Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem

The challenge of a seemingly genocidal God who commands ruthless warfare has bewildered Bible readers for generations. The theme of divine war is not limited to the Old Testament historical books, however. It is also prevalent in the prophets andwisdom literature as well. Still it doesn?t stop. The New Testament book of Revelation, too, is full of such imagery. Our questions multiply.

• Why does God apparently tell Joshua to wipe out whole cities, tribes or nations?
• Is this yet another examp...