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The Problem of War in the Old Testament is unavailable, but you can change that!

The predominance of war in the Old Testament troubles many Christians. However, it is an issue that must be faced, says Peter Craigie, because it has serious ramifications for contemporary Christian attitudes about war. Craigie categorizes the problems into two kinds—personal and external. The personal problems arise from the Christian’s attempt to grapple with the emphasis on war in a book...

that they continued for any time at all was simply a result of their willingness to defend themselves in warfare. In all these military undertakings, it should be stressed, ancient Israel was behaving in a manner essentially common to the ancient Near East as a whole.6 The existence and survival of states in the ancient world was dependent to a very large extent on military might. The great nations and empires of the Biblical period, Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, all maintained armies. They were not
Pages 69–70