Is the wrath of God capricious, arbitrary, irrational, unethical, partial, inexplicable...or is it the just expression of a providential God? Is His wrath true to HIs character in dealing with sinful man? In this scholarly book, the Rev. Dr. Herbert M. Haney interprets the wrath of God as exemplified in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. It is his view that interpretation of the Divine wrath as recorded by the Former Prophets is basic to an understanding of God's wrath as revealed in the New Testament. The term "covenant wrath" is used here because it was under the Mosaic covenant that provision was made for the wrath of God, the author explains. "The covenant wrath of God was found to be always punitive, often remedial, and sometimes condemnatory. It was always bound up in the very character of God Himself. His righteousness caused His wrath to be punitive wherever there was sin: His love caused His wrath to be remedial whenever there were repentance and faith: His faithfulness caused HIs wrath to be condemnatory wherever there were persistence unrepentance and faithlessness." Evincing a masterly sense of order in his exposition, Dr Haney interrelates each type of wrath and each subject of wrathful visitation, giving evidence that every case represented a violation of the covenant...constantly drawing from the Bible and other primary sources and from authoritative secondary sources to support his argument. THE WRATH OF GOD IN THE FORMER PROPHETS is Dr. Haney's doctoral dissertation, and it reflects the depth of thought and scholarship such a work requires. The problem with which he deals is an extremely important one for religious thinking in these days, when the notion of a wrathful God has been so tempered that this aspect of His nature is all too frequently minimized. Laymen as well as students of theology will find this book a truly inspiring aid to Bible understanding. -Publisher

Terence E. Fretheim has long been a leading voice in Old Testament theology. In this volume, thirty of his classic studies have been gathered together for the first time under the rubrics “God and the World”, “God and Suffering”, “God, Wrath, and Divine Violence”, “God and the Pentateuch”, “God and the Prophets”, and “God and the Church’s Book”. Here readers can find a compelling answer to the question that has motivated Fretheim’s work for more than forty years—namely, what kind of God is the God of Scripture? The studies are introduced by a critical overview of Fretheim’s career and theology by the editors and a retrospective by Fretheim himself.

How can we make sense of violence in the Bible? Joshua commands the people of Israel to wipe out everyone in the promised land of Canaan, while Jesus commands God’s people to love their enemies. How are we to interpret biblical passages on violence when it is sanctioned at one point and condemned at another? The Violence of the Biblical God by L. Daniel Hawk presents a new framework, solidly rooted in the authority of Scripture, for understanding the paradox of God’s participation in violence. Hawk shows how the historical narrative of the Bible offers multiple canonical pictures for faithful Christian engagement with the violent systems of the world.