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A Non-violent God

A Non-violent God

by Rev. Alexandra Robinson on September 24, 2025


Reading: Genesis 22:1-14

Over the past week, the majority of my conversations have involved concerns with violence in our nation. Today in Dallas was yet another heartbreaking headline of lives lost in the aftermath of political divides. The differences in our political views or societal constructs is never reason for attacking or hurting someone. Violence has no place in our Christian ideology either, and anyone who justifies that harmful ideology Biblically does not represent Jesus’ good news.

But violence is not just with actions. Speaking words of hatred, categorizing groups as “other,” and providing justification for harmful behavior, adds fuel to the fires of violence burning around us. And when the Bible is used to legitimate those kind of attacks, it is a Christian nationalism that does not represent the gospel.

The good news is, your faithful witness can make a difference in stopping this behavior.

You have influence, you have power, and you have the potential to make change.

It starts with this Scripture of Abraham’s sacrifice with Issac, one of the most troubling in the Bible. What begins as a text of God ordering Abraham’s sacrifice of his only son Issac, becomes a testament that God stops violence. Though often translated as Abraham being obedient to God’s direction, this can also be viewed as a story defining God’s non-violent identity in contrast to other ancient religions that encouraged human violence. YAHWEH stops the child sacrifice, making God different from the other gods of ancient Mesopotamia for whom child sacrifice was normative. The point of the story then becomes: God is not violent.

This is witnessed by Jesus ministry in the Christian tradition: when Jesus rebukes Peter for cutting off a soldier’s ear (Matthew 26:52), as Jesus commands non-retaliation and encourages us to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38-39), as Jesus encourages us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Luke 6:27-29). Early Christian letters of non-violence demand that we, as living witnesses to Christ, do the same: repaying no one evil for evil (Romans 12:17-21), to avoid quarreling and be gentle (Titus 3:2), and to strive for peace among everyone (Hebrews 12:14). Even the Hebrew Scriptures recognize God’s love for the non-violent, starting with the 10 commandments to not murder (Exodus 20:13), through the wisdom literature as the “desire of the treacherous is for violence,” (Proverbs 13:2), to the prophets who proclaim of the day where swords will turn into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4).

Behaving with non-violence in words and deeds, means gentleness and kindness, peace-keeping and forgiveness, listening deeply to the heart-cry of another, offering grace in all relationships. This kind of behavior has a ripple effect, of calming the tension, decreasing the anxiety, and expressing intentional listening. This is where each of us can make a difference.

We may not be able to change the world in a day, but we can change it one non – violent conversation and relationship at a time.

So, who will you share peace with today by witnessing with your non-violent words and deeds?


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