[Draft: needs proof checking]
"Affluent, arrogant, unconcerned ... haughty" [Ezekiel 16:49]
An idea to study and discuss.
This essay was sparked into existence by the esoteric theological conundrum of what some call "God's genocide" or God's seeming violence. As I was thinking about that, out came something more important: it told me something (a) about the impact of God's mindset on culture, (b) about one of the two main types of sin in humankind, and maybe (c) about what is going on today more, clearly than other views do. This essay is about those three, more than about the 'genocide', though I briefly mention that here and at the end.
The esoteric conundrum: Why, according to the Bible, did a loving God obliterate most of humanity by the flood (early Genesis)? Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Why did God command the people of Israel to entirely annihiliate various Canaanite tribes (in Joshua)? Today we call this "genocide" and utterly condemn it [Note: Genocide]. Why did God bring destruction on the entire world (Jeremiah 45)? What do we make of the violence meted out to humanity in Revelation? As for instance Brian McLaren has pointed out, all this causes a problem for those who want to take the Bible seriously [Note: Bible]: how can this square with a God Who is revealed as Love?
On the other hand, what was it that attracted Ruth to Hebrew culture so that she insisted "Your people shall be my people and your God, my God"? What was it that led to the banning of the slave trade and then the Factory Acts and the prevention of cruelty to animals (RSPCA)? What was it that curbed drunkenness, crime and wife beating after the 1904 Welsh Revival? How has the attitude underlying such things become "The Air We Breathe" [Scrivener 2022] - a measure of what we deem 'decency' [Note: The Air We Breathe]?
And, now, why are people like Andrew Tate, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump on the ascendency, reacting against such 'decency'? Is it only because of social media, or is there something deeper going on?
Over the years, I have encountered many attempts at answers to such questions that do not satisfy me [Note: Answers that do not satisfy me] but recently have discovered an explanation that does satisfy me, and seems to link all this together. It is an attitude of heart, a mindset, that I call Canaanism, in direct opposition to God's attitude of heart, and which is extremely dangerous and destructive in its impact, especially now that the human population is enough to "destroy the Earth" [Revelation 11:18] and that attitudes are magnified by social media, technology and money. "Canaanist", because it seems to have pervaded especially the Canaanite tribes of old [Note: Canaanite, Canaanist, Canaanism].
Here I try to express what I mean, because I have not read others saying this, and it might be helpful to you who read this.
Because God loves God Created
And God wants all Creation to operate according to
The Canaanist attitude, by contrast, is "affluent, arrogant, unconcerned, haughty" [Ezekiel 16:49].
With God's attitude, all Creation works well together
The Canaanist attitude harms and destroys
- both directly and indirectly
at both levels:
But God is patient,
respecting the way Creation works,
including human beings and our culture.
Tsedeq, shalom and radah (rightness, peace and shepherding) reinforce each other. If we see ourselves as shepherding Creation in the way the Creator would, then egoism cannot occur and none of us prides ourselves as inherently better than others - though we might have different roles and gifts as I Corinthians 12-14 makes clear - and we work together rather than compete with each other.
The attitude and mindset of the heart is of both individuals (as in David) and nations or cultures (as in Israel). When Abraham was met by Melchizedek, who was priest of the Most High God, whom the book of Hebrews points out was king of tsedeq and shalom [Note: Melchizedek], it was as though God was telling him, "The culture of your descendants shall be that of tsedeq and shalom." When Jesus gave the Beattitudes, he was saying to us, "What is good in you is an attitude of peace-making and hungering after rightness-justice, as well as meekness, etc."
All this results in harmony and joy in Creation, with every part of Creation, including all humans and cultures, flourishing and bringing flourishing to all else. This brings the Creator joy too. What else would a God Who is Love want for the Creation? This is what God establised at the beginning (Genesis 1,2) and will bring about after Jesus returns (Revelation, Isaiah): The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations, and the lion will lie down with the lamb.
But between those is an era of suffering because of sin: human refusal to accept God's mandate to care for Creation and live for ourselves. During this era, those who follow Christ can have a foretaste of the future here and now, even amidst persecution. Humanity became infected with what I call a Canaanist attitude and mindset. What is that? Why does it matter?
