In this book, Brueggemann takes a brief (the text of the book is only 65 pages) look at an “exceedingly difficult text” (p. 11) in the Hebrew Bible: Joshua 11.

Introduction
In the introduction, Brueggemann discusses how the conviction that Scripture is revelatory (by communities of Jews and Christians) is necessarily appropriated differently because of differences of contexts and cultural settings. He believes that the current state of hermeneutics convinces many (including himself) that there is “no single, sure meaning for any text.” Thus, the “revelatory power of the text is discerned and given precisely through the action of interpretation which is always concrete, never universal, always contextualized, never ‘above the fray,’ always filtered through vested interest, never in disinterested purity” (p. ix). If this is true of the interpretation process, then, according to Brueggemann, it should also be true of the process that forms, shapes and presents the text. Brueggemann suggests that because of this, revelation is never “simply a final disclosure, but is an ongoing act of disclosing that will never let the disclosure be closed.”

Chapter 1: Revelation, Interpretation, and Method
Here Brueggemann discusses two methods of interpreting Scripture (from the late 20th century) and their relation to the revelatory character of Scripture: sociology and literary analysis. Brueggemann has tried to meld of these methods with the result of seeing Scripture as revelation that is not offering a flat, obvious conclusion, but “is an ongoing conversation that evokes, invites, and offers” (p. 7). He also reviews the terminology that he employed in his Theology of the Old Testament of testimony, dispute and advocacy. These juridical terms (and juridical metaphor) are used by Brueggemann to argue “texts are like witnesses that trace out the character of Yahweh against other characterizations of Yahweh, and thereby advocate a certain rendering of reality” (p. 9). This method, thus, recognizes that every text makes a claim that must be “recognized and weighed alongside other texts with other claims” (p. 10).

Chapter 2: Discerning Revelation from God
In light of the text of Joshua 11, Brueggemann asks these questions: “How are these texts of violence to be understood as revelation? What is it that is disclosed? And how shall this disclosure be received as serious, authoritative, and binding as the only rule for life and faith?” (p. 11). Most of this chapter summarizes the pericope and focuses attention on the only speech, which happens to be from Yahweh (v. 6), in this section of narrative. Brueggemann also notes that there is little here that is explicitly Deuteronomistic, with the exception of the formula of obedience in v. 10.

Chapter 3: Divine Permit
Brueggemann begins by defining monarchy (“political concentration of power and an economic monopoly of wealth”) and characterizing the Israelites of Joshua 11 as “antimonarchic.” He identifies the initiative of the king of Hazor as “preemptive, perhaps not unlike the Bush administration’s initiative against the alleged growing threat of the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ in Iraq” (p. 20). Thus, we have a description of competing social systems, with the Canaanite monarchy identified by the multiple occurrences of the phrase “horses and chariots.”

He then focuses on Yahweh’s statement in verse 6: “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will hand over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring the horses and burn the chariots with fire.” This speech, addressed only Joshua, includes assurance, promise, and command. Brueggemann notes that all the action of the events is done by the Israelites and that Yahweh takes no direct action here. The three mentions of the “horses and chariots” are centered around Yahweh’s mandate for their destruction. Brueggemann draws attention to the fact that it is only the weapons (i.e., horses and chariots) that are to be destroyed. Brueggemann sees this as permission of Yahweh for a liberating movement by the Israelite community against an oppressive, monarchic adversary. So, what does this reveal about Yahweh? “Yahweh is allied with the marginalized, oppressed peasants against the monopoly of the city-state” (p. 24). This means that the disclosure of Yahweh given in this passage is not intervention, but rather authorization.

Brueggemann sees this as an example of how revelation does not “come down to intrude in the community” but rather “arises up out of the hurt and the hope of [the] community, so that the dream is understood as certified from heaven” and thus, has credibility on earth (p. 26).

Chapter 4: Revelation in Ancient Context
Brueggemann addresses other instances of violence in the pericope (e.g., ḥerem) as “remembered revelation” (v. 12, 15, 20, 23) and not recorded direct speech of Yahweh. Therefore, this revelation refers to an older torah, and the community must interpret. After looking at Joshua 11 on three levels—theological, sociological, and methodological—he returns to the governing question, “Does God mandate violence?” His conclusion, based on this passage, is “yes” but one that is “tightly circumscribed” and “in the interest of ending domination.” For Brueggemann, this means that the community “was utterly persuaded that the God of the tradition is passionately against domination and is passionately for an egalitarian community” (p. 39).

Chapter 5: Revelation and Canonical Reading
This chapter asks “What would we know of the ways and character of God if we had only this particular rendering? Or what would be lost if we did not have this text?” (p. 43). Brueggemann continues to build his case for a hostility to the “horses and chariots” kind of monarchic domination, in large part, because of the system of oppression and subservience that its sustenance necessitates. Brueggemann concludes that “Israel knows it is not to emulate royal modes of power, knowledge, or language” and that alternatives are available that “permit freedom and justice” (p. 54).

