Published: February 28, 2023
Pages: 256
What do we do with a God who sanctions violence?
Old Testament violence proves one of the most troubling topics in the Bible. Too often, the explanations for the brutality in Scripture fail to adequately illustrate why God would sanction such horrors on humanity. These unanswered questions leave readers frustrated and confused, leading some to even walk away from their faith.
In Flood and Fury, Old Testament scholar Matthew Lynch approaches two of the most violent passages in the Old Testament – the Flood and the Canaanite conquest – and offers a way forward that doesn't require softening or ignoring the most troubling aspects of these stories. While acknowledging the persistent challenge of violence in Scripture, Flood and Fury contends that reading with the grain of the text yields surprising insights into the goodness and the mercy of God. Through his exploration of themes related to violence including misogyny, racism, and nationalism, Lynch shows that these violent stories illuminate significant theological insights that we might miss with a surface reading.
Flood and Fury challenges us to let go of the need to rescue the Old Testament from itself and listen afresh to its own critiques on violence.
I received the audiobook version of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
I'm not sure what drew me to this book other than that it was available to listen now. I think I was expecting fiction for some reason, but it was really an examination of the Old Testament, and I found it fascinating.
I am not a religious person now, but I was the Bible scholar on my school's quiz bowl team, because I am moderately familiar with the major Bible stories having been raised attending the Methodist church. Granted most Christians primarily learn the New Testament, but we definitely touched on the big events from the Old Testament as well. This book had me viewing some of the big stories in a new way, and also renewed my interest in reading the Bible cover to cover.
While I don't think I would have read this book as quickly with my eyeballs as I did with my ears, I think I would have retained more information that way. But I'm not opposed to rereading this one with my eyeballs at a later date.
Overall I give Flood and Fury 4.1145 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Matthew is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Regent College, Vancouver. He was previously Academic Dean and Lecturer in Old Testament at Westminster Theological Centre in the UK. He is the author of First Isaiah and the Disappearance of the Gods (Eisenbrauns), Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible: A Literary and Cultural Study (Cambridge, 2020), Monotheism and Institutions in the Book of Chronicles: Temple, Priesthood, and Kingship in Post-Exilic Perspective (Mohr Siebeck, 2014), and Flood and Fury: Engaging Old Testament Violence (IVP Academic, 2023). Matthew is a founder and co-host of the OnScript and Biblical World podcasts.
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