RELIGION AND VIOLENCE:
A BIBLIOGRAPHY
Charles K. Bellinger
Charles K. Bellinger is Theological Librarian and Assistant Professor of
Theology and Ethics at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. He regularly teaches courses addressing violence from psychological, religious, and
ethical perspectives. He is the author of The Genealogy of Violence:
Reflections on Creation, Freedom, and Evil (2001).
THE LITERATURE ON RELIGION AND VIOLENCE WAS
already substantial before the Sept. 11 attacks, and it has swelled at an
increased pace since then. I have not seen abundant evidence, however,
that the serious reflections on violence expressed in these books has
made a noticeable impact on the shape of higher education, on news
media reporting, or on the thinking of government officials around the
world. This is unfortunate.
Popular opinion doesn’t reflect on the complexity of violence. We
assume that violence (that is, the violence done by others) is evil, but
we don’t understand it and seem to have little interest in understanding
it. The authors listed below are trying to change that situation in both
respects. They invite us to develop an interest in reflecting on violence
and offer substantive understandings of it from their own perspectives.
I foresee a time in the future when their efforts will bear fruit as a “critical mass” of interest develops and overcomes the apathy of our current
situation. At that point, the ideas contained in these books will begin
to have a significant impact on higher education, the media, and governmental and military decision-making.
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Social Science Perspectives
The books listed here are primarily analyses of violence written by psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists. Becker’s work develops a
theory of “death denial” as the root of violence. The set of four volumes
edited by Ellens is a major contribution to this topic, presenting essays
by an impressive gathering of scholars in various fields. Volume 3 of
Stout’s collection of essays is similar. Jung and Peck are widely read
shapers of contemporary psychological thought. Waller’s book represents many similar books not listed here for the sake of space.
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Bartov, Omer, and Phyllis Mack, eds. In God’s Name: Genocide and
Religion in the Twentieth Century. New York: Berghahn, 2001.
Becker, Ernest. Escape from Evil. New York: Free, 1975.
Bromley, David G., and J. Gordon Melton, eds. Cults, Religion, and
Violence. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Ellens, J. Harold, ed. The Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 4 vols. Westport: Praeger, 2004.
Jones, James William. Terror and Transformation: The Ambiguity of
Religion in Psychoanalytic Perspective. New York: Brunner-Routledge,
2002.
Jung, C. G., and Murray Stein, ed. Jung on Evil. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1995.
Lifton, Robert Jay. Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo,
Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism. New York:
Metropolitan, 1999.
Martin, David. Does Christianity Cause War? New York: Oxford
University Press, 1997.
Peck, M. Scott. People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998.
Reich, Walter, ed. Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies,
Theologies, States of Mind. New York: Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars, 1990.
Stout, Chris, ed. The Psychology of Terrorism. Vol. 3. Westport:
Praeger, 2002.
Waller, James. Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide
and Mass Killing. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
RELIGION AND VIOLENCE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY / BELLINGER
Humanities and Religious Studies Perspectives
The books included in this section are written from the perspectives of
religious studies or philosophy, history, literature, or journalism that
includes attention to religious traditions. Appleby, Juergensmeyer, and
Kimball have offered widely read commentaries on the various ways in
which religion and violence are related to each other in the contemporary world. The Chase and Jacobs volume contains papers given at a
major conference on Christianity and violence, including a lively debate
between Stanley Hauerwas and John Milbank on the ethics of violence.
The Jewett and Lawrence book criticizes the tendency of Americans to
simplistically identify themselves with good and their enemies with
evil. The Marty and Appleby book is part of an important five volume
series analyzing fundamentalism. There is also a growing strand of
books on cults, new religious movements, etc., in relation to violence.
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Appleby, R. Scott. The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence,
and Reconciliation. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.
Beuken, Wim, and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds. Religion as a Source of
Violence. London: SCM, 1997.
Candland, Christopher. The Spirit of Violence: An Interdisciplinary
Bibliography of Religion and Violence. New York: Harry Frank
Guggenheim Foundation, 1992.
Chase, Kenneth R., and Alan Jacobs, eds. Must Christianity Be
Violent?: Reflections on History, Practice, and Theology. Grand Rapids:
Brazos, 2003.
Ellis, Marc H. Unholy Alliance: Religion and Atrocity in Our Time.
Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997.
Hall, John R., Philip Daniel Schuyler, and Sylvaine Trinh. Apocalypse
Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America,
Europe, and Japan. New York: Routledge, 2000.
Jewett, Robert, and John Shelton Lawrence. Captain America and
the Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of
Religious Violence. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Lincoln, Bruce. Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and
Practice. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991.
