Joshua's Religious Beliefs

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When Joshua first came to be the leader of Israel’s army, Moses had died and the Israelites were getting ready to enter Canaan from the wilderness. Moses had trained Joshua, not just to follow God’s word, but to teach it and be his people’s spiritual leader as well. He was to lead their people into the Promised Land under God’s decree, and to destroy all of the people in Canaan. “The people of Canaan were exceedingly wicked, and their social and religious customs angered the Lord (Lv 18:24-30)… God used the Israelites as His instrument of judgment against the people of Canaan (Jos 11:18-20), just as he later used the Assyrians and Babylonians to judge Israel and Judah” (Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 169) I can imagine the weight of that responsibility. Joshua was a warrior, and he …show more content…

We were not meant to continue herem throughout our history. “Holy war” (or the practice of herem) occurred only at certain times during Israel’s history (1Sm 15:1-3; 2 Chr 20: 15-23), and we should not view it as a pattern for future generations. “ (Arnold & Beyer, 2008, p. 169) On the other hand, “The word jihad means “striving” or “struggle.” Within Islam, there are several categories of jihad.”("jihad vs herem," n.d., para. 2) Different types of jihad, but they are all based on fighting. There is a distinct difference between Christianity and Islam teachings which at base are the opposite ends of the spectrum. Christianity teaches forgiveness and love, Islam teaches to conquer. “While there is certainly room for debate over how well Christians and Muslims have followed the teachings of their respective leaders, there is no doubt about the contrasting visions of Jesus and Muhammad for how God's kingdom should be advanced. Just war theory has played a relatively minor role in the spread of Christianity across the globe. Jihad has been at the heart of Islam's expansion.”(Elass, 2002, para.