Chapter 6: Yahweh versus Horse and Chariot
Brueggemann leaves the Joshua text and expands to other biblical texts to demonstrate that the “power of Yahweh will defeat oppressive kings who have horses and chariots.” He discusses “prophetic assertions” (e.g., Hos 1:7; Isa 31:1; Mic 5:10, Isa 43:16-17; Zech 4:6), “psalmic doxologies” (Ps 20:7; 33:16-17; 76:6-7; 147:10-11), and “sapiential discernment” (Prov 21:30-31) to distill theological statements which do not contain the “problems” of the Joshua text, but which share the same warrant for Yahweh’s sovereignty over horses and chariots.

Chapter 7: Despite Chariots of Iron
Brueggemann summarizes, again, the implications of his interpretation of Joshua 11 for the context of the Israelites, as a community assaulted by superior force. He sees the fundamental claim of Joshua 11 to be the disclosure that Yahweh is “a God who will invert the historical process and give land to the landless” (p. 62). Only a brief amount of text is devoted to our own cultural context, which Brueggemann describes as “more fully embedded in communities of horses and chariots, more fully committed to domination” (p. 64).

Thoughts
I appreciated the amount of time Brueggemann devoted to explaining his hermeneutic and methodology. While some of his phrases (taken out of context) are sure to ignite people who desire an absolute truth with only one interpretation in scripture, he nonetheless demonstrates that contrary to what you want to believe, the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of sincere, intelligent believers who read the same passages and come to different understandings. That says something, and needs to be accounted for. Brueggemann does that by demonstrating that both the formation and the interpretation of Scripture are necessarily contextualized.

This book doesn’t give answers for to how to deal with violence in our present-day biblically. But then, I don’t think that is its purpose. Rather, Brueggemann illustrates his hermeneutic by showing how to understand the texts of violence in the Hebrew Bible within their own context.

If you are intrigued, challenged, or dismayed by what you find in this short book, there are 8½ pages of a very worthwhile bibliography to direct you to further reading.

Many thanks to James Stock of Wipf and Stock Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book to review. I appreciate the opportunity.

I am very grateful to Allan Emery at Hendrickson Publishers for the opportunity to review Jo Ann Hackett’s soon-to-be released textbook, A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (with CD). He sent me PDF copies of the galleys so that I could write this review. I am also indebted to Prof. Hackett for her gracious answers to my emails that will add clarity to my review.

I am delighted that Hendrickson granted permission for me to post PDFs of both the Table of Contents and the author’s very helpful introduction, “How To Use This Book.” While I will quote some of this material below, I recommend reading both files because they give both the structure of the book and an explanation for how the book is intended to be used and the thought behind some of the novel pedagogy. The Table of Contents is very detailed and provides an excellent overview of the course plan.

PDF Files to view/download

• All Front Pages to A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew by Jo Ann Hackett
• Table of Contents only
• Author’s Introduction only

Basics about the Book
Since I read the book in PDF format, I cannot comment to the type of paper the publisher has chosen. I do hope that it is appropriate for taking notes and highlighting. The page size is 7” x 9¼” and the book is listed as a hardcover text. I always wish for more white-space (especially in the margins), but this is often a decision based on a balance of many factors (e.g., total page count, cost, etc.). The overall layout is well-organized and helped by clear tables, charts, and info-boxes. The English font seems a little larger than the Hebrew font and I worry about the readability of the Hebrew vowel points but I will have to reserve that judgment for when I see the hardcopy. The textbook is comprised of approximately 330 pages including 64 pages of (helpful) appendices and a final section with suggestions for “Further Reading.” Each paragraph is clearly numbered with chapter, section, and subsection numbers. This makes it easy to refer students to a specific piece of information.

The book is accompanied by a CD, which I only have a description of because it was still in production. The CD will include audio files (recorded by Prof. Hackett) of the vocabulary lists, the Hebrew-to-English exercises for al chapters, major paradigms, and a reading of Genesis 22:1-9. The text files include vocabulary lists, printable copies of the Hebrew-to-English exercises, all the appendices and paradigms, and a complete answer key for both the English-to-Hebrew and Hebrew-to-English exercises.

The format follows a traditional BH grammar-translation approach (with some interesting adjustments to presentation order and terminology), but I would expect that teachers looking to incorporate alternative methodologies could still use this textbook by supplementing it with various resources and classroom presentation material. The textbook is divided into 30 lessons. Hackett intends the book to be used for a one-semester “introduction to the basics” course. This would be an ambitious pace for many classes to cover in one semester. However, the initial chapters ease the student into the study of the language with appropriate simplicity and gradually become more challenging. When I first looked at the initial chapters, I thought that the amount of practice was not enough, but it is easy to forget how overwhelming those first few classes can be for a new student. A good teacher could easily supplement this work if needed.

Pedagogical Choices of the Author
I am often asked “What do you think is the best Biblical Hebrew textbook?” This is a loaded question! I have said in other places (here) that there is no one “best” textbook. Rather, teachers must consider their students, the type of class, the goals for the class, and their own teaching style and skills in selecting a textbook.

Prof. Hackett writes an introduction to her book that gives a window into her approach and pedagogical preferences. This is one of the most helpful ways to see if you would benefit from choosing this book for your own class (or as a reference for yourself). Please take the time to read her own words. I merely list a few of the items that are typical “litmus test” criteria when judging textbooks:

• verbs in the vocabularies are presented in 3ms suffix conjugation
• verbal paradigms are listed in the order first-person, second-person, then third-person (to correspond with how the pronominal suffixes are learned)
• strong verb (in all its stems and forms) is presented first, then the weak verbs
• verb terminology: “prefix conjugation” (instead of “imperfect”), “suffix conjugation” (instead of “perfect”), və-qatal, and her novel addition “consecutive preterite” (see quote below explaining)
• order of verb presentation: prefix conjugation, volitives, consecutive preterite, suffix conjugation, və-qatal forms, infinitives, participles
• Masoretic accent marks (טְאָמִים ) of the HB are used to discover syntax

Prof. Hackett describes her thoughts on the verbal system terminology:

I have also deliberately not used the rubrics “perfect,” “imperfect,” or “converted,” because they carry with them either complete misinformation (“converted”) or old-fashioned methods of dealing with the Biblical Hebrew verbal system (“perfect” and “imperfect”). Luckily, the merely descriptive terms “prefix conjugation” and “suffix conjugation” are available (and were in fact the terms we used in the first Hebrew classes I took as a student). I have also been happy to see the term və-qatal applied to the form that is וְ plus suffix conjugation (often called “converted perfect”), and I have used it here.

The boldest innovation of this textbook is described by the author:

Several years ago, John Huehnergard and I together came up with the term “consecutive preterite” for the verb form that is usually called the “converted imperfect.” I hesitated to use a new name in this beginning textbook for such a common form, but our rubric fits so perfectly that I decided to introduce it here. It is the only time I have used a term that is otherwise not a part of the scholarly literature (p XX).

This may not be something a teacher would be willing to incorporate (i.e., a term that is not widely used by the community). However, I do see the benefit and since the textbook clearly includes references to alternate terminology, I think it is a helpful step.

My Comments about Specific Content
I appreciate that Hackett begins the book with a chapter putting the language in some linguistic, historical, and scribal context. This background information will help the student to place Biblical Hebrew into a larger picture of language and history.

The initial chapters that introduce the consonants and vowels (along with illustrations for writing them in Appendix A) are phenomenal. Most textbooks or courses expect the student to teach this to themselves from looking at a typeset list of characters. These initial lessons take the mystery out of a new writing system and ease a student into recognition and pronunciation. However, I was a little surprised by the author’s choices for referring to some of the vowel names. For example, she does not differentiate the long “a” and short “o,” calling them both qamets. While they share the same orthographic form, they are pronounced differently and I prefer to use qamets hatuf for the latter. She also refers to the irreducibly long vowel ִי as hireq-gadol, instead of hireq-yod (although she does use tsere-yod to refer to ֵי ). This is of minor concern, and I only point it out.

The author always footnotes or otherwise draws attention to forms that are attested, but differ from what might be expected. She also anticipates potential student confusion and includes additional information to clarify what might seem like conflicting information or rules.

There are a variety of types of questions in the exercises. Here is an example of a particularly interesting way to ask a question (from Ch. 6 Ex. B):

We saw above that מָלַ֫כְתִּי comes from the root מלך and means ‘I ruled’. Given the root שׁמר ‘to observe, guard, watch’, how would you write and pronounce ‘I observed’? We also saw above that תִּמְלֹךְ means ‘she will rule’. How would you write and pronounce ‘she will observe’?

Vocabulary words are presented (at the end of each chapter) by word class (e.g., verb, noun, pronoun, adjective) and often have more than just a short gloss. The plural and construct forms are listed right in the vocabulary list (instead of students having to flip back to an appendix to find this information). I think this helps to give the student a better semantic understanding for each vocabulary item and minimizes learning an incorrect semantic domain. For example, some textbooks only give a gloss of “light” for the word אוֹר but without some kind of word class indication, a student may randomly connote “the act of striking a match,” “the weight of an object,” or “an object that gives off illumination” with this word. Whenever more information is given, it is more likely a student will have a better understanding of the vocabulary.

I asked Prof. Hackett how she chose the words to include in the vocabulary for this textbook. She told me that she took all the words that occur 100 times and more and made large charts that showed when she had introduced the word, how many times she had used it and in which chapters. Her goal was to use each word once in every 4 or 5 lessons. As the textbook progresses, this becomes more difficult to do. I like this deliberate planning to highlight a vocabulary word to the student multiple times for reinforcement. Not all of the 100+ frequency vocabulary is included, the remaining would be included in the second book (see below). And, of course, there are some words like סוּס that are simply too perfect not to use, even though they don’t occur often.

I very much like her inclusion of the Masoretic accents (טְאָמִים) as a pedagogical tool for identifying syntax (I pointed out a resource for doing this very thing in a previous post). She acknowledges that some of the presentation is (of necessity) not according to strict “biblical rules” and may make those who know biblical accentuation well “cringe.” However, I agree that, for the level of the students, the benefit definitely warrants this creativity.

A second book is in preparation. It will consist of graded readings of biblical passages, with glosses where necessary, additional vocabulary, and references to this book when something basic might need to be reviewed.

Bottom Line: My Final Thoughts
I admire the clarity that Prof. Hackett uses in her writing. I can visualize a student reading the book and feeling like the teacher was right beside them explaining something. She clearly has taught many students and found the very best ways to explain complicated or confusing material. She is able to anticipate a student’s misconceptions and set them aright before they are ingrained. Her style of writing blends the necessary attention to scholarly detail with accessibility. Information in a textbook cannot become student knowledge without good communication; I believe Prof. Hackett definitely succeeds in this aspect. This type of writing is one of the textbook’s great strengths, and also makes the book a viable candidate for the self-learner.

The pace of this book would be very ambitious for most classes to complete in one term. I think it might be more likely that a teacher would spread at least part of this book into a second semester.

I like Appendix D Clues for Finding the Root of Weak Consecutive Preterites. There is a chart and a set of 14 “flow-chart” type questions that can help in the identification of these tricky roots.

Unfortunately, but like most BH textbooks, there are no illustrations. The appendices do make use of some color ink to highlight diagnostics for verb stems. I think that publishers should take up the challenge to revolutionize not only content, but also presentation of material. This goes hand in hand with adopting the new technologies available. I hope that with the development of eBooks and eReaders, textbooks will begin to expand beyond putting words in portable digital form and begin to link to additional resources online and incorporate various types of interactive pedagogical tools.

I have used, read, or reviewed many BH textbooks, but I have to say that this is one that I might actually choose to use in my own classroom. I look forward to seeing the finished product (including the audio files on the CD).

Many thanks (again) to the folks at Eisenbrauns for sending me a review copy of War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century edited by Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens (Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement 2). You can read the first part and second part of my review of this book here and here. In this third (and final) post, the chapters we will look at cover diverse ground. One defends Christian pacifism, another looks at the distinction between Just Wars and Crusades. The three final essays take up the issues as they relate specifically to terrorism.

Chapter 4
Impulses toward Peace in a Country at War: The Book of Isaiah between Realism and Hope by M. Daniel Carroll R.
This essay begins with some personal experiences of the author’s time living in the midst of the war in Guatemala (1982-1996). Dissatisfied with how both sides of the conflict handled the situation, he was motivated to find an “appropriate evangelical response” (59). The writings of Reinhold Niebuhr (Faith and History; Moral Man and Immoral Society; and The Nature and Destiny of Man) and Stanley Hauerwas (extensive list in footnote 11, p 62) provided fertile ground for Carroll’s thinking, even though they reflect a sharp contrast in thought. Niebuhr “recognized humanity’s inherent will to power and noted that it plays itself out in destructive ways, both within and between nations” and “understood the pervasiveness of sin in society and politics” (61). Because of this, Niebuhr believes that there is the “unavoidable necessity of occasionally having to use coercion—sometimes to the point of waging war—to maintain and establish at least a modicum of justice in this unjust world” (61).

On the other hand, Hauerwas argues “for another starting point in the debate over whether Christians as individuals and the Church as an institution should support and be involved in war…Christians do not choose nonviolence because we can rid the world of war, but rather in a world of war we cannot be anything but nonviolent as worshipful followers of Jesus the Christ” (emphasis is the author’s, 62). Carroll agrees with Hauerwas. Out of this position Carroll identifies two foundational questions that must be answered: “Who are we?” (the issue of identity) and “What are we to do?” (the issue of mission). The answers to these questions will determine fundamental loyalty and a resulting goal for life/service.

To answer these questions (and to wrestle with the believer’s approach to war), Carroll looks to the book of Isaiah. He spends significant ink detailing the history, archaeological data, and prophetic message. He mines three lessons from Isaiah’s words for Judah: it is wise to explore the values and attitudes of those who make policy choices (character matters!); believers are “called to trust in the absolute power of Yahweh to deliver” (75); believers should not lose sight of the eschatological hope (war is not ultimate, one day it will end) (77).

Chapter 5
Distinguishing Just War from Crusade: Is Regime Change a Just Cause for Just War? by Daniel R. Heimbach
Heimbach does not address the pacifists’ question about whether a war is ever morally right. He respectfully disagrees with the pacifists and believes that a just-war approach to the ethics of war (and a Christian’s participation in such a war) is faithful to Scripture, has been the teaching of the majority of the church since the time of the New Testament, and is not a corruption of biblical morality (79). He attempts to define the line between just war and crusade. He distinguishes the two based on how each justifies going to war.

He situates his argument in the controversy about the war with Iraq. He discusses the justification given by President Bush for going to war with Iraq in 2003 (a pre-emptive strike against a potential threat). He also recounts numerous Christian leaders and their responses to this justification (quoting those who supported the President and those who cautioned against such justification). However, he does not agree that the justification given was valid. Instead, he believes that the arguments put forth come close to (if not actually) crossing the line from Just War to Crusade.

Nevertheless, Heimbach believes “that the war with Iraq was indeed justified, that there was legitimate just cause. But, in explaining how it was justified, President Bush and others included one reason with which I do not agree. The only morally appropriate reason for this war was to enforce the terms of the 1991 surrender. The just cause for the Persian Gulf War (the invasion of Kuwait) still pertained” (87). Aside, from this, Heimbach believes that the war would be difficult to justify (and he does give details to support his position). He concludes his essay with an appendix of Conflicting Statements on Just Cause (citing a diverse group throughout history, including, the prophet Amos, the apostle Paul, Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, Paul Ramsey, Wilton Gregory, Robert Tucker, Charles Colson, and President Bush).

Chapter 6
Noncombatant Immunity and the War on Terrorism by Tony Pfaff
Pfaff addresses the issues of noncombatant casualties, particularly in the pursuit of justice against terrorists. Pfaff sates that “it is a nearly universally accepted moral principle that it is wrong to harm innocent people intentionally. However, states are obligated to protect their citizens from harm, and individuals vested with this responsibility sometimes find it necessary to risk violating the moral principle in order to uphold the civil principle. Soldiers sometimes must attack enemy military targets located near civilian residences. Polices sometimes put bystanders’ lives at risk when they pursue criminals” (94-95).

Pfaff seeks to define terrorists and discusses the differences between criminals and enemies (and how they are to be brought to justice). The main distinguishing characteristic seeming to be the kind of threat or risk the terrorist(s) present. He discusses the different roles that police and soldiers hold, and how each role approaches justice and peace.

He concludes, in part, by saying “The al-Qaeda terrorists are criminals. But they are also enemies. Because it is always preferable to do less harm than more, it will always be preferable to pursue them under the criminal model because this model risks the least harm to noncombatants. But because terrorists are enemies, when it is not possible to pursue them as criminals, it is permissible to conduct operations that will knowingly though not intentionally harm civilians, given the restrictions outlined [in this essay]” (111).

Pfaff acknowledges that there are unresolved issues that he cannot address in the scope of this essay, including, permissions associated with violating political sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states in order to pursue terrorists and how to treat detained terrorists.

He warns “a state cannot rationally fight evil by committing it… [America’s] leaders must take care not to become like the enemy it opposes” (112).

Chapter 7
Terrorism: What Is It and How Do We Deal with It? by Ian G. C. Durie
Ian Durie, like Heimbach, affirms the just-war position. He was a former soldier (a participant in the first Gulf War, in 1991). After his experiences in war and subsequent examination of the roots of just-war doctrine he concluded, “the responsibility for justice, law, and order in society requires the state to be prepared to use force conditionally and in a closely controlled manner to deal with internal disorder and external aggression and that Christians have a duty to play their parts, although some may be called to pacifist as an individual stance” (113).

Durie also takes up the task of attempting to define terrorism, and asks if terrorism is ever legitimate. For example, “In the case of justified resistance, terrorism may be the appropriate method of fighting of a relatively powerless minority against a more powerful majority” (116). After discussing various types of terrorism, he deals with the topic of resisting (and defeating) international terrorism.

He concludes by saying that “terrorism is a potentially legitimate form of warfare, but terrorists never use it legitimately, and this is why it is not a justifiable means of resistance” (122). He gives three action items to consider: 1) Governments “have a duty to respond legitimately within the constraints of just-war doctrine and the international rules of war, taking care not to further the terrorist cause by repressive actions;” 2) “governments should seek to address the causes of injustice throughout the world, thus negating the means by which terrorists justify their actions;” 3) “Both governments and those who oppose them should be called to account by Christians and others who have the duty of responding to God’s call for justice and freedom from oppression for all nations and peoples” (122).

At the end of Durie’s chapter there is an appendix listing eight Criteria for Justified Resistance.

Chapter 8
Just Peacemaking Reduces Terrorism between Palestine and Israel by Glen H. Stassen
Stassen begins by saying that both pacifists and just-war theorists can agree on Just Peacemaking Theory. This theory answers the question: “What peacemaking practices are in accord with Jesus’ way, work in the real world, and are obligatory for Christians to advocate and practice in the real world?” (127). Stassen demonstrates Just Peacemaking practices in the Bible (e.g., Cain and conflict resolution; Jacob and independent initiative; Joseph and forgiveness; Moses and righting injustice, and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount). He also uses examples from history to demonstrate Peacemaking Theory for the prevention of terrorism (e.g., Russia, Turkey, Biological weapons, and Israel & Palestine).

He also argues that because terrorism is purpose driven, preventive initiatives can make a difference. He gives several examples: Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai Desert, the 1993 Oslo Agreement, and the Lebanon Border Incident (2007).

He concludes by pointing out the limits of unilateral power (i.e., there is a limit to what United States can do without help from other nations), and thus there is a need for cooperative foreign policy in the pursuit of justice and peace (especially in the fight against terrorism). Stassen believes that “Just Peacemaking offers a wiser and more effective way to dry up the sources of terrorism” (148).

My Conclusions
This collection of essays offers much food for thought and no simple answers. In fact, taken as a whole, the reader comes away with some views that are directly in opposition to one another. Yet, all are grounded in a biblical, Christian ideology. This highlights just how complicated the situations of war, terrorism, and peace can be on the personal, national, and international level.

John Goldingay, in a review from Themelios 33-3 (December 2008) and quoted on the publisher’s website, makes a very astute observation. “I think much of the symposium reflects an unresolved and often unrecognized problem about biblical interpretation in connection with issues related to war and peace. It was only in the context of modernity that war became a problem, something whose existence people were no longer willing simply to accept as a reality of human life and something they believed could be overcome.”

This book would be an excellent choice for a small discussion group (perhaps in a classroom, book club, or church setting). The purpose of the book is really to bring the issues to the table, not to give pat answers. At 148 pages it is not a long read, and each chapter gives enough material to stimulate a discussion. Even the topics that are not taken up in detail, but nevertheless mentioned, could stimulate further study and consideration.

Hess says that war in the Hebrew Bible is a topic “vast in scope” and that there is “no unanimity among biblical authors regarding war” (19). Although he does point out a few passages that deal with a future time of universal peace, the general expectation of the scriptures is that “war is assumed from the outset as a necessary part of the world in which the ancients found themselves” (19). In order to bring the focus a little closer to the task of the seminar, Hess surveys and evaluates a few contributions related to the ethics of war (as described in the HB).

First, he deals with the theme of “Yahweh as Warrior,” which considers the nature of God as a warrior who leads his people in battle. Then he examines three different types of war as portrayed in the HB: 1) holy war (which includes ḥerem warfare); 2) a bardic tradition (which narrates a war by a set of expected rules and characters); and 3) an “ideology of expediency” which uses whatever force is necessary to eradicate the enemy. Finally, Hess asks, “Why did the authors record the battle stories?” and considers the issue of accounts of war as propaganda (particularly comparing similar accounts of war from other Ancient Near East cultures).

He concludes his essay saying, “In the end, the Bible reflects a variety of reasons for war, but it does so with a moral tenor that ultimately recognizes battle as a necessary evil in the context of a greater, cosmic struggle between good and evil” (32).

Chapter 3
Toward Shalom: Absorbing the Violence by Elmer A. Martens
In this essay, Martens argues that “the cross along with the resurrection is the centerpiece of the Christian gospel, that its message is fundamentally reconciliation and peace, and that the method for achieving reconciliation and peace is absorbing the violence” (33). Christians, according to Martens, do this by both advocating and practicing nonviolence.

The first half of the essay describes what Martens calls “God’s heartbeat for humanity”: shalom, reconciliation, peace. He views the cross of Christ as the message and method by which peace is made (defending this from the writings of Paul and Isaiah).

After laying this foundation, Martens acknowledges that the Bible also “depicts humans as agents of violence [and] … reports that God commands acts of violence” but that this is not the dominant chord of the overall composition (40). Thankfully, he doesn’t leave the reader hanging, but does attempt to address the issue of violence in the Bible by looking at violence in society generally (attributed to sin), violence in human affairs perpetrated at God’s command (as an act of justice against corruption, and to prevent a worse evil from propagating within the nation of Israel), and violence directly associated with God as the agent. Martens briefly surveys many proposed (and according to him, inadequate) solutions for the issue of understanding the commands of God to the Israelites to dispossess the Canaanites and then proposes a theological point of entry focused on prioritizing holiness, righteousness, and justice in scripture. I was not able to see how he connected the validity of God commanding the Israelites to perform acts of violence (for the sake of holiness and justice) with his advocacy for Christian nonviolence.

Also a bit disconcerting to me were some of the analogies that Martens chose. In the section about violence as the hard edge of justice, Martens discusses the issue of the mass destruction of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perrizites, etc., as a combination of judgment for their perversity, which we have evidence of from their “morally gross in the extreme” literature (e.g., evidence found in the archaeological work at Ugarit) and as a preemptive strike to prevent a worse evil (47). As an illustration justifying the necessity this type of violence, he discusses the way healthy cattle were killed along with infected cattle in order to combat mad cow disease. I wonder, though, if we really want to compare slaughtering cows to prevent the spread of disease to the slaughtering of Canaanite men, women, and children to prevent the spread of sin?

In the subsequent section on violence and the soft edge of justice, Martens says that where possible, God also eschews violence if it can be avoided (e.g. the city of Nineveh). He also discusses Yahweh’s engagement in the historical process as a pre-cursor to the incarnation and argues that “through war, Yahweh educates his people in the meaning of trust, faith and his sovereignty” (49). He uses the example of the Egyptians at the Red Sea as an indication that God is the one who fights and highlights that the participation of the Israelites is absent. Similarly, in the story of Gideon, clearly the 300 Israelites “armed with weapons of less-than-mass destruction such as pitchers, torches and trumpets” had little likelihood of success against soldiers armed with swords and spears (49). These examples are Martens argument for a pedagogical lesson from war: let God do the fighting.

