The Theology Within History - Oldest Stories Podcast 

lol, it felt odd for me to end without that, too. But a different sort of format for a different sort of episode. Assyria is coming soon, and it is already shaping up to be a lot of fun, at least on the research end. Blessings to you and yours as well!

I hadn't thought of the modern Israel connection, but now that you mention it, it does seem like a pretty obvious connection, so I can hardly blame your friend. I did record this back in September though, so no direct comment on modern issues was intended. I think the analysis is different because modern Israel does not have and does not claim to have the Lord whispering in its ear, therefore if they are in the right in this war (which I think they are), they are right not from a divine perspective, but from a political and moral perspective, both of which can be debated and neither give sanction for an extraordinary violation of standard ethical codes. As to the sharp turn, it is partly because of people saying things like that that I wanted to put this episode together. As an historical fact, I think it is pretty well supported scripturally and archeologically that no genocide actually occurred under "Joshua", just a war with the inhumanity common to all wars. However, when we move from an historical analysis to a theological analysis, the important issue is not that the genocide didn't occur, but that God Almighty directly commanded that a genocide should occur, and that when it did not occur there were negative consequences upon Israel. That is to say, focusing on the fact that genocide didn't occur is good history, but I think poor history and weak apologetics, which is why atheists are so prone to focusing on this section of scripture, since most modern faithful people genuinely don't A) understand the historical issues, which is fair enough, not everyone needs to be an expert in everything, and B) are afraid of the full implications of submission to God, because we implicitly think our own moral compasses are always properly aligned. We would much rather look at Abraham and Isaac because that story had a happy ending, leaving us unprepared for when things turn out differently. But I am ranting again, lol. That's why I avoid these sorts of things in most episodes and stick to history. This episode was a bit self-indulgent for sure. Thanks for your comment, and have a great new year!

And thanks for taking the time to explain your position and what led to it. Staying in tune for the next exciting episode. @@entirelyalive

​​​@@entirelyalivenobody in that war is right. You should stick to talking about things you know not what you think your thoughts and beliefs don't make something truth. It's easy to say what you think when you have no dog/skin in the fight/game.

same here