God Is a Man of War

The Problem of Violence in the Old Testament

De: Stephen De Young

Narrado por: Stephen De Young

Infanticide. Holy war. Divine wrath. Violence in the Old Testament has long been a stumbling block for Christians and skeptics alike. Yet, conventional efforts to understand this violence - whether by downplaying it as allegory or a relic of primitive cultures, or by dismissing the authority of Scripture altogether - tend to raise more questions than they answer.

God Is a Man of War offers a fresh interpretation of Old Testament accounts of violence, by exploring them through the twofold lens of Orthodox tradition and historical context. Father Stephen De Young examines what these difficult passages reveal about the nature of Christ and His creation, bearing witness to a world filled not only with pain and suffering - often of human making - but also with the love of God.

©2021 Stephen De Young (P)2021 Stephen De Young

The Insights, and history

I liked the footnotes, and the references to real historical events and culture. I think it could have been better if it was longer to go in more detail, but ft De Young went deep into all the “bad” verses.

great intellectual presentation

the topics presented in this book need to be discussed more frequently. I think some people struggle to think outside of particular western paradigms of scholarship and need this type of presentation to challenge their contemporary presumptions. I appreciate the reminders in the book that these were communities of people with similar social, political, and personal issues and ideas and language morphology must consider these things in context to these.

Solid answers and explanations

Delves into difficulties in our understanding of scripture and provides clear context for passages that confuse modern readers

Why does God seem to do bad Things?

If you’ve ever asked this question in relation to the Old Testament of the Christian or Jewish scriptures, Fr. Stephan has some answers. Well researched, footnoted and organized, you will hear the spiritual and historical background behind several of the Bible’s most difficult and violent episodes. Highly recommended.

Amazing book, a must read for Christians

This book answered so many confusing and seemingly controversial/contradictory passages in the old testament. it demonstrates that correct translation and correct interpretation are essential to know who God is and what He does.

Extremely insightful

Outstanding book and highly recommended! Fr De Young does an amazing job bringing the Bible to Life and showing how connected every book is with another book.

Takes a deep look at the historical, cultural, and linguistic details of the OT to make sense of difficult passages.

Been listening to Father Stephen’s podcast for awhile and decided to check out his book. While a lot of the content will already be familiar to those who listen to the podcast, for anyone who wants a quick overview of the context of the Old Testament and its violence, this is a great one-stop reference. Not quite as engaging as hearing Father Stephen and Father Andrew going back and forth on the podcast, but Father Stephen knows his stuff! Recommend it for anyone struggling to understand.

Succinct; no fluff.

Everything in this book is relevant. No extra chapters punched in there for money’s sake. The best book on the topic.

Clear, Concise, Insightful

God Is a Man of War by Fr. Stephen De Young has the potential to be a very influential book. In this book, the author addresses many of the parts of the Bible that seem problematic from a modern viewpoint. Things such as the story of God sending bears to kill “little children” (KJV translation) who mocked Elisha, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the numerous violent battles detailed in the Bible, etc. These stories have always left me confused and unsettled, but I have never come across a source that explained them properly until now. Fr. Stephen De Young adeptly addresses these biblical moments and explains the context in which they were written. More importantly, he explains how these stories fit into the broader narrative of the Bible and God’s plan for our salvation. There are so many things he addresses that have bothered me in my past readings of the Bible that I did not have the tools to unpack. I genuinely believe this book will help me on my spiritual journey as it has removed some of the questions that blocked me from a fuller understanding of the Bible.

I do not have the credentials to speak on the research that went into this book, but the text is both engaging and accessible for those outside of academic circles. I would like to see some academic reviews from people with appropriate credentials on Fr. Stephen De Young’s work be made readily available. It is evident that his work took a lot of study and careful thought. The topics he covers could bring a lot of needed understanding into Christians’ biblical study. This significance makes it all the more important that his researched work has been properly vetted. That being said, everything I have heard about his work has been praise, and I believe that I will be referring to this book many times in the future. I have already recommended this book to several close friends, and I would recommend that you read it as well!

Good book

In under 5 hours of listening time, Stephen De Young covers a topic that could fill a library. I was impressed with the richness of the content and I had to slow the playback to 90% so that I could better digest all the information he managed to pack into this book. The author is the narrator and is pleasing to listen to (not surprising as he also hosts several podcasts with good followings).
Throughout the book, De Young explains tough passages from the Old Testament, many of which have been used to seed doubt in believers and describes the way people in Christ's time would understand the Scriptures. As examples, he covers the idea of sin as infection or disease, the nature of death, and spiritual warfare. He also has an entire chapter towards the end of the book solely dedicated to addressing “problem passages” very concisely.
Overall, I would recommend this book even if you do not struggle with some of the harsher passages of the Old Testament scripture.