Maybe it’s just my experience, but lately I’ve been hearing more people asking why God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites. How do we reconcile that with Jesus’ emphasis on love, turning the other cheek, etc.?

I addressed this briefly in a class at this year’s PTP, and in my research I found this resource to be helpful:

The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith by Christopher Wright. Wright has a high view of Scripture and wrestles with this question (and others) in a way that’s helped me.

Several people have also recommended Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan. I haven’t read it yet, but it gets good reviews.

Some of this fuss has been created in recent years by the influence of Peter Enns, an Old Testament scholar who places himself in the evangelical camp but who doesn’t believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, at least not in the way most of us would define it. I strongly disagree with his view, but if you want to familiarize yourself with it, you might browse this book: The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It.

Links you might want to check out:

Hubworthy.com – Interesting site that’s advertised as a place where you can share “your trusted books, movies, and music to help your community grow.” I don’t know that I’ll ever use it to share things online, but I’ve enjoyed browsing what other people with a Christian worldview are reading and recommending. As this site says, life’s too short to waste it reading bad books.

“Preaching Spit and Polish: Why I’m trying to get better at preaching” by John Ortberg. I’ve always like Ortberg’s writing (his book on the spiritual disciplines is excellent: The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines For Ordinary People). This article is a good reminder to us preachers about the importance of being as good as we can be. Here’s an excerpt:

Someone asked cellist Pablo Cassals why he kept practicing so many hours a day when he had been on the concert tour his whole life long and was now in his eighties. I love his answer:

“Because I think I’m getting better.”

“The Lonely Death of George Bell” by N. R. Kleinfield. This New York Times article is sad, but it’s a reminder of how many people out there who are living lonely, disconnected lives. People need Jesus and the church, a local community of loving believers. Here’s the byline: “Each year around 50,000 people die in New York, some alone and unseen. Yet death even in such forlorn form can cause a surprising amount of activity. Sometimes, along the way, a life’s secrets are revealed.”

“Tips For Being a False Teacher” by Tim Grant. I suppose that I shouldn’t find this article funny, considering its subject matter, but it’s well-done. Obviously, it’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek.