Taking a bit of time to finish reading this book, but the time invested has been worth it. This book addresses some very difficult issues with Old Testament violence and does a good job of navigating the reader through different portions of scripture that traditionally prove to be stumbling blocks to many readers. I would advise potential readers to have a fair bit of Old Testament and biblical studies in their background. Recommend for readers of theology and for those who read the Bible.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I truly hoped it might give some insight into the problem of evil, theodicy, and how to reconcile a god who says to love your neighbor in one chapter, but also condones the army of his chosen people slaughtering every living thing in a city, including women, children, and animals. Unfortunately, this book doesn't provide the promised reconciliation one might expect from reading the description on the back cover.

While I appreciate the author's goal, I found the book unsatisfying and narratively uneven. The introduction starts with the story of a middle-school age girl who asks a church leader about reconciling God-commanded violence in the old testament with Jesus' teachings of love and non-violence, leading one to believe the author will provide an answer the girl will find satisfying. This is exactly the position I found myself in many years ago and I received no good answer at the time, and still haven't. I very much wanted this book to answer that question - or at least provide a way to think about the two concepts in harmony, but I was disappointed. Additionally, I found the author's injection of personal stories distracting. Lynch moves between scholarly and personal language, but not effectively; I found the switches jarring. His occasional use of slang is like the youth pastor trying to be cool with the teenagers, but it feels off. The book would have been better served if he had picked one style, either the pastor or the scholar, and stuck with it.

The back of the back says, "Flood and Fury challenges us to let go of the need to rescue the Old Testament from itself and listen afresh to its own critiques on violence." Ultimately, I did not find the author's interpretation of the critiques on violence convincing. Instead, it felt more like what I have found over the years: a pastor desperately trying to say "No no no, when God says to kill everyone and then the Bible relates that the Israelites did exactly that, there's totally an explanation for why killing women and children was moral." Lynch points out that Rahab and her family were spared, so that shows God's mercy, right? No, it doesn't; saving one family does not negate the destruction of an entire city by killing "every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." Even if one believes the biblical story of Jericho is entirely fictional, as archeology confirms, it doesn't change the fact that the Bible presents it as fact and many Christians believe it unquestioningly.

Ultimately, I was disappointed with this book. I wanted it to be something it wasn't and reconcile something that appears to be irreconcilable. ( )

This is not the book I was expecting (just judging by the title and cover) though I did enjoy it. This book is an attempt to reconcile the violent and sometimes cruel God of the Old Testament with the new Law of Love found in the New Testament. Lynch also uncovers insights into the goodness and Mercy of God.

Lynch attempts to rationalize the plethora of biblical tales of violence and cruelty coupled with admonishes for justice, kindness and turning the other cheek. The inclusion of the extremes is paradoxical. He begins by distinguishing acts of violence by virtue of triggers or instigators—divine prerogative, etc. and then compiling a list of possible explanations for the account to be recorded in the Bible.

The style of the book is both light and scholarly deep. The author manages to balance the two but fails to be convincing that he is any nearer an explanation of the paradox than others. To unbelievers and those reluctant to believe, the inclusion of seemingly contradictory lessons reflect hypocrisy and stains our belief system. The fact that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution is frankly addressed but adds confusion.

There is a propensity for many Christian bible scholars to read too much history into the Old Testament and not enough dogma and theology. This is true across the spectrum from conservative to liberal. Those of us who understand that Judaism was formalized after the return of the Judeans from exile in Babylon can recognize that Joshua’s slaughter of the Canaanites can be interpreted as the wiping out of false teachings however insignificant they might appear. Other examples of allegories, metaphors, and hyperboles can be found. Lynch does not discount this explanation but does not give it the weight that it deserves—it is included in his list of explanations which are not mutually exclusive.

I wish I could rate it higher than I have. ( )

This review of Flood and Fury is based on the free review copy received through the Early Reviewers. The book contents list two indexes, but both are not in this copy.

I was less than impressed with this book. I think for me the problem is that the book seems to take the authors of the Bible literally much too often.

A case in point is the destruction of Jericho. Jericho was actually destroyed several hundred years before the Israelites entered Canaan, but the authors of Joshua were writing 600-800 years later. They attributed the destruction to their own ancestors. Possibly to create a national story?

The same problem applies to the Canaanites. By the time the Bible was being written there were no Canaanites living. But not because they had been slaughtered to the last man, woman, child, and dog. Archaeology has debunked any claims of widespread destruction at the time of the Israelite conquest. Rather, it seems it was a period of assimilation. Not necessarily peaceful, but not cataclysmic.

The true question (for me) is why Jewish authors felt that if there was war and destruction in the time of their forefathers, that destruction must have been ordered (commanded) by God. Perhaps this has something to do with the authors living through the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem, and the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel? ( )