University named after cardinal John Henry Newman slaps a content warning on the BIBLE

A university named in honour of one of England’s greatest religious thinkers has issued a content warning for the Bible.

Newman University, Birmingham, tells students studying the holy book that the module ‘includes themes of sexual violence and abuse – in images and biblical texts’.

Certain passages are flagged up as especially problematic, including a chapter of 2 Samuel in the Old Testament, about David, the King of Israel who had previously slain Goliath.

The passage, marked ‘SV’ to denote sexual violence, tells of David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the role he played in the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite.

Certain passages are flagged up as especially problematic, including a chapter of 2 Samuel in the Old Testament, about David, the King of Israel who had previously slain Goliath

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester, said: ‘Works of history, literature, theology and the classics will sometimes include material about violence, including sexual violence.

‘University should be a time when students are exposed to different aspects of the human condition, albeit with the support of sympathetic teaching staff. 

‘My issue with warnings is how far do you go before you end up with some form of censorship?’

Those studying the foundations of Christian theology are also warned about a ‘description of domestic abuse’ in St Augustine’s autobiographical Confessions , written in about 400 AD.

Former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said: ‘I can remember when children, let alone undergraduates, felt able to read all parts of the Bible without fear of coming to any harm.’

A spokesman for the university, named after 19th Century cardinal John Henry Newman, said: ‘The guidance is not a commentary on the Bible, any sacred texts or any Christian thinkers.’