Download or read book Genocide the Bible and Biblical Scholarship written by Shawn Kelley and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-11-21 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Show Them No Mercy written by C. S. Cowles and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Joshua Delusion written by Douglas S. Earl and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Great Evil written by Chris Mato Nunpa and published by See Sharp Press. This book was released on 2020-10-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Did God Really Command Genocide written by Paul Copan and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2014-11-11 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Destruction of the Canaanites written by Charlie Trimm and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book In Defense of the Bible written by Steven B. Cowan and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2013 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Holy War in the Bible written by Heath A. Thomas and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2013-04-05 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies written by J. W. Rogerson and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-03-17 with total page 915 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbooks series is a major new initiative in academic publishing. Each volume offers an authoritative and up-to-date survey of original research in a particular subject area. Specially commissioned essays from leading figures in the discipline give critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates. Biblical studies is a highly technical and diverse field. Study of the Bible demands expertise in fields ranging from Archaeology, Egyptology, Assyriology, and Linguistics through textual, historical, and sociological studies to Literary Theory, Feminism, Philosophy, and Theology, to name only some. This authoritative and compelling guide to the discipline will, therefore, be an invaluable reference work for all students and academics who want to explore more fully essential topics in Biblical studies.
Download or read book Is God a Moral Monster written by Paul Copan and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Religion and Violence written by David A. Bernat and published by Sheffield Phoenix Press Limited. This book was released on 2007 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Confronting Genocide written by Steven L. Jacobs and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON THE INTERSECTION OF RELIGION AND GENOCIDE.
Download or read book When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People written by Gili Kugler and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-06-04 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to narratives in the Bible the threats of the people’s end come from various sources, but the most significant threat comes, as learned from the Pentateuch, from God himself. What is the theological meaning of this tradition? In what circumstances did it evolve? How did it stand alongside other theological and socio-political concepts known to the ancient authors and their diverse audience?The book employs a diachronic method that explores the stages of the tradition’s formation and development, revealing the authors’ exegetical purposes and ploys, and tracing the historical realities of their time.The book proposes that the motif of the threat of destruction existed in various forms prior to the creation of the stories recorded in the final text of the Pentateuch. The inclusion of the motif within specific literary contexts attenuated the concept of destruction by presenting it as a phenomenon of specific moments in the past. Nevertheless, the threat was resurrected repeatedly by various authors, for use as a precedent or a justification for present affliction.
Download or read book Handbook of Genocide Studies written by David J. Simon and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2023-02-14 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an intellectual biography of the challenging concept of genocide, this topical Handbook takes an interdisciplinary approach to shed new light on the events, processes, and legacies in the field.
Download or read book The Bible Tells Me So written by Peter Enns and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-09-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The controversial Bible scholar and author of The Evolution of Adam recounts his transformative spiritual journey in which he discovered a new, more honest way to love and appreciate God’s Word. Trained as an evangelical Bible scholar, Peter Enns loved the Scriptures and shared his devotion, teaching at Westminster Theological Seminary. But the further he studied the Bible, the more he found himself confronted by questions that could neither be answered within the rigid framework of his religious instruction or accepted among the conservative evangelical community. Rejecting the increasingly complicated intellectual games used by conservative Christians to “protect” the Bible, Enns was conflicted. Is this what God really requires? How could God’s plan for divine inspiration mean ignoring what is really written in the Bible? These questions eventually cost Enns his job—but they also opened a new spiritual path for him to follow. The Bible Tells Me So chronicles Enns’s spiritual odyssey, how he came to see beyond restrictive doctrine and learned to embrace God’s Word as it is actually written. As he explores questions progressive evangelical readers of Scripture commonly face yet fear voicing, Enns reveals that they are the very questions that God wants us to consider—the essence of our spiritual study.
Download or read book Decolonizing God written by Mark G. Brett and published by Sheffield Phoenix Press Limited. This book was released on 2008 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries, the Bible has been used by colonial powers to undergird their imperial designs--an ironic situation when so much of the Bible was conceived by way of resistance to empires. In this thoughtful book, Mark Brett draws upon his experience of the colonial heritage in Australia to identify a remarkable range of areas where God needs to be decolonized--freed from the bonds of the colonial. Writing in a context where landmark legal cases have ruled that Indigenous (Aboriginal) rights have been 'washed away by the tide of history', Brett re-examines land rights in the biblical traditions, Deuteronomy's genocidal imagination, and other key topics in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament where the effects of colonialism can be traced. Drawing out the implications for theology and ethics, this book provides a comprehensive new proposal for addressing the legacies of colonialism. A ground-breaking work of scholarship that makes a major intervention into post-colonial studies. This book confirms the relevance of post-colonial theory to biblical scholarship and provides an exciting and original approach to biblical interpretation. Bill Ashcroft, University of Hong Kong and University of New South Wales; author of The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures (2002). Acutely sensitive to the historical as well as theological complexity of the Bible, Mark Brett's Decolonizing God brilliantly demonstrates the value of a critical assessment of the Bible as a tool for rethinking contemporary possibilities. The contribution of this book to ethical and theological discourse in a global perspective and to a politics of hope is immense. Tamara C. Eskenazi, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles; editor of The Torah: A Women's Commentary (2007).
Download or read book Bloody Brutal and Barbaric written by William J. Webb and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2019-12-03 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians cannot ignore the intersection of religion and violence. In our own Scriptures, war texts that appear to approve of genocidal killings and war rape raise hard questions about biblical ethics and the character of God. Have we missed something in our traditional readings? Identifying a spectrum of views on biblical war texts, Webb and Oeste pursue a middle path using a hermeneutic of incremental, redemptive-movement ethics.