The Old Testament creates a number of puzzles. For example, what should we make of the strange laws in the Torah? Christopher JH Wright gives an insightful answer in this article, explaining how we can learn to love Leviticus. Richard Hess illuminates the world of the Old Testament in these articles, which defend the historicity of the Old Testament texts and deal with the difficult issue of Israel’s war with the Canaanites.
Paul Copan gives a brief response to the slaughter of the Canaanites here:
Iain Provan defends the reliability of the Old Testament…
..and also explains why it is relevant today:
Finally, Dr Lawson Stone gives excellent advice for reading violent texts in the Old Testament. He helps us to understand the historical context of the Exodus and Conquest…
…demonstrates how the texts cannot be used to legitimate violence today…
…and shows how the Old Testament detests violence