Three Reviews: Ethics and Old Testament Violence

1 Comment / Book Reviews, Ethics, Reading Scripture / By

Numerous books have been published in recent years addressing challenging passages in the Old Testament. Many of them have focused on the Israelite conquest of Canaan, while others discuss a palette of “problems.” In this post I review three books that engage these challenges. I especially consider how they handle violence in the Old Testament.

Book 1: Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God (BakerBooks, 2014)

Book link to Did God Really Command Genocide

Did God really command the Israelites to slaughter the Canaanites? That is the moral dilemma that Copan and Flannagan take up. These scholars offer an apologetic response to philosophers and New Atheists who dismiss the Old Testament as barbaric. But, does their apologetic meet the task? Yes and No.

The book has four parts:

  • Genocide Texts and the Problem of Scriptural Authority

  • Occasional Commands, Hyperbolic Texts, and Genocidal Massacres

  • Is It Always Wrong to Kill Innocent People?

  • Religion and Violence

The book is largely a summary of the apologetic arguments espoused by William Lane Craig and Nicholas Wolterstorff with atheist philosopher, Wes Morriston, serving as one of their primary opponents. In this regard, the book serves as “Cliff Notes” to broader conversations happening on the topic. The authors begin by asserting that the words of Scripture are not the result of mechanical dictation. In other words, they acknowledge the human side of Scripture; God does not always affirm what the human author affirms, such as psalms of vengeance (28). That is, we must consider whether or not what the human author wrote is what God wants to say to us today through Scripture. God might want to appropriate the words of Scripture for an intention different than the original authors. The original meaning might have been important only for the Israelites’ time and place, and now we have to draw a general principle from the text. At the same time, Copan and Flannagan reject the dichotomy between the Old and New Testament God (war God vs. loving God), as well as Seibert’s distinction between the “textual” God (how the Israelites imagined God to be) and the “real” God (who is not always like the Israelites portrayed God to be; 39-44).

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Review: Divine Scripture in Human Understanding by Joe Gordon

Book Reviews, Reading Scripture / By

One of my research interests, and one I am currently writing on for publication for Eerdmans, is the origins, nature, and useful interpretation of Scripture. Well, I guess that is more like three research interests! But I like to contemplate them together, as they intertwine. Origins helps us to know what the Bible is and what it is helps us to know how to meaningfully use it. So, whenever possible I pick up books on the subject. When I found out a colleague, Dr. Joseph Gordon, associate professor of theology at Johnson University, was coming out with his book Divine Scripture in Human Understanding: A Systematic Theology of the Christian Bible, I knew I had to check it out. I have long appreciated and respected Joe’s theological insights since we were classmates at Marquette University.

Gordon is driven by questions related to the nature and purpose of the Bible. What is it? What role ought it to play in the Christian life? How do we best interpret it? He contemplates these in full awareness of thorny questions around the human fingerprints in Scripture–its difficult passages (e.g. depictions of slavery or violence) and the process of its textual production that has led to a variety of manuscript traditions and not a singular “original” text. What does it mean that the Bible is inspired if human involvement is so evident?

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The Jesus Way: Practicing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises by Karen Keen

Book Reviews, Reconstructing Faith / By

I first became captivated by the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises while going through my spiritual direction training program about ten years ago. I was drawn to this 500 year old contemplation on the life of Jesus that invites us to discern God’s path for our lives. When doctoral studies took me to Marquette University, a Jesuit institution, it gave me the unique opportunity to receive further training in the practice.

At the time, I was serving as an affiliate spiritual director at the campus Faber Center for Ignatian Spirituality amid my studies. My supervisor there, Michael Dante, graciously offered me a 10-months private apprenticeship, and I was able to receive additional training from Howard Gray, SJ, a Jesuit teacher renowned for his insights into the Spiritual Exercises.

Book link to The Jesus Way: Practicing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises

I longed to introduce others to this rich Christian spiritual heritage. So, in 2015, I began leading people through the Exercises, using a 36 weeks adaptation that I created called The Jesus Way: Practicing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Originally, I gave retreatants a binder with the material, but I always intended to publish it in book form once I refined it. I am excited to say that day has finally arrived! As I prepared to lead another small group through the Exercises this fall, I was determined to have this resource available to them.

