A dangerous book - but probably in the best possible way. I came away thinking, 'Oh wow, you mean I don't have to believe that God actually commanded the Israelites to commit genocide against the Caananites?' Of course, for some people, they may feel like this book is crumbling the foundations of their faith - if their faith is built on the Old Testament being completely true, ethically and historically. (Even the bits which don't agree with the other bits.)Seibert brings the conclusions of contemporary scholarship to the problem of the troubling divine images of God in the Old Testament historical narratives - images of God committing genocide (the flood) or demanding the Israelites commit genocide. He argues from historical, archaeological, theological and textual perspectives that divine behaviour which contradicts God revealed in Jesus Christ did not happen. A gap exists between the textual God and the actual God. There are a lot of questions I need to ask about this book, and I'm working on a lengthy review for my blog. He doesn't say anything particularly new, but he articulates in a systematic and readable way things not enough of us dare say about the troubling nature of the Old Testament and possible approaches to it. He comes from an evangelical Anabaptist background and deals sensitively with issues evangelicals will be wrestling with, but he certainly doesn't maintain a conventional evangelical understanding of the authority or nature of scripture.