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Kakar, Sudhir. The Colors of Violence: Cultural Identities, Religion,
and Conflict. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Kimball, Charles. When Religion Becomes Evil. San Francisco:
HarperSanFrancisco, 2002.
Marty, Martin E., and F. Scott Appleby, eds. Fundamentalisms and
the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1993.
May, John D’Arcy. Transcendence and Violence: The Encounter of
Buddhist, Christian, and Primal Traditions. New York: Continuum,
2003.
McTernan, Oliver. Violence in God’s Name: Religion in an Age of
Conflict. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2003.
Milbank, John. Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason.
Cambridge: Blackwell, 1991.
Palmer-Fernandez, Gabriel, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion and
War. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Perica, Vjekoslav. Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav
States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Robbins, Thomas, and Susan J. Palmer. Millennium, Messiahs, and
Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements. New York:
Routledge, 1997.
Schwartz, Regina M. The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of
Monotheism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997.
Steffen, Lloyd. The Demonic Turn: The Power of Religion to Inspire or
Restrain Violence. Cleveland: Pilgrim, 2003.
Voegelin, Eric. Modernity Without Restraint: The Political Religions;
The New Science of Politics; and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism.
Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000.
Wessinger, Catherine Lowman. How the Millennium Comes
Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate. New York: Seven Bridges,
2000.
René Girard, His Followers and Critics
If there is one voice that stands out in the realm of reflections on religion and violence, it is certainly that of René Girard. His religiously
framed and interdisciplinary theory of human psychology and cultural
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RELIGION AND VIOLENCE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY / BELLINGER
formation through violence has already spawned a large secondary literature of response and critical commentary. Many of these works take
Girard’s ideas and restate, popularize, or apply them to specific topics,
and are written from the perspective of an admiring follower. My contribution, The Genealogy of Violence, brings Girard’s ideas into conversation with the insights into human behavior that are present in
Kierkegaard’s thought.
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Alison, James. Raising Abel: The Recovery of Eschatological
Imagination. New York: Crossroad, 1996.
Bailie, Gil. Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads. New York:
Crossroad, 1995.
Bellinger, Charles K. The Genealogy of Violence: Reflections on
Creation, Freedom, and Evil. New York: Oxford University Press,
2001.
Girard, René. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Maryknoll: Orbis,
2001.
——. The Scapegoat. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1986.
——. Violence and the Sacred. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1977.
Girard, René, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, and Guy Lefort. Things
Hidden since the Foundation of the World. Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1987.
Girard, René, and James G. Williams, ed. The Girard Reader. New
York: Crossroad, 1996.
Schwager, Raymund. Must There Be Scapegoats?: Violence and
Redemption in the Bible. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987.
Webb, Eugene. Philosophers of Consciousness: Polanyi, Lonergan,
Voegelin, Ricoeur, Girard, Kierkegaard. Seattle: University of
Washington Press, 1988.
Williams, James G. The Bible, Violence, and the Sacred: Liberation
from the Myth of Sanctioned Violence. San Francisco:
HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.
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THE HEDGEHOG REVIEW / SPRING 04
Commentaries on Islam, Violence, and Terrorism
This is a sampling of the many works that were published before the
Sept. 11 attacks, and some since then, that consider the relationship
between Islam and violence. Many of these works have the conscious
intention of providing a counterbalance to the distorted views of Islam
that are unfortunately widespread in the West. Huntington’s work
describing the “bloody borders of Islam” has provoked much discussion
and critique in academic circles (including the book by Jonathan Sacks
listed in the “Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution” section below).
James Turner Johnson, Bruce B. Lawrence, and Bernard Lewis are widely recognized as “deans” of this field of study.
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Akbar, M. J. The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between
Islam and Christianity. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Davis, Joyce. Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance, and Despair in the
Middle East. New York: Palgrave, 2003.
Firestone, Reuven. Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1999.
Huband, Mark. Warriors of the Prophet: The Struggle for Islam.
Boulder: Westview, 1998.
Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking
of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Johnson, James Turner. The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic
Traditions. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press,
1997.
Johnson, James Turner, and John Kelsay. Cross, Crescent, and Sword:
The Justification and Limitation of War in Western and Islamic
Tradition. New York: Greenwood, 1990.
Lawrence, Bruce B. Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Lewis, Bernard. What Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle
Eastern Response. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Mozaffari, Mehdi. Fatwa: Violence & Discourtesy. Aarhus, Denmark:
Aarhus University Press, 1998.
Partner, Peter. God of Battles: Holy Wars of Christianity and Islam.
London: HarperCollins, 1997.
