Perspectives on War in the Bible

Perspectives on War in the Bible offers a comprehensive study of varying traditions of war in the Bible. After an introduction that describes the writer's presuppositions and examines the distinctive nature of Israelite warfare in the biblical period, the author examines the traditional categories of holy war, just war, and pacifism to trace the diversity of viewpoints regarding warfare in the Old and New Testaments. People of faith, then as now, were sharply divided in their opinions about war. The author's conclusions seek to determine the theological affirmations that lie behind the understanding of Yahweh as warrior and points to a hermeneutic to assess a contemporary responsible theological position.