Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence by Karen Armstrong, and: Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Grips with the Justice of God by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan (review)

Abstract

In the academic study of religion, on occasion, one studies what has come to be known as ‘‘apologetics,’’ that is, the defense and proof of religious doctrines through systematic arguments and discourses. Though it has a long history, we in the West most often associate it with various iterations of Christianity, yet apologetic works can also be found substantively in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and other such expressions of religion. The rationale of such works has a twofold purpose: to ‘‘make sense’’ (i.e., a certain degree of rationalism) to the community of adherents to continue their allegiance, and to defend the faithful from attacks by outsiders who regard a given religion and religious community as a threat to the stability and power structure of a given nation-state. Focusing specifically on the question of genocide in the two texts examined below, one is reminded of the comment by Henry Huttenbach, Professor in the History Department of the City College of the City University of New York: