I have been reading Barton Priebe's book The Problem of Christianity. Another hot button issue is the problem of violence in the Bible. If God is loving and good, why is God killing people or commanding the killing of so many people in the Bible? Priebe wants to deal with the genocide of the Canaanites as a test example but I want to dig even deeper as we explore this issue.
Several of the main points Priebe raises are we need to be careful of proof-texting a few hard texts without understanding the larger picture or bigger backdrop of the biblical story. The Canaanite idolatry and perversity was so great, God waited 700 years patiently before God's judgment or punishment of these people. Israel itself was a rag tag oppressed minority group that had gone through its own long history of judgment and punishment. Priebe says the warfare language is full of hyperbole and rhetoric about killing them all and it is true that Israel did not kill all the Canaanites.
The main issue of the Canaanite "holy war" framework was "driving out" the people rather than "killing off." The truth is there was a lot of both in seasons of war. Priebe also prophetically speaks about our own nation's idolatry, child sacrifice through abortion, and the illusion that we think we are so much better than these ancient wicked people. Lastly, Priebe shares the sacrificial imagery of Christ taking God's wrath and punishment in our place as the final apologetic for evil and dealing with what's wrong with the world.
What Priebe has done is given a very good summary of the various ways Christian scholars and preachers have tried to answer the problem of evil in the Bible. Although I think Priebe should be commended for giving a very concise response, there are some cultural assumptions and modern inherited apologetics which I think are potentially destructive or counter-productive in opening up new problems for the person one is trying to give a reasoned response to questions concerning the Bible.
First of all, Christians have to live out the peaceable kingdom rather than continue in the inconsistencies that saying they are "pro-life" in regards to abortions but may be pro-death in almost every other area of life when it comes to violence of the state. Are Christians willing to live their counter-cultural kingdom values out even in the face of persecution or punishment by the state? Unless Christians untangle their dual allegiances to the kingdom of America and the kingdom of God, then confusion will continue to abound.
Secondly, there are many images given for atonement in the Bible and focusing exclusively almost on legal models like penal substitution raises as many problems for some people as solving them. Certainly there is a powerful sacrifice image of atonement in the Bible but this is often interpreted as a focus on a shame and punishment model or an angry God who wants to punish people and torture them forever in hell. No matter how graciously one tries to explain this emphasis, it will still raise more questions and create new stumbling blocks for people's understanding of God, goodness, evil, and suffering in the world.
Lastly, the redemptive sacrificial love of Christ in the newer testament should challenge some of the more literalistic readings and shadow side of revelation in the older testament. Jesus has a way of turning violence on its head as he resists violence by taking violence upon himself. The whole new ethics that Jesus taught of enemy love and laying one's life down in martyrdom does not go over very well with people who simply want life to be easier and better. Violence in the book of Revelation is actually self-destructive and Christians are commanded several times not to pick up the sword. Living out (incarnationally) Jesus words is the hard part since we live in such a violent world.
In the end, Christians need less fighting words, less rationalistic apologetics and more loving faith communities where the gospel of Jesus is modeled, even to those who disagree or are different or who are willfully opposing God's people. The early Christians were known for their love, not their arguments in sharing their faith with others. How far are we willing to go in showing others the love of Christ? Can we go farther than simply rationally defending the Christian faith with things like history and archaeology and find the spirit of Jesus within the written text?
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