In the final section on God as the agent of violence, he explores two images of God; God as king (sovereign) and warrior (over evil; ultimately completing its trajectory in Jesus). Martens says there are several (unnamed in the essay) ethical conclusions that can be drawn from this, but focuses on one: “Christians need not — should not — engage in violence. The fact that Yahweh our God is a powerful warrior, whose passion for holiness and justice is intense and who will deal decisively with evil, means that his followers can afford to leave the righting of wrongs in God’s hand” (55). Therefore, for Christians, the priority should be shalom which is achieved in a non-coercive manner. Human-to-human violence is to be dealt with by a transformation of the heart and Christians should follow the divine warrior, who becomes the incarnate Jesus and suffers martyrdom to break the violence cycle. Martens says believers should follow this example which demonstrates the principle that “bringing shalom demands the absorption of violence” (57).

This chapter caused me to re-visit the disturbing issue of attempting to make sense of the God-directed violence portrayed in the HB and whether or not we can extract an ethic for our day. I also found myself wanting to hear Martens “connect the dots” a little more with how we get to the non-coercive, violence-absorbing stance that he advocates Christians should take, and what that would look like in our current world of much violence. Perhaps some of the other essays from the conference will address this. Stay tuned for Part 3!

We’ve had our schedule a bit interrupted by Mark’s cancer treatments, but I’ve been steadily making my way through a stack of books to review for you. Here’s what you can look forward to in the coming days:

1. Completion of my review of War in the Bible and Terrorism in the 21st Century (Part One is here)
2. Another book attempting to deal with violence in the Bible: Walter Brueggemann’s Divine Presence amid Violence: Contextualizing the Book of Joshua
3. Jo Ann Hackett’s soon-to-be-published (by Hendrickson) A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
4. A few OT survey books, one takes a comparative approach, the other a socio-literary approach
5. Something for the Ugaritic fans

And as a special treat, I’m working on a post that explains the basics of the physics and bio-chemistry going on in Mark’s radiation and chemo treatments. Stay tuned to find out the low-down on oncology radiation and why not all chemo is equal (and what Mark’s chemo is attempting to do). We’ve just finished Day 11 of 28 of the radiation/chemo regime. Just taking things one day at a time.

There are a few other books in the queue, but the above list will hopefully be enough to entice you to keep checking back.

A little bit before SBL 2009 in New Orleans, Stephen Chapman sent me a copy of his recent article in the journal Word & World (Volume 29, Number 4, Fall 2009, 334-347). The theme of this issue is Canon. If you can get your hands on it, I’d recommend reading it. Here is the abstract for Chapman’s article, “What Are We Reading? Canonicity and the Old Testament.”

Contrary to the standard step-by-step model of the formation of the Old Testament canon, the process was more fluid, on [sic] ongoing recognition of the authority of certain books, based on their use. Hints at early canonical moves are evident already in the Old Testament texts themselves. All of this is important to Christian readers because, without the Old Testament, the church cannot properly know who Jesus is.

Chapman provides a helpful outline of the history, rationale, and details of what he calls the standard model of Old Testament canon formation and contrasts this with an alternative model (which asks if canon is “more about authority than closure”). Chapman credits the work of James Sanders and Brevard Childs as influential in the development of this alternative. A pull-quote in this second section of the article asks, “Must a canon by definition be literarily unchanging, officially approved, and nationally applicable?”

I realize I am not summarizing the entire article here, my purpose is to point out the article (and the volume) as worthy of your time if you are interested in Canon issues.

The editorial, by Frederick J. Gaiser, is available in full-text (PDF) online here.

This book (published in 2008) is a collection of 8 essays which came out of a 2004 conference at Denver Seminary. The event solicited papers from a variety of positions, each contributing to a search for biblical and ethical approaches to the questions of war and the Bible. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall at that conference. Perhaps this set of essays is the next best thing.

Before I begin discussing the content of the book, it is worth noting that the hard-cover book of 155 pages is part of Eisenbrauns participation in the Green Press Initiative (for more information, visit www.greenpressinitiative.org). I usually pay attention to the type of paper that a publisher chooses, but I’m not accustomed to seeing such specific details listing the effects of choosing a particular paper. For this printing, the choice was 50% post consumer recycled paper (processed chlorine free). On the very last page of the book you learn that as a result, they saved 4 trees; 1,884 gallons of wastewater; 758 kilowatt hours of electricity; 208 pounds of solid waste; and 408 pounds of greenhouse gases.

The table of contents provides the structure which I will employ in reviewing this collection. I plan to post on each of the essays, which will allow a bit more space for quotes and summary.

