Genocide, the Bible and Biblical Scholarship

Genocide, the Bible and Biblical Scholarship PDF Author: Shawn Kelley
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004326693
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 77

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Book Description
A range of scholars have concluded that genocide itself is disturbingly rational and is grounded in more than atavistic, ancient prejudice. This significant conclusion challenges biblical scholars to re-examine the historical, hermeneutical and theological problems posed by biblical mass violence.

Genocide, the Bible and Biblical Scholarship

Genocide, the Bible and Biblical Scholarship PDF Author: Shawn Kelley
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004326693
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 77

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Book Description
A range of scholars have concluded that genocide itself is disturbingly rational and is grounded in more than atavistic, ancient prejudice. This significant conclusion challenges biblical scholars to re-examine the historical, hermeneutical and theological problems posed by biblical mass violence.

Show Them No Mercy

Show Them No Mercy PDF Author: C. S. Cowles
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310873762
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Did God condone genocide in the Old Testament? How do Christians harmonize the warrior God of Israel with the God of love incarnate in Jesus? Christians are often shocked to read that Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, commanded the total destruction--all men, women, and children--of the ethnic group known as the Canaanites. This seems to contradict Jesus' command in the New Testament to love your enemies and do good to all people. How can Yahweh be the same God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? What does genocide in the Bible have to do with the politics of the 21st century? Show Them No Mercy explores the Old Testament command of God to exterminate the Canaanite population and what that implies about continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The four views presented are: Strong Discontinuity – emphasizes the strong tension, regarding violence, between the two main texts of the Bible (C.S. Cowles) Moderate Discontinuity – provides a justification of God’s actions in the Old Testament with strong emphasis on exegesis (Eugene H. Merrill) Eschatological Continuity – a reading of the warfare narratives that ties them contextually to the book of Revelation and the Second Coming (Daniel L. Gard) Spiritual Continuity – incorporates the genocidal account into the full picture of the Old and New Testaments (Tremper Longman III) The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

The Joshua Delusion?

The Joshua Delusion? PDF Author: Douglas S. Earl
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1608998924
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
Many Christians wrestle with biblical passages in which God commands the slaughter of the Canaanites-men, women, and children. The issue of the morality of the biblical God is one of the major challenges for faith today. How can such texts be Holy Scripture? In this bold and innovative book Douglas Earl grasps the bull by the horns and guides readers to new and unexpected ways of looking at the book of Joshua. Drawing on insights from the early church and from modern scholarship, Earl argues that we have mistakenly read Joshua as a straightforward historical account and have ended up with a genocidal God. In contrast, Earl offers a theological interpretation in which the mass killing of Canaanites is a deliberate use of myth to make important theological points that are still valid today. Christopher J. H. Wright then offers a thoughtful response to Earl's provocative views. The book closes with Earl's reply to Wright and readers are encouraged to continue the debate.

The Great Evil

The Great Evil PDF Author: Chris Mato Nunpa
Publisher: See Sharp Press
ISBN: 1947071416
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
In this account of the history between Indigenous Peoples and the United States government, readers will learn the role of the bible played in the perpetration of genocide, massive land theft, and the religious suppression and criminalization of Native ceremonies and spirituality. Chris Mato Nunpa, a Dakota man, discusses this dishonorable and darker side of American history that is rarely studied, if at all. Out of a number of rationales used to justify the killing of Native Peoples and theft their lands, the author will discuss a biblical rationale, including the "chosen people" idea, the "promised land" notion, and the genocidal commands of the Old Testament God. Mato Nunpa's experience with fundamentalist and evangelical missionaries when he was growing up, his studies in Indigenous Nations history at the University of Minnesota, and his affiliation with the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) were three important factors in his motivation for writing this book.

Did God Really Command Genocide?

Did God Really Command Genocide? PDF Author: Paul Copan
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441221093
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. Even Christians have a hard time stomaching such a thought, and many avoid reading those difficult Old Testament passages that make us squeamish. Instead, we quickly jump to the enemy-loving, forgiving Jesus of the New Testament. And yet, the question doesn't go away. Did God really command genocide? Is the command to "utterly destroy" morally unjustifiable? Is it literal? Are the issues more complex and nuanced than we realize? In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages. Pastors, youth pastors, campus ministers, apologetics readers, and laypeople will find that this book both enlightens and equips them for serious discussion of troubling spiritual questions.

The Destruction of the Canaanites

The Destruction of the Canaanites PDF Author: Charlie Trimm
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467463264
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description
How can a good God command genocide? In this short, accessible offering, Charlie Trimm provides the resources needed to make sense of one of the Bible’s most difficult ethical problems—the Israelite destruction of the Canaanites as told in the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. Trimm begins with a survey of important background issues, including the nature of warfare in the ancient Near East, the concept of genocide (with perspectives gleaned from the field of genocide studies), and the history and identity of the Canaanite people. With this foundation in place, he then introduces four possible approaches to reconciling biblical violence: Reevaluating God—concluding that God is not good. Reevaluating the Old Testament—concluding that the Old Testament is not actually a faithful record of God’s actions. Reevaluating the interpretation of the Old Testament—concluding that the Old Testament does not in fact describe anything like genocide. Reevaluating the nature of violence in the Old Testament—concluding that the mass killing of the Canaanites in the Old Testament was permitted on that one occasion in history. The depth of material provided in concise form makes Trimm’s book ideal as a supplementary textbook or as a primer for any Christian perturbed by the stories of the destruction of the Canaanites in the Old Testament.

Is God a Moral Monster?

Is God a Moral Monster? PDF Author: Paul Copan
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441214542
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A recent string of popular-level books written by the New Atheists have leveled the accusation that the God of the Old Testament is nothing but a bully, a murderer, and a cosmic child abuser. This viewpoint is even making inroads into the church. How are Christians to respond to such accusations? And how are we to reconcile the seemingly disconnected natures of God portrayed in the two testaments? In this timely and readable book, apologist Paul Copan takes on some of the most vexing accusations of our time, including: God is arrogant and jealous God punishes people too harshly God is guilty of ethnic cleansing God oppresses women God endorses slavery Christianity causes violence and more Copan not only answers God's critics, he also shows how to read both the Old and New Testaments faithfully, seeing an unchanging, righteous, and loving God in both.

In Defense of the Bible

In Defense of the Bible PDF Author: Steven B. Cowan
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 1433676788
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
Noted scholars (William A. Dembski, Darrell L. Bock, etc.) address and respond to all major contemporary challenges (philosophical, historical, ethical, scientific, etc.) to the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible.

Holy War in the Bible

Holy War in the Bible PDF Author: Heath A. Thomas
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 083083995X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
The first of its kind, this collection offers a constructive response to the question of holy war and Christian morality from an interdisciplinary perspective. By combining biblical, ethical, philosophical and theological insights, the contributors offer a composite image of divine redemption that promises to take the discussion to another level.

Religion and Violence

Religion and Violence PDF Author: David A. Bernat
Publisher: Sheffield Phoenix Press Limited
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Violence that is motivated by--and justified by--religious ideas, authorities and texts is everywhere around us. Some say that the origins of religion and human violence are inherently connected, and that the explanation for religious violence lies at the heart of the religious imagination itself, others that human violence was there long before religion ever came about, being no more than an unfortunate by-product of human evolution. Reconsidering the question of religion and violence in the biblical heritage is a narrower--but nonetheless essential--endeavour, to which the present volume addresses itself. After an introductory chapter by the editors on religion, violence and the Bible, Ziony Zevit writes on violence in Israelite culture and in the Bible, Tamar Kamionkowski on violence in prophetic literature, Stephen Geller on the prophetic roots of religious violence, David Wright on homicide, talion and vengeance in the Covenant Code, Lawrence Wills on the death of the hero and the violent death of Jesus, Jennifer Wright Knust on sacrifice and sacred text in Justin, and David Frankfurter on vengeance fantasies in the New Testament. Stephen Marini offers concluding reflections on religion and violence under the rubric of conflict, subversion and sacrifice.