The attitude and mindset that seems to have pervaded the Canaanite tribes, the peoples in the land of Canaan around the time the people of Israel entered the land, seems to have been diametrically opposed to that which God intends. This is why I use the word "Canaanism" for it. [Note: Canaanite, Canaanist and Canaanism]. It might be increasingly pervadiing our cultures today, especially in cultures that had previously been shaped by the Gospel of Christ.
The Canaanist attitude and mindset is characterized by:
| Biblical view | Canaanist view |
|---|---|
| Worship as response | Worship as duty or transaction |
| Desires to bless | Blesses when appeased |
| Overall: Creator of Heaven and Earth | Tribal or for specific quality |
| Love | Rivalry |
| With us | Distant, aloof |
| "The Living God", who responds | Inert or with own agenda |
| Respects Creation | Demands respect |
"The whole philosophy of Hell rests on recognition of the axiom that one thing is not another thing, and especially that one self is not another self. My good is my good and your good is yours. What one gains another loses. Even an inanimate object is what it is by excluding all other objects from the space it occupies; if it expands, it does so by thrusting other objects aside or by absorbing them. A self does the same. With beasts the absorption takes the form of eating; for us, it means the sucking of will and freedom out of a weaker self into a stronger. 'To be' means 'to be in competition.'" [p.92, italics in original, bold is mine]
James recognises this [3:13-18]. He contrasts two 'wisdoms'. Wisdom "from the devil" is characterized by "envy and selfish ambition" leading to "disorder and every evil practice". Wisdom "from heaven" is "pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" [NIV] ("compliant" NTW), and James links it to peace and righteousness. Jesus contrasts "sheep" and "goats"; what contrasts them is what they did about the poor and needy, which revealed their heart attitude.
As above, these three reinforce each other. If we demand to live our lives as for ourselves ("I am my own" as CS Lewis puts it) we will see ourselves as superior to others, at least as far as our little island or identity is concerned, and others as rivals and to be either fought off or conquered and colonized to serve our ends. Since the three reinforce each other, once a Canaanist attitude infiltrates a culture, it is very difficult to undo. This reinforcement occurs in individuals, families, companies and nations, but especially spreads throughout whole cultures, until, if unchecked, "every inclination of the thoughts of [people's] heart was only evil all the time" so "the earth was corrupt and filled with violence" [Genesis 6].
All these are summed up in God's explanation to Ezekiel (16:49) as to what was despicable about the culture of both Sodom and Judah: a culture in which people are, "affluent, arrogant and unconcerned ... haughty", from which both lack of helping the poor and "detestable things" sprang. Under the Canaanist attitude, the human heart is "deceptive" and "desperately wicked".
Note, however, that Canaanism is not the only kind of human sin. There is another kind, which infects those who try to live according to God's ways, and was encountered in the Pharisees and Teachers of Law [Note: Another Kind of Sin]. But here we focus on Canaanism.
But David was "a man after God's own heart"; he usually saw things from God's perspective rather than the usual human perspective. Mostly, he sought shalom (as with Saul) and tsedeq (think of his attitude to Saul's family) and understood Israel as representing the Living God rather than just itself (as against Goliath). For years David served King Saul and when Saul pursued him as an enemy David refused to treat Saul as enemy - because he saw the situation as God's ("I will not lay my hand against God's anointed"). David became corrupted by ease, committing adultery and murde, but when faced with his crime he did not act aggressively nor even defend himself but repented.
Contrast that with Saul, who began well (modestly hiding when elected as king) but saw his kingship in the Canaanist way of personal privilege and when he became corrupted by power he became envious and murderous. He erected a statue to himself. He held the Canaanist view that the Deity requires sacrifices before they will bless and give success in war rather than obeying Samuel's command and wait, trusting the Living God to save.
The difference is a matter of hearts. The attitude of heart cannot be seen directly, but is visible via the words we utter and the deeds we do. So, for example, being angry with my brother without cause [Matthew 5:22] (which Jesus saw as of such importance as to tell us to prioritize putting this right over our most sacred service to God) might indicate a Canaanist attitude.
This difference also applies to whole cultures. The hearts of individuals tend to reflect the culture of the society to which they belong. The culture of a people is not just its art and music but that much deeper thing which drives them and all else we do such as our policy-making, our economics, the groups we form, the technology we devise and how we use it and even the analyses we undertake and the scientific theories we construct. This deeper thing is the prevailing values and beliefs and deep assumptions about what is most important and the attitude that pervades, either self-giving, open and generous, or selfish, self-protective and competitive. Like the heart it is usually not immediately visible but only via the actions, speech and thoughts within that culture.
The fuel of Canaanism today is often a sneering "Isn't that ridiculous!" - a logic limited to one aspect that is allowed dominate. This is the aspect that the Canaanist mindset has as its idol, its most-important-thing-in-life, such as the economic or the social or the technological or the faith aspects. All other aspects are ignored or denied any validity in the fire of that one aspect. The fuel - or better, the lubrication - of the godly mindset is wisdom, which recognises all aspects all of life in their resonance. Which aspect dominates each camp of Canaanists (what might be called its worldview) is determined by what they want to oppose in other camps.
In a Canaanist culture, the pervading attitude is selfish, self-protective and 'againstness'; in the culture God wants, it is generous, self-giving and open. In a Canaanist culture, what is important is often the people or nation against all others, and their land as merely a resource to plunder and their people a resource for the leaders to expend. In the culture God wants, what is important is responsibility ultimately to God, then to God's Creation then to other nations and then to others within that society. In one, "You shall love yourself and yours first, then others if you have any love left." In the other "You shall love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength and your neighbour as yourself." And people within each culture tend to take on these attitudes and mindsets.
In any real culture there is, of course, mixing of the two - as the history of Israel and Christianity show. Yet Israel was still functioning as light to the nations and Christians as salt and light among peoples, however dimly.
This may be seen in the account of Ruth. She pleaded to come with Naomi (who was not the most pleasant of people, a grumbler), "Your people will be my people, and your God my God." Why? Because, it seems, she was attracted by the culture and values that she discerned in Naomi deeper than her grumbling. These values and culture had been shown to Abraham for his descendants after God promised that through him all peoples would be blessed, when he met Melchizedek. This happened after the episode where the Canaanite and neighouring kinds went to war to solve a problem of oppression and injustice, and Abram rescued Lot from them. As the Book of Hebrews makes clear, Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God and was king of both Zedek and Salem (tsedeq and shalom). It seems that God was telling Abram that the culture of his descendents was to be one of justice-righteousness and peace, not the Canaanist one of elitism and warfare.
Those who represent God in the world - whether Jews as a nation among nations or Christians as individuals among individuals - are to show and behave and be what the True God is like: humble, desiring blessing for others and the whole Creation, constructing peace and right relationships among all things in the Created order. The Canaanist culture and heart destroys that.
Now, Canaanism is not the only sin of humankind. There are sins associated with tsedeq (rightness), which are exhibited by the Pharisees and Teachers of Law in Jesus' time: harsh legalism without mercy, and hypocrisy. There are sins associated with shalom, such as tolerance of evil. God is concerned about all kinds of sin, and different kinds become prominent in different cultures at different times. But I am focusing on Canaanism here because it is emerging more strongly today. I discern it among Christians who take an interest in so-called spiritual warfare and I see it in anti-Woke politics, as well in the increasing anger (e.g. road rage) among ordinary people, fuelled by what is put on social media.
A competitive attitude leads eventually to war (unless someone backs down, which under a Canaanist attitude does not happen) and war brings death, destruction, devastation, disease, deprivation, as well as lifelong PTSD thereafter for those engaged in the warfare. War is one of the most effective ways to move Creation away from God's plan of justice and peace and love and harmony among all, and do so for a long time [Note: War]. Even without actual military war, the very attitude of fighting and competitiveness lead to fractured relationships, and rise of vengefulness that can erupt in war.
