War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century

Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens, eds. War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2008. Pp. xii + 155. ISBN 1-157506-803-9. $34.50 cloth.

This book is a collection of eight essays from Denver Seminary's annual Biblical Studies conference in February 2004 and is the second entry in the BBR Supplement series. The conference was a collaboration between the Biblical Studies division of Denver Seminary and the Association for Christian Conferences, Teaching, and Service (ACCTS). The eight essays fall into two broad categories: those focusing on the Biblical Studies and those focusing on current issues. An interesting trend is that the first section tends towards pacifism (two explicitly), while the second half tends toward just-war theory (two explicitly).

The first essay, by Miroslav Wolf, counters four arguments which connect religion and violence (religion is inherently violent, monotheism is inherently violent, creation is an act of violence, and the intervention of a new creation entails violence). Richard Hess follows with an overview of warfare in the Hebrew Bible (Yahweh as warrior, Israel at war, and the relation of accounts of war to propaganda). Elmer Martins argues for shalom as a key biblical theological idea, showing evidence for his view and dealing with opposing arguments. M. Daniel Carroll R. writes about politics in the book of Isaiah. In his view, the leaders of Jerusalem are rebuked for following a “realistic” foreign policy (for example, enlisting Assyria's help and fortifying Jerusalem) rather than trusting God.

Daniel Heimbach begins the second half of the book by addressing whether regime change is a just cause for a just war. He argues that a crucial difference between a just war and a crusade is that a just war is only conducted when an actual attack has been committed against the country, while crusades can be launched against potential attacks. Heimbach backed the second Iraq war, but only because Iraq did not keep its end of the treaty from the First Gulf War, not because of a need for regime change. Tony Pfaff looks at noncombatant immunity and terrorism, contrasting how soldiers and police operate. Police work against the guilty to keep the peace which already exists, while soldiers work against the enemy to establish peace. Police always use the least force possible, while soldiers use the most force permissible. Terrorists can always be pursued as guilty (by police) and sometimes as an enemy (by soldiers) if the terrorists present a qualitatively strong enough threat. Ian G. C. Durie presents a definition of terrorism and two ways to combat it: holding governments to account and removing injustice and oppression which cause terrorism in the first place. Glen H. Stassen ends the book with a contribution on just peacemaking, which he intends to appeal to both just war advocates and pacifists. He lists ten peacemaking practices, such as supporting nonviolent direct action, fostering just economic situations, reducing offensive weapons, and taking independent initiative to reduce threats. He examines several case studies, including Russia in Chechnya, Turkey and the Kurds, and Israel and the Palestinians.

This book will be profitable to anyone studying war in the Bible or a contemporary Christian view of war, especially in the area of terrorism. While not systematic enough to serve as a textbook, each of the articles could be used as supplementary material in a variety of classes. One possible way to make the book better would have been to include responses to the essays from the other presenters. Since the essays present such a wide spectrum of views, it would be interesting to watch them interact with each other.

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