:
“Violence is unable to bear the presence of a Being that owes it nothing, that pays it no homage, and threatens its kingship in the only way possible. What violence does not and cannot comprehend is that, in getting rid of Jesus by the usual means, it falls into a trap that could only be laid by innocence of such a kind, because it isn’t really a trap. There is nothing hidden. Violence reveals its own game in such a way that its workings are compromised at their very source. The more it tries to conceal its ridiculous secret from now on, by forcing itself into action, the more it will succeed in revealing itself.”
July 1, 2020
Some really great insights and interpretations of biblical readings from a Girardian lens. However, I thoroughly disagree with the author's conclusion that the reason that humans have a tendency toward violence is because in our innermost hearts we hate God and Christ. This seems a much too regressive stance to reconcile with the expansive view of the scapegoating phenomenon and the meaning of the sacrificial cult that was undone by Jesus.
January 16, 2016
Only frustration was I wanted to see some of the less-developed ideas followed further.
July 1, 2020
This was an interesting read examining Girards ideas on violence and the scapegoating mechanism within the old and new testaments. I enjoyed Schwager's insights into how to interpersonal relationships of love transcend the mimetic rivalry and his example of the relationship between David and Jonathan.
His examination of the suffering servant songs in Isaiah was also thought provoking as an nonviolent alternative to the dominant narrative of violence.
He beautifully explores the concept of the gathering of a people who have the spirit working within their heart, in their diversity, working in unity.
I especially appreciate his writings on the gradual unmasking of the evil within each human heart. This bears deep contemplation because as long as we only see the evil in the hearts of others and not in our own we continue to be blind to the scapegoating mechanism. And truly a message of love, as beautiful as it is, that glosses over our darker human experience, means that love is unable to penetrate the depth of our own heart so that we might transcend scapegoating.
His examination of the suffering servant songs in Isaiah was also thought provoking as an nonviolent alternative to the dominant narrative of violence.
He beautifully explores the concept of the gathering of a people who have the spirit working within their heart, in their diversity, working in unity.
I especially appreciate his writings on the gradual unmasking of the evil within each human heart. This bears deep contemplation because as long as we only see the evil in the hearts of others and not in our own we continue to be blind to the scapegoating mechanism. And truly a message of love, as beautiful as it is, that glosses over our darker human experience, means that love is unable to penetrate the depth of our own heart so that we might transcend scapegoating.
October 13, 2023
Excellent book! Especially if you are studying, Rene’ Gerard!
October 29, 2016
This is an amazing book. Schwager's writing, via the work of René Girard, explores the biblical themes of violence and sacrifice. Demonstrating that God endorses neither, but rather gradually exposes the human tendency to violent sacrifice; an exposure that culminates in God becoming the scapegoat for humanity.
An essential read for providing an alternative hermeneutic of the Old and New Testaments and for understanding the crucifixion of Jesus.
--Tristan Sherwin, author of *Love: Expressed
An essential read for providing an alternative hermeneutic of the Old and New Testaments and for understanding the crucifixion of Jesus.
--Tristan Sherwin, author of *Love: Expressed
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews