There is a great deal of violence in the Old Testament, particularly commanded by God himself:

"...violence against rival claimants of the land is not only legitimate but mandatory. The fact that the conquest is not historical does not lessen the moral problem. The problem is not that it happened but that it was believed to have been commanded and condoned on divine authority." Dr. John J. Collins, What are Biblical Values? What the Bible Says on Key Ethical Issues (Yale University Press, 2019) 149.

It is very easy to see that many of the commands and laws in the Old Testament fall far short of what we would consider to be morally acceptable in today's society. Slavery, genocide, treatment of women... we cringe at many of the passages that concern such issues in the Hebrew Bible. How should we think about these issues and the book that contains them? Should the Bible be an authoritative text for the 21st century? If so, in what way?

Join us as we discuss these issues with Dr. John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School. In his new book, Dr. Collins has provided not only sound exegetical insights into a variety of difficult and controversial passages in both the Old and New Testaments, but he has also formulated an interpretative model for understanding these texts, both in their original and modern contexts.

Purchase his new book here! https://tinyurl.com/y9g6xnoz

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Books by Digital Hammurabi Press:
NEW!
The Atheist Handbook to the Old Testament
Joshua Bowen (2021)
(https://tinyurl.com/4jj2tcny)

Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian for the Absolute Beginner
Joshua Bowen & Megan Lewis (2020)
(https://tinyurl.com/yatg8ty3)

Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery?
Joshua Bowen (2020)
(https://tinyurl.com/y6uytbkv)

Learning to Pray in a Dead Language: Education and Invocation in Ancient Sumerian
Joshua Bowen (2020)
(https://tinyurl.com/2f5rd7tc)

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For general information and sources relating to the Ancient Near East, we recommend these websites:
ABZU https://bit.ly/2Cr1A8u (collection of free and openaccess data)
University of Chicago Oriental Institute https://bit.ly/2RcIiMl (great collection of free books and articles)
Livius.org https://bit.ly/2Gzj5rx (general encyclopedia on the ancient world)
ETCSL https://bit.ly/2QJsAZS (Sumerian literature)
ORACC https://bit.ly/2QJsL7u (collection of projects relating to Mesopotamia)
EPSD https://bit.ly/2PY99aw (Online Sumerian dictionary)
CDLI https://cdli.ucla.edu (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative)



Music: Brak Bnei Original Composition