Table of Contents for War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century

1. Christianity and Violence
Miroslav Volf

2 War in the Hebrew Bible: An Overview
Richard S. Hess

3. Toward Shalom: Absorbing the Violence
Elmer A. Martens

4. Impulses toward Peace in a Country at War: The Book of Isaiah between Realism and Hope
M. Daniel Carroll R.

5. Distinguishing Just War from Crusade: Is Regime Change a Just Cause for Just War?
Daniel R. Heimbach

6. Noncombatant Immunity and the War on Terrorism
Tony Pfaff

7 Terrorism: What is it and How Do We Deal with It?
Ian G. C. Durie

8. Just Peacemaking Reduces Terrorism between Palestine and Israel
Glen H. Stassen

In Chapter One, Miroslav Volf sets out to contest the claim that religion, and in particular, the Christian faith, fosters violence. He does not dismiss the violence done in the name of Christianity, nor does he ignore elements of Christian faith which, taken in isolation and out of safe-guarding context, can (and have been) used to legitimize violence. Nevertheless, his task here, he says, is not to answer these questions, but rather to demonstrate that the Christian faith should be regarded as a contributor to peaceful society.

I particularly appreciate his use of the concepts “thick” and “thin” as applied to the practice of Christian faith (be sure to read footnote 7, starting on page 3). While not a novel idea (e.g. Clifford Geertz and Gilbert Ryle), his application to religious practice is very helpful. “I am concerned to show how the “thinning” of religious practice opens religious convictions to be misused to legitimize violence because it strips away precisely what in “thick” religious faith guards against misuse of this sort” (fn 7, p 4).

After laying this foundation, Volf addresses four arguments:

1. The Argument That Religion by Its Nature is Violent
2. The Argument That Monotheism Entails Violence
3. The Argument That Creation is an Act of Violence
4. The Argument That the Intervention of a New Creation Generates Violence

I think he does a convincing job countering these positions, but I wonder if some readers may be less satisfied with how he handles the issue of violence in Creation and New Creation (even if they may agree with his conclusion).

Volf concludes with a section exploring how misuse of the Christian faith to legitimize violence happens and what can be done to prevent it. A sobering observation is that “Misconceptions of the Christian faith reflect the widespread misbehavior of Christians.” Of course this is not the whole story. He also lays some blame on the mass media and the “inflation of the negative.”

Woven throughout his arguments and observations in this essay are glimpses of his vision of how a “thick” practice of the Christian faith will “help generate and sustain a culture of peace.”

This first chapter sets the table for the courses of the meal that are served up by the following chapters. Next course: “War in the Hebrew Bible: An Overview” (Richard S. Hess).

This is the publisher blurb:

Until recently, biblical studies and studies of the written and material culture of the ancient Near East have been fragmented, governed by experts who are confined within their individual disciplines’ methodological frameworks and patterns of thinking. The consequence has been that, at present, concepts and the terminology for examining the interaction of textual and historical complexes are lacking.

However, we can learn from the cognitives sciences. Until the end of the 1980s, neurophysiologists, psychologists, pediatricians, and linguists worked in complete isolation from one another on various aspects of the human brain. Then, beginning in the 1990s, one group began to focus on processes in the brain, thereby requiring that cell biologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, linguists, and other relevant scientists collaborate with each other. Their investigation revealed that the brain integrates all kinds of information; if this were not the case, we would not be able to catch even a glimpse of the brain’s processing activity.

By analogy, van Wolde’s proposal for biblical scholarship is to extend its examination of single elements by studying the integrative structures that emerge out of the interconnectivity of the parts. This analysis is based on detailed studies of specific relationships among data of diverse origins, using language as the essential device that links and permits expression. This method can be called a cognitive relational approach.

Van Wolde bases her work on cognitive concepts developed by Ronald Langacker. With these concepts, biblical scholars will be able to study emergent cognitive structures that issue from biblical words and texts in interaction with historical complexes. Van Wolde presents a method of analysis that biblical scholars can follow to investigate interactions among words and texts in the Hebrew Bible, material and nonmaterial culture, and comparative textual and historical contexts. In a significant portion of the book, she then exemplifies this method of analysis by applying it to controversial concepts and passages in the Hebrew Bible (the crescent moon; the in-law family; the city gate; differentiation and separation; Genesis 1, 34; Leviticus 18, 20; Numbers 5, 35; Deuteronomy 21; and Ezekiel 18, 22, 33).

No Hebrew word is translated by ESV, NIV, NRSV, NET (or many others) as “distract,” “distracted,” or “distractions.” The KJV does translate ‏אָפוּנָה found in Psalm 88:15 as “distracted,” but this word is found only here in the HB and does not have consensus for translation. In the NT there is only one verse that is translated with the word “distracted” (Luke 10:40).

I, on the other hand, am quite distracted lately.

Here (reproduced from Wikipedia) are the lyrics in Hebrew, Transliteration, and English.

Fortuna’s interpretation of the hymn is not a new release (actually, it was released in 1994) but I first heard of the song today via Twitter (@gideony).