Monday, December 31, 2007

Anti-Semitism is Alive in the U.S.

That I bother to state this may be an embarrassing confession of my own detachment from this particular evil, if not my ignorance of the fact.
I was struck by these statistics reported in ChristianityToday's January 2008 issue (their source was the FBI):

Number of Anti-Jewish hate crimes reported in the U.S. in 2006: 967
Number of Anti-Islamic hate crimes reported: 156
Combined number of Anti-Protestant (59) and Anti-Catholic (76) hate crimes:
135


Happy New Year.
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"He Himself is our Peace." (Eph 2)

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The need for a theology of Holy War for pacifists and just war theorists

I read through Joshua this week. I feel quite confirmed in my assertion that JWT does not allow us to morally approve of the Israelite conquest. No distinctions are made between combatant and non-combatant; the Israelites (apparently in obedience to YHWH), put to death "everyone that breathes", including women and children. So, whether pacifist or just-war theorist, a Christian must come up with a separate theology of Holy War to cover the history of Israel.
When doing OT theology, therefore, I wonder if one's ethic regarding war and the use of force really makes any difference. Here there can be much fruitful common ground between the two historic traditions of the Church for doing biblical theology. It is our New Testament ethics that are opposed.

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"He Himself is our Peace." (Eph 2)

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