The Destruction of the Canaanites: God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-02-18 06:51:45
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Charlie Trimm
- ISBN：0802879624
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Summary
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。
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。
Reviews
Zach Waldis
，
Trimm comes at the question of violence in the OT from a conservative perspective， and sometimes his analysis （the "social" cost of rejecting genocide as ethical？ losing your job or place in a religious community？ are you kidding me？） suffers as a result of that position。 However， he does lay out a number of strategies for understanding the conquest narratives， and this short and accessible book is a great start for those looking to dive into this perplexing question。 Trimm comes at the question of violence in the OT from a conservative perspective， and sometimes his analysis （the "social" cost of rejecting genocide as ethical？ losing your job or place in a religious community？ are you kidding me？） suffers as a result of that position。 However， he does lay out a number of strategies for understanding the conquest narratives， and this short and accessible book is a great start for those looking to dive into this perplexing question。 。。。more
Jamin Bradley
，
If you’re looking for a short book that combines and addresses some of the best scholarly views out there on the troubling violent passages of the Old Testament， this is a good resource。 While it doesn’t have a lot of new views to offer （nor is that the intent of this book） the author is deeply aware of all the primary facts and conversations that should be addressed when contemplating Old Testament violence。 In the end， it almost feels like pulling certain elements from all of the views into on If you’re looking for a short book that combines and addresses some of the best scholarly views out there on the troubling violent passages of the Old Testament， this is a good resource。 While it doesn’t have a lot of new views to offer （nor is that the intent of this book） the author is deeply aware of all the primary facts and conversations that should be addressed when contemplating Old Testament violence。 In the end， it almost feels like pulling certain elements from all of the views into one new view may be the best option， despite some of their conflicting points。 But perhaps the most poignant part of this book is its very short conclusion， which beautifully calls us to faithfulness to God despite our theological confusion on these passages。 。。。more
Carmen Imes
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