The Problem of War in the Old Testament
Posted
Saturday, October 13, 2007
by
Charlie Trimm
Categories:
Old Testament;
Military Issues
The best introduction to the literature on war in the Old Testament easily is The Problem of War in the Old Testament, by Craigie. Not only is it easy to read, it is short (just over 100 pages), and easily available on Amazon for only a few dollars. I would recomment this book to anyone interested in the topic. He provides a great introduction to the data about God as Divine Warrior and to the war texts of the OT, as well as previous research on the issue.
All that being said, I'm not sure that Craigie actually offers a viable solution to the problem. Here are some of the main points of the book.
1. War is always fundamentally evil.
2. God can be called the Divine Warrior because of accomodation to human language.
3. The OT contains so many stories about war because Israel was a state and states must fight.
4. For a final conclusion about war he proposes a position between just war and pacificsm. He finds arguments against both sides compelling and so does not go with either side. He says it is a matter of mystery, like divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
But I am not sure these are all that helpful. I agree that war often is evil. But is it fundamentally evil? The divine accomodation point is the weakest point for me. Sometimes this kind of language is used. But we don't see God being called the divine murderer. Or the divine rapist. Or the divine thief. As far as epithets, there doesn't seem this kind of process. His final conclusion is also unhelpful. I agree that the issue is difficult, but someone must say something about the topic, and appealing to mystery I think does not work in this situation. But perhaps my feelings on these things will change as I continue to study.
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