Difficult Passages

A Pastoral Reference
All Entries
02 Old Testament

Texts of Terror

Josh 6–11; 1 Sam 15; Judg 19–21; Deut 20:16–18

The Difficulty

The Old Testament contains passages where God commands genocide (the ḥērem or “ban” in Joshua and 1 Samuel), approves of extreme violence, and where horrifying acts against women go uncommented upon (the Levite’s concubine in Judges 19). How can these texts be Scripture? How can they reveal a God Christians confess as loving?

Responses

Christological Hermeneutic

Tradition: Post-Conservative / Anabaptist Summary: Christ is the definitive revelation of God; earlier texts must be read through that lens.

Greg Boyd (The Crucifixion of the Warrior God), C.S. Cowles, and early church fathers like Origen and Gregory of Nyssa argue that Jesus is the fullest revelation of God’s character. Passages depicting God as commanding genocide represent a “literary cruciform” — God accommodating to and bearing the sin of a violent culture’s projections onto the divine. Wesley’s own hermeneutic of reading all Scripture through the lens of God’s love points in this direction.

Strengths

  • Christologically centered
  • Takes the problem seriously without dismissing the texts
  • Theologically creative

Weaknesses

  • Can seem to create a canon within the canon
  • May implicitly undermine Old Testament authority

Further Reading

  • Greg Boyd, The Crucifixion of the Warrior God (Fortress, 2017) — 2 vols.; or the shorter Cross Vision (Fortress, 2017)
  • C.S. Cowles et al., Show Them No Mercy: Four Views on God and Canaanite Genocide (Zondervan, 2003)
  • Eric Seibert, Disturbing Divine Behavior (Fortress, 2009)

Progressive Revelation

Tradition: Wesleyan / Mainline Summary: God revealed truth gradually, accommodating to humanity’s developing moral capacity.

This classic Wesleyan and mainline approach argues that God met Israel where they were, in an ANE context of brutal warfare, and progressively revealed a fuller picture of divine character over time. William J. Webb’s “redemptive-movement hermeneutic” formalizes this: the trajectory of Scripture matters more than any single freeze-frame.

Strengths

  • Historically grounded
  • Consistent with Wesleyan theology
  • Accessible to congregations

Weaknesses

  • Can sound like “humans got God wrong at first,” raising questions about inspiration and authority

Further Reading

  • William J. Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals (IVP Academic, 2001)
  • I. Howard Marshall, Beyond the Bible (Baker Academic, 2004)
  • Wesley, Sermon 68: “The General Spread of the Gospel”

Ancient Near Eastern Context

Tradition: Evangelical / Archaeological Summary: These texts use the rhetorical conventions of ancient warfare accounts and are not straightforward history.

Scholars like K. Lawson Younger and Paul Copan note that ancient conquest accounts used hyperbolic language — “utterly destroyed,” “left none breathing” — as stock military rhetoric. The same Joshua that says Israel “totally destroyed” the Canaanites later mentions Canaanites still living among them. The ḥērem was likely a theological statement about exclusive loyalty to YHWH, expressed in the literary conventions of the time.

Strengths

  • Historically well-supported
  • Doesn’t require dismissing the texts or their inspiration

Weaknesses

  • Even hyperbolic genocidal rhetoric attributed to God is disturbing
  • Some passages (1 Sam 15) are hard to read as mere rhetoric

Further Reading

  • K. Lawson Younger, Ancient Conquest Accounts (Sheffield, 1990)
  • Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? (Baker, 2011)
  • Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, Did God Really Command Genocide? (Baker, 2014)

Lament and Counter-Testimony

Tradition: Progressive / Feminist Summary: Scripture itself contains voices that protest violence and challenge dominant narratives.

Walter Brueggemann’s concept of “counter-testimony” argues that the Bible is an ongoing argument, not a monolith. Phyllis Trible’s Texts of Terror (1984) argues these horrifying stories are preserved precisely so we do not look away — they are protest literature, demanding justice for victims.

Strengths

  • Deeply honest
  • Empowers survivors and victims
  • Theologically sophisticated

Weaknesses

  • Can feel like the Bible is incoherent rather than polyphonic

Further Reading

  • Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror (Fortress, 1984)
  • Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament (Fortress, 1997), esp. Part 3
  • Wilda Gafney, Womanist Midrash (Westminster John Knox, 2017)

Divine Command / Sovereignty

Tradition: Reformed / Calvinist Summary: God’s moral authority transcends human moral reasoning; these commands were just because God issued them.

The Reformed tradition argues that God as Creator has the right to give and take life, and the Canaanite conquest was a unique act of divine judgment against extreme wickedness. The ḥērem was judicial, not arbitrary. Aquinas argued that God’s command cannot be unjust because God is the author of life.

Strengths

  • Takes divine sovereignty seriously
  • Historically the dominant Christian view

Weaknesses

  • Can sound like “might makes right”
  • Has been misused to justify violence

Further Reading

  • Daniel Gard, “The Case for Eschatological Continuity” in Show Them No Mercy (Zondervan, 2003)
  • John Frame, The Doctrine of God (P&R, 2002), ch. 12
  • Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 94, a. 5, ad 2