The Gospel of Jesus Christ and Violence

Abstract

That Nat Turner’s conception of Jesus as Savior and Christ underlay his revolutionary commitment to violence and liberation meant that he viewed Jesus and the gospel of Jesus as sympathetic and supportive of his violent rebellion. Turner’s revelation of Christ began with scripture and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The first scripture Turner appealed to in his confession was: “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you” (Mt 6:33). Matthew’s Jesus spoke these words to his disciples during the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus exhorted them to not worry about their lives and basic necessities because of God’s benevolence and providence. Turner associated Jesus with the Kingdom of Heaven where Turner was instructed to search and seek for his salvation, freedom, life, and personal needs. James A. Noel identifies Turner’s biblical hermeneutic as it is revealed in his confession. ¹ Noel asserts that Turner’s hermeneutic is neither premodern nor postmodern, neither literal nor historical-critical. ² Rather, Turner’s hermeneutic was experiential and allegorical. Scripture for Turner interpreted itself through life and the Spirit. Noel argues: “For Turner biblical passages were enigmatic signs whose interpretation required additional signs—e.g., the hieroglyphs inscribed in blood on leaves in the woods—which both interpreted the ones preceding them and required yet additional signs in a progression which reached its ultimate culmination in his embodiment of these sign’s eschatology.”