Destruction of the Canaanites: God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation

How can a good God command genocide? In this short, accessible offering, Charlie Trimm provides the resources needed to make sense of one of the Bible’s most difficult ethical problems—the Israelite destruction of the Canaanites as told in the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. Trimm begins with a survey of important background issues, including the nature of warfare in the ancient Near East, the concept of genocide (with perspectives gleaned from the field of genocide studies), and the history and identity of the Canaanite people. With this foundation in place, he then introduces four possible approaches to reconciling biblical violence: Reevaluating God—concluding that God is not good. Reevaluating the Old Testament—concluding that the Old Testament is not actually a faithful record of God’s actions. Reevaluating the interpretation of the Old Testament—concluding that the Old Testament does not in fact describe anything like genocide. Reevaluating the nature of violence in the Old Testament—concluding that the mass killing of the Canaanites in the Old Testament was permitted on that one occasion in history. The depth of material provided in concise form makes Trimm’s book ideal as a supplementary textbook or as a primer for any Christian perturbed by the stories of the destruction of the Canaanites in the Old Testament.https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-books/1596/thumbnail.jp

ORFanID: A Web-Based Search Engine for the Discovery and Identification of Orphan and Taxonomically Restricted Genes

With the multiplicity of genomes sequenced today, it has been shown that significant percentages of genes in any given taxon do not possess orthologous sequences in other taxa. These sequences are typically designated as orphans/ORFans when found as singletons in one species only or taxonomically restricted genes (TRGs) when found at higher taxonomic ranks. Quantitative and collective studies of these genes are necessary for understanding their biological origins. Currently, orphan gene identifying software is limited, and those previously available are either not functional, are limited in their database search range, or are very complex algorithmically. Thus, an interested researcher studying orphan genes must harvest their data from many disparate sources. ORFanID is a graphical web-based search engine that efficiently finds both orphan genes and TRGs at all taxonomic levels, from DNA or amino acid sequences in the entire NCBI database cluster and other large bioinformatics repositories. This algorithm allows the easy identification of both orphan genes and TRGs using both nucleotide and protein sequences in any species of interest. ORFanID identifies genes unique to any taxonomic rank, from species to a domain, using standard NCBI systematic classifiers. The software allows for user control of the NCBI database search parameters. The results of the search are provided in a spreadsheet as well as a graphical display. All the tables in the software are sortable by column, and results can be easily filtered with fuzzy search functionality. In addition, the visual presentation is expandable and collapsible by taxonomy

Don\u27t Put Your Faith in the Wrong Person

In the late 1980s, George Michael sang the classic words, “I gotta have faith, faith, faith.” But there’s something deeper in the lyric than perhaps the former Wham! singer intended. After a decade of teaching atheists and three times as long listening to people who have lost their grasp on Christianity, one thing is clear: people don’t so much lose faith as relocate it to another object

Hail the Incarnate Deity : Christmas draws our attention not only to what the Son does but also to who the Son of God is

The author reflects on the real meaning of Christmas from an evangelical\u27s perspective. He discusses theologian Athanasius\u27 narrative about the Word of God in his classic book On the Incarnation, a sermon that emphasizes that Christmas is about Good Friday and Easter, the incarnation of the Son of God that was directed toward the goal of his death and resurrection, and the goal of the Son of God in the Incarnation

Overcoming Apathy: Gospel Hope for Those Who Struggle to Care

Understanding Apathy and How to Combat It For many Christians, apathy can feel inescapable. They experience a lack of motivation and a growing indifference to important things, with some even struggling to care about anything at all. This listlessness can spill over into our spiritual lives, making it difficult to pray, read the Bible, or engage in our communities. Have we resigned ourselves to apathy? Do we recognize it as a sin? How can we fight against it? In Overcoming Apathy, theology professor Uche Anizor explains what apathy is and gives practical, biblical advice to break the cycle. Inspired by his conversations with young Christians as well as his own experiences with apathy, Anizor takes a fresh look at this widespread problem and its effect on spiritual maturity. First, he highlights the prevalence of apathy in our culture, using examples from TV, movies, and social media. Next, he turns to theologians, philosophers, and psychologists to further define apathy. Finally, Anizor explores causes, cures, and healthy practices to boldly overcome apathy in daily life, taking believers from spiritual lethargy to Christian zeal. This short book is an excellent resource for those struggling with apathy as well as parents, mentors, and friends who want to support someone in need. Explores the Individual and Cultural Experience of Apathy: Examines the nature and experience of apathy, drawing insights from Scripture, theology, popular culture, and more Practical Steps for Dealing with Apathy: Identifies 7 causes as well as healthy habits to fight against indifference Accessible for Students and Mentors: A great guide for high school and college students and those who counsel them; youth and young adult pastors; teachers; and anyone struggling with apathy or who knows someone who ishttps://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-books/1626/thumbnail.jp

The role of associational life in the development of social capital: Theoretical considerations for Christian NGOs engaged in development initiatives

Relying on social science and missiological research, the purpose of this article is to discuss theoretical considerations of associational life as a strategy of Christian NGOs involved in development initiatives in majority-world countries. Research has revealed the unintended consequences of NGOs as well as the complexity of local community dynamics where NGOs work. It is also well known that religion plays an important role in the functioning of society. Therefore, while Christian NGOs working in majority-world countries are not immune from the same challenges as secular NGOs, by recognizing and understanding the value of religion, Christian NGOs may be better equipped than their secular counterparts to incorporate this aspect of social life into their development activities

Wisdom from Experience – Thoughts from Stevick Award Winners

According to the website of the Christian English Language Educators Association (CELEA), which also publishes this journal: “The Earl W. Stevick Award honors members of the English language teaching profession who embody some of the characteristics of Dr. Stevick in their teaching, mentoring of teachers, scholarship, service to the profession, and living out the life of Christ in this profession.” To date, from 2017–2022 there have been six winners of this prestigious award. Given the collective wisdom they represent, we asked them to share with our readers key lessons they have learned over the course of their careers. Five of the six winners were able to contribute to this invited Forum, which we present in chronological order of receiving the award

Embracing the Liturgy of Labor Day

In today’s hybrid work culture, Christians should recommit to the biblical rhythms of work and rest

The Return of an Old Pro-Abortion Argument

What more can be said to address the racialized arguments against the Dobbs decision? I offer three counterpoints