Tuesday 7 March 2017

On Those ‘Contentious’ Biblical Texts


I was recently asked for some suggestions of books which address some of the tricky texts and issues in the Bible, at least from a contemporary perspective – especially related to gender and violence, and particularly in the Old Testament. There are plenty of books on individual topics, but I’ve listed below some of the more general ones which mostly try to cover a range of issues.

Joshua Ryan Butler, The Skeletons in God’s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014).

Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011).

Brian Cosby, Uncensored: Daring to Embrace the Entire Bible (Colorado Spring: David C. Cook, 2015).

John Dickson, A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible: Inside History’s Bestseller for Believers and Skeptics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).

Douglas A. Jacoby, Your Bible Questions Answered (Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2011).

David T. Lamb, God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011).

David T. Lamb, Prostitutes and Polygamists: A Look at Love, Old Testament Style (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).

Jonathan Morrow, Questioning the Bible: 11 Major Challenges to the Bible’s Authority (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2014).

Amy Orr-Ewing, Why Trust the Bible? Answers to 10 Tough Questions (Leicester: IVP, 2005, reissued in a larger format in 2008).

Matthew Richard Schlimm, This Strange and Sacred Scripture: Wrestling with the Old Testament and Its Oddities (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015).

Joseph W. Smith III, Sex and Violence in the Bible: A Survey of Explicit Content in the Holy Book (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2014).

John Alan Turner, Crazy Stories, Sane God: Lessons from the Most Unexpected Places in the Bible (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014).

Christopher J.H. Wright, The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008).

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