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Some have considered it one the more troubling books of the Bible due to its apparently unambiguous exhortations to the murder of civilians - for example, after Joshua has massacred the entire population of Jericho (Joshua 6:20), God instructs him to 'Do to Ai what you did to Jericho' (Joshua 8:1).

Some have considered it one the more troubling books of the Bible due to its apparently unambiguous exhortations to the murder of civilians - for example, after Joshua has massacred the entire population of Jericho (Joshua 6:20), God instructs him to 'Do to Ai what you did to Jericho' (Joshua 8:1).

However, one should be careful to distinguish between murder for murder's sake, and being an instrument of God's wrath - the Canaanites at the time were practitioners of [[child sacrifice]] and other abominations<ref>http://www.theology.edu/canaan.htm</ref> and God told the children of Israel to wipe them out lest they be corrupted.  They failed to carry out his instructions, and corruption away from God was a constant problem in their history.

However, one should be careful to distinguish between murder for murder's sake, and being an instrument of God's wrath - the Canaanites at the time were practitioners of child sacrifice and other abominations<ref>http://www.theology.edu/canaan.htm</ref> and God told the children of Israel to wipe them out lest they be corrupted.  They failed to carry out his instructions, and corruption away from God was a constant problem in their history.

==References==

==References==