I recently read an article that stated the Bible is more violent than the Quran. The engineer who developed the analysis program said:
The project was inspired by the ongoing public debate around whether or not terrorism connected with Islamic fundamentalism reflects something inherently and distinctly violent about Islam compared to other major religions. ~ Tom Anderson
So in two minutes his program looked at eight emotions – Joy, Anticipation, Anger, Disgust, Sadness, Surprise, Fear/Anxiety and Trust – and concluded that the Bible scored higher for anger and lower for trust than the Quran.
The New Testament references killing and destruction 2.8% of the time while the Quran references killing and destruction 2.1%. I’ll be honest, the article doesn’t talk about the ins and outs of the program, but it’s a computer program and not a human. It’s geared towards finding quantitative data rather than qualitative data. what I mean is this:
The New Testament has some inherently violent elements. After all, it talks about the intentional self-sacrifice of Christ, who was plotted against, crucified/murdered, dead, and buried. Yes, those are some violent parts of the New Testament. But the overwhelming theme BEHIND the keyword violence is love – God’s love and self-sacrifice. I would rather have this 2.8% kind of violence than a 2.1% of Quranic violence that talks about doing harm to infidels (again, I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of the program nor do I know what material in the Quran was targeted).
My point is simply that, though the New Testament does contain 
keyword elements of violence, it is not done in a way that directs others towards violence. In fact, an honest reading of the New Testament directs people AWAY from violence and towards peace. Contrary to ultra-conservative leanings, Jesus was NOT a gun-toting war-monger.
On the flip-side, however, we need to be honest and realize that, just as violent themes in our sacred text do not necessarily lead to violent Christians, violent themes in the Quran do not necessarily lead to violent Muslims.
In the end, a simple computer search of emotional language in a sacred text is a pretty shoddy way of evaluating that text – ANY sacred text. It eliminates any nuance. It looks at the text through a single interpretive lens – the lens of the software engineer.
And that’s just shoddy hermeneutics.
Chris Linzey 
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
It’s my understanding that the Quran clearly states that any nonbelievers of Islam are to be killed. That’s extremely violent in my book. Yes, I know not all Muslims are violent; many believe in the first part that preaches love. If you’re going to only believe in the parts you want, is there any point to being Muslim?
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Very provocative piece, Pastor Chris. I agree with your general stance, and I agree with your comment about the NT steering people away from violence. Jesus told his disciples to put down the sword. Other writers of the NT did the same. But I wonder about your statement, “violent themes in the Quran do not necessarily lead to violent Muslims.” If you mean there are many Muslim who are not violent, then I agree with you. But the Quran itself does indeed foster violence as a way of life — as a matter of religious fervor and loyalty to Allah. And many who become devoted to Allah, to the Prophet, and to the Quran believe that it does necessarily lead them to violence.
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