RELIGION AND VIOLENCE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY / BELLINGER
Responses to 9/11
If you are imagining that there has been a flood of books written about
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, you are right. This is a very selective listing of some of them. The current Archbishop of Canterbury,
Rowan Williams, who happened to have been in Manhattan on the
day of the attacks, has offered thoughtful reflections on how the West
ought to work through its emotional and political/ethical response to
terrorism. Cooper draws on the philosophy of Eric Voegelin. Esposito,
Lewis, Stern, and Lincoln are experts on Islam with important insights
to offer from their years of study.
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Benjamin, Daniel, and Steven Simon. The Age of Sacred Terror. New
York: Random House, 2002.
Berquist, Jon L., ed. Strike Terror No More: Theology, Ethics, and the
New War. St. Louis: Chalice, 2002.
Cooper, Barry. New Political Religions, or an Analysis of Modern
Terrorism. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004.
Esposito, John L. Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror.
New York: Modern Library, 2003.
Lincoln, Bruce. Holy Terrors: Thinking About Religion After
September 11. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Pyszczynski, Thomas A., Sheldon Solomon, and Jeff Greenberg. In
the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror. Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association, 2003.
Scruton, Roger. The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist
Threat. Wilmington: ISI, 2002.
Simmons, Martha J., and Frank A. Thomas, eds. 9.11.01: African
American Leaders Respond to an American Tragedy. Valley Forge:
Judson, 2001.
Stern, Jessica. Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants
Kill. New York: Ecco, 2003.
Williams, Rowan. Writing in the Dust: After September 11. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
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THE HEDGEHOG REVIEW / SPRING 04
Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution
Out of the immense literature on peacemaking in general, I have selected some of the works that specifically focus on religious aspects of the
problem. Lederach and Stassen are leaders in the area of conflict resolution strategizing. The Easwaran book tells the fascinating story of
Badshah Khan, a Muslim associate of Gandhi. The Chappell, Goleman,
and Nhât Hanh books present Buddhist perspectives on peace. Gopin
is a Jewish scholar deeply involved in issues of inter-religious dialogue
between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Middle East. Volf, Wink,
and Yoder are significant contributors to theological discussions of
peacemaking in Christian circles. I haven’t listed any of the immense
literature by and about Gandhi simply because that could be a book
unto itself.
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Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. Nonviolence and Peace Building in Islam:
Theory and Practice. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003.
Burns, J. Patout, ed. War and Its Discontents: Pacifism and Quietism
in the Abrahamic Traditions. Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press, 1996.
Carmody, Denise Lardner, and John Carmody. Peace and Justice in
the Scriptures of the World Religions: Reflections on Non-Christian
Scriptures. New York: Paulist, 1988.
Chappell, David W., ed. Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of
Peace. Somerville: Wisdom, 1999.
Coffey, Joseph I., and Charles T. Mathewes, eds. Religion, Law, and
the Role of Force: A Study of Their Influence on Conflict and on Conflict
Resolution. Ardsley: Transnational, 2002.
Easwaran, Eknath. Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, A
Man to Match His Mountains. Tomales: Nilgiri, 1999.
Frost, J. William. A History of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist,
and Muslim Perspectives on War and Peace. 2 vols. Lewiston: Mellen,
2004.
Goleman, Daniel. Destructive Emotions: How Can We Overcome
Them?: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama. New York:
Bantam, 2003.
RELIGION AND VIOLENCE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY / BELLINGER
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Gopin, Marc. Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World
Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2000.
——. Holy War, Holy Peace: How Religion Can Bring Peace to the
Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Gordon, Hayim, and Leonard Grob, eds. Education for Peace:
Testimonies from World Religions. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1987.
Johnson, James Turner. The Quest for Peace: Three Moral Traditions
in Western Cultural History. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1987.
Lederach, John Paul. The Journey Toward Reconciliation. Scottdale:
Herald, 1999.
Nardin, Terry, ed. The Ethics of War and Peace: Religious and Secular
Perspectives. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.
Nhât Hanh, Thích. Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself,
Your Family, Your Community, and the World. New York: Free, 2003.
Rouner, Leroy S., ed. Religion, Politics, and Peace. Notre Dame:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1999.
Sacks, Jonathan. The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of
Civilizations. New York: Continuum, 2002.
Said, Abdul Aziz, Nathan C. Funk, and Ayse S. Kadayifci, eds. Peace
and Conflict Resolution in Islam: Precept and Practice. Lanham:
University Press of America, 2001.
Stassen, Glen, ed. Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War.
Cleveland: Pilgrim, 1998.
Thompson, Henry O. World Religions in War and Peace. Jefferson:
McFarland, 1988.
Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of
Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
Wink, Walter. The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium.
New York: Doubleday, 1998.
Yoder, John Howard. Nevertheless: Varieties of Religious Pacifism.
Scottdale: Herald, 1992.
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