The Destruction of the Canaanites: God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation Paperback William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Roll over image to zoom in Click on image to zoom
The Destruction of the Canaanites: God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation Paperback William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

The Destruction of the Canaanites: God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Price:
$14.99

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:

  1. Reevaluating God--concluding that God is not good.
  2. Reevaluating the Old Testament--concluding that the Old Testament is not actually a faithful record of God's actions.
  3. Reevaluating the interpretation of the Old Testament--concluding that the Old Testament does not in fact describe anything like genocide.
  4. 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.



Author: Charlie Trimm
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Published: 03/15/2022
Pages: 136
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.50d
ISBN13: 9780802879622
ISBN10: 0802879624
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Biblical Criticism & Interpretation | Old Testament
- Religion | Biblical Studies | Exegesis & Hermeneutics
- Religion | Christian Theology | Apologetics

About the Author

Charlie Trimm is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. He is the coauthor, with Brittany Kim, of Understanding Old Testament Theology and the author of Fighting for the King and the Gods: A Survey of Warfare in the Ancient Near East and "YHWH Fights for Them!" The Divine Warrior in the Exodus Narrative.