Helen Paynter is a Baptist minister and tutor in biblical studies at Bristol Baptist College. She is the founding director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (csbvbristol.org.uk). Her research interests lie in the overlap between the Bible and ancient or contemporary violence, and her most recent book is Blessed are the Peacemakers: A biblical theology of human violence (Zondervan Academic, 2023).
Desire, Violence and the Human Heart
During this webinar, I’ll be covering some of the themes I explore in my new book. In the first half of the evening, we will consider what the Bible teaches about the causes and origins of human violence. Along with this, we will make critical use of contemporary theorists of violence who can help us understand these themes in our modern world. We might discover that the seeds of violence are rather closer to home than we often imagine!
In the second half of the evening, we will consider how we might begin to address some of those violent seeds, both in our own hearts and in our culture.
It is my hope and prayer that we will leave with a deeper understanding of the forces of violence which shape our world and with some practical steps to begin to make a difference in our own spheres of influence.