"In his book Violence in Scripture, Jerome Creach investigates multiple aspects of violence as a problem in biblical texts. He draws primarily upon Old Testament passages that appear to condone violence in God and humans. He shows how historical circumstances affect and complicate understandings of violence. He uncovers self-correcting elements of the scriptures that challenge violence of God and of human. He locates violent passages within larger canonical contexts that correct or modify the place of violence. He concludes that God's hopes for humans and the world are essentially non-violent. God created the world without violence, and Jesus brings Old Testament themes of non-violence to fulfillment in the New. Creach's study is clear and insightful, and it promises to provoke thoughtful reflection among pastors, teachers, lay people, and scholars."
--Kathleen M. O'Connor, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emerita, Columbia Theological Seminary