Overview

Part primer on Rene Girard's groundbreaking mimetic theory, part Bible study (through the lens of mimetic theory), and part dialogue with early and contemporary Quakers, Turning Toward the Victim demonstrates how these three perspectives can mutually inform one another in unexpected ways. Contemporary liberal Friends (Quakers) have largely drifted away from the Bible, due in part to its seeming sanction of divine violence. Girard, by contrast, sees the themes of sacred violence and its overcoming as central to the biblical witness, and so can provide the means by which Quakers and others might reengage with the Scriptures. Girard's claim that the biblical God has ""nothing to do with violence"" will resonate with Friends traditional commitment to nonviolence and peacemaking. Girard's insights into ""the scapegoat mechanism"" can also help us to understand the witness of early Friends, who functioned as ""the scapegoat caste"" in seventeenth century England. Using the traditional Quaker framework of ""conviction, convincement, and conversion,"" Thomas Gates explores the relevance of these concepts for Friends and other Christians today.

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Reviews

""While reading Tom Gates's Turning Toward the Victim, I felt the same way I often feel when reading an excellent book; I wished it had been available years before. Still, it was well worth the wait. Turning Toward the Victim is a compelling blend of history, scholarship, and prophetic witness. Though Tom writes as a Quaker, this book speaks across faiths and cultures. I am confident it will enrich your life, as it has mine."" --Philip Gulley, author of If the Church Were Christian ""Thomas Gates has managed to create a most engaging Quaker be-friending of Girard's insight. On the way he also offers a wonderfully clear and concise introduction to how that insight is being received within wider Christianity. Highly recommended."" --James Alison, author of Jesus the Forgiving Victim: Listening for the Unheard Voice ""In Turning to the Victim, Thomas Gates presents a compelling critique of violence, combining Rene Girard's scapegoat theory, fresh approaches to Scripture, and new perspectives on the early Quaker message and movement. His findings will challenge Friends and others today toward a deeper, more integrative understanding of violence--and its alternatives. To turn to the victim is to turn away from so much of the violence that surrounds and often still mystifies us today."" --Douglas Gwyn, author of A Sustainable Life: Quaker Faith and Practice in the Renewal of Creation ""Through René Girard's work, we gain an invaluable framework for Scripture; through Thomas Jay Gates, we gain an invaluable framework for both Girard and his mimetic theory. I'm a better Girardian and theologian for reading Turning Toward the Victim, and I can't recommend this book enough."" --Jonathan J. Foster, author of Theology of Consent: Mimetic Theory in an Open and Relational Universe

Author Information

Thomas Jay Gates, MD, is a retired family physician and medical educator, and a life-long Quaker who carries a concern for ""the ministry of the written word."" He is the author of five Pendle Hill Pamphlets, as well as Opening the Scriptures: Bible Lessons from the 2005 Annual Gathering of Friends (Quaker Press, 2006). Tom was the 2024 Kenneth Carroll Resident Scholar for Biblical and Quaker Studies at Pendle Hill, in Wallingford, PA. He lives with his wife Elizabeth in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and is a member of Lancaster Friends Meeting.

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