The retreat follows Ignatius’s intent closely, while still being accessible. The Spiritual Exercises deepen your prayer life, give you new ways of reading Scripture, teach you how to do spiritual discernment, and cultivate an inner freedom. This is an opportunity to be shaped by the story of “God with us.” The world offers many narratives, but not all lead to life. What fills your imagination is what you become. In the Spiritual Exercises you allow Jesus to saturate your reality and invite you into a life of purpose.

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All books selected for discussion on this site are thoughtfully critiqued by the reviewer and reviews include affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Review: Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch by John Webster

Book Reviews, Reading Scripture / By

John Webster provides a helpful contribution to the discussion on the inspiration of the Bible in Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. He provides a much needed look at the role of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) that is missing in some of the discussions on the nature of Scripture. Webster roots his views of Scripture in a doctrine of God as saving presence (39). He emphasizes the importance of understanding the Bible as Holy Scripture, and not merely “scripture” (2). The former is a “human text which God sanctifies for the service of his communicative presence” and the latter is “human writing generated and used by religious communities.” He further defines Holy Scripture as “the saving economy of God’s loving and regenerative self-communication.”

Webster believes that in some circles the Holy aspect of Scripture has been discarded (1). He seeks to provide a dogmatic explication of what we mean when we say “Holy” Scripture. In religious studies programs analysis of sacred texts tends to focus on the human agents in the production of the text. But, “Holy” Scripture is indicative of the reality that something divine is occurring beyond merely human activity. Webster does not deny the human elements in Scripture, but rejects reducing Scripture to mere scripture. A doctrine of Scripture must be firmly rooted in the “self-representation of the triune God, of which the text is a servant” (6). When Scripture is divorced from divine activity the text is treated as a matter of independent investigation.

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Review: Inspiration and Incarnation by Peter Enns

2 Comments / Book Reviews, Reading Scripture / By

In Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. Peter Enns proposes an incarnational model for understanding how the Bible was inspired by God. Just as Jesus is 100% divine and 100% human, so also the Bible is both divine and human (17). Jesus was “God with us.” Even though he is divine, he took on human flesh and all the cultural trappings of this world. In the same way, the Bible is sacred yet clearly reflects the cultures that produced it. Enns recognizes that the incarnational analogy is not an exact fit. Thus, he suggests “incarnational parallel” might be a better way to phrase it (18, 168). The point is understanding Scripture as both divine and human is a crucial tension to maintain. The Bible is a product of a collaboration between God and human beings.

There are tendencies toward two extremes: those who see the obvious cultural influences in the Bible and therefore only consider it a human book, and those who are uncomfortable acknowledging the earthiness of Scripture and overemphasize its divine qualities (18). The latter fall into Docetic heresy which claimed Christ was fully divine, but only appeared to be (but was not really) human. Enns states that the human dimension of Scripture is what makes it what it is. Recognizing that the Bible is both human and divine affects what we should expect from it and what we should do with it.

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Review: Sacred Word Broken Word by Kenton Sparks

2 Comments / Book Reviews, Reading Scripture / By

In his book, Sacred Word Broken Word, Kenton Sparks proposes an “adoptionist” model for understanding how God speaks to us in Scripture. He writes, “Scripture is God’s Word because God providentially adopted ancient human beings, like Paul, as his spokespersons. In doing so God ‘set apart’ or ‘sanctified’ their words for use in his redemptive activity” (29, 156). Interestingly, he chooses a 2nd century heresy as an analogy. Adoptionism denies that Jesus was eternally pre-existent with the Father, but rather he became divine when “adopted” by God at his baptism and the Spirit of God descended upon him (e.g. Luke 3:22). Sparks says “there is a theological purpose behind God’s choice to use human beings as we are, so that the glory for redemption will truly be his” (156). But, he does not expand on this theory of theological purpose.

Sparks believes the biblical authors were sinful human beings who erred like any other human beings (29, 32, 46-47, 59). They sometimes “thought and wrote ungodly things.” He also believes the Bible not only has errors (6, 29), but also contains within its pages evil that is in need of redemption (46-47). He compares Scripture with creation—good, but fallen. Some texts should be prioritized for reading above “those that are more partial or distorted by the human condition” (49).

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