Cursing, Swearing, and Cussing: The Imprecatory Psalms as Holy Profane Speech

In this workshop W. David O. Taylor and participants explored how the ostensibly obscene language of the curse psalms occupies the same basic territory as profane language. They discussed how the psalmist uses hyperbolic profane language in order to give faithful expression to profane experiences—experiences that violate human dignity and that desecrate God’s good purposes for the world.