Conference 2024
2024 Conference: The Kingdom and the Power

Legacies of Empire in Scripture and Beyond. 3-5 June.
Attend at Woodlands Church, Bristol, or join online.

Lent Book Club
Lent Book Club

Access the recordings from Lent Book Club with authors Kaitlyn Shiess, Helen Paynter, Judith Rossall, Robert Chao Romero, Jeff M. Liou and respondents.

Online MA
Online MA

A new ‘Bible & Violence’ track accessible online
available to study part-time.

JSBV
Latest Volume of JSBV

With contributors including Kit Barker, Katherine Davis, Joel Barker, Anthony I. Lipscomb, Brandon M. Hurlbert and Gary Schnittjer.

Bible Doesn’t tell us
Group Study Guide – The Bible Doesn’t Tell Us So

A 6 part video-led course to equip the church to resist domestic abuse and coercive control.

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Welcome to the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV), from

Revd Dr Helen Paynter
Executive Director

Dr Ashley Hibbard
Director of Operations

The Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence is a research centre to study the overlap between the Bible and violence. Our work falls into two areas:

  • Interpretation of violence that the Bible contains
  • Studying the ways that the Bible is weaponised

We do this in two ways:

More about us

We are an ecumenical Christian organisation, embedded within Bristol Baptist College in the UK.

We believe that the Bible, God’s word to us, has a trajectory that points to God’s heart for peace and justice. We are convinced that the highest revelation of the character of God is found in Christ crucified, but that faithful, rigorous biblical interpretation can help us to reveal the upright and loving character of God in both Testaments.

We are therefore dedicated to rigorous, honest scholarship which does not shy away from asking hard questions of the text and interpreters. At core, we are committed to a confessional, faithful reading of scripture, but we are also committed to respectful dialogue with scholars from many faith backgrounds and ideological stances.

You can read more fully about our core convictions here.

If you are interested in learning more about our work, please get in touch with us by emailing the Executive Director at paynterh@bristol-baptist.ac.uk

About CSBV

CSBV is a research and resource hub to promote and facilitate scholarship in the area of Bible and Violence; and to produce accessible resources for the church. Find out more.

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