Turning away from tsedeq towards elitism and selfish superiority leads to destitution without relief, destruction without restoration, famine without aid, slavery without reparation, imprisonment without release. It jeopardises resilience and breeds a hopelessness. And it leads to unjust laws (both formal and informal) that exacerbate all that. Eventually, as in the case of Sodom [Genesis 15:===], the cry of the oppressed comes up to the ears of the Most High.
Turning away from God-imaging shepherding radah to self-centred idolatry both hinders and dilutes the Good we are intended to do and replaces Good with harm and Destruction and Suffering. The Canaanist attitude and mindset does this Harm indirectly, however, by impacting all else we do by underlying motivation.
"You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures" [James 4:2-3].
As said above, all these things reinforce each other. The me-first and fighting mentality narrows our views so that winning is all-important such that all else is a distraction and therefore to be resisted. Often without realising so, we accept if not applaud if not commit harmful destruction of the kinds mentioned above. Not only do all these elements do damage, they also dilute and divert valuable human effort from the Good that God intended us to do with Creation.
That is the harm that a Canaanist attitude and mindset, a Canaanist heart and culture, does. No wonder God is very concerned about it, so concerned as to want to stop it.
A Canaanist expectation would be that the deity would simply destroy as a first resort, to show its power, but the God revealed in the Bible does not, except as rare last resort. The Biblical perspective shows God acting in stages because God respects humans and God is patient, working to solve the problem of Canaanism (and ultimately all human sin) at the speed at which human culture actually works [I Peter ===]. Each stage is appropriate to the human condition at the time [Note: God With Us]. In brief, the four stages are:
This solution is still available as a last resort if/when the next two solutions are shown to ultimately not work - when a patient God has given God's people sufficient time to work things out, maybe around 2000 years. Jeremiah 45 records this point being reached with the people of Israel; might it apply today?
The second stage was when God chose a people to represent God, the people of Israel, as a witness to God's ways and works. In this stage it would be a cultural witness, a culture where tsedeq and shalom (rightness-justice and peace) reign (as we saw above); a "light to the nations". God's representatives are to (a) display God's character and intentions, (b) to be the means through which God would act to save the world (human and the rest of Creation) [Note: Representing God].
When they entered the land, at the crossover from the first to the second stage, God gave the people the dignity of being God's means of judgment - not as tribal victories but as a means of removing those whose evil had become "mature" [Genesis 15:16] (as God promised to Abraham), so ripe that it could not be reversed and the only way to stop it was the complete removal of the perpetrators. This can happen when the Canaanist mindset becomes so deeply locked-in that the only response to criticism of their ways would be violent aggression and so no repentance was possible any more. As I understand it, this was the reason why the people of Israel were ordered to utterly annihilate certain peoples in the land.
Once established in the land promised to them, God's people were surrounded by war-loving tribes so God defended them.
By this, the surrounding peoples learned that the Most High God, who wanted tsedeq and shalom, was not to be despised as weak and was a God actively involved. Beginning to see that a godly culture works well, some were attracted by this (indeed, the Torah made provision for people to join God's people).
Might we see evidence that this worked for a time in the story of Ruth? Having tasted a bit of Hebrew culture and ways of thinking through her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her husband, she desired it and clung to it. Archaeology also provides evidence of the difference in Hebrew culture, such as lack of pork bones and lack of grandiose buildings.
God had given the people of Israel a written law (Torah) to know how to live in tsedeq and shalom, containing many examples from which they could discern principles of this lifestyle, covering many aspects of life from farming, family life, social life, economics, justice, love, identity ("you are God's servants; the land is not yours but God's") and worship. After their leaders Moses and Joshua died, they flourished for a time and God raised up Judges to rule them.
But, after a generation or two they began to take all this for granted and, infiltrated by something of a Canaanist outlook, they began to turn away, seeing themselves not as God's people but as their own. So began a series of cycles of decline, in which they would be misrepresenting God, fall, be oppressed, repent, be rescued and rebuilt. In these periods of decline, the people allowed and even welcomed Canaanist attitudes to creep in, so the came to misrepresent God.
But, over centuries, the people of Israel turned away from God's mandate for them and wanted to be "like all the other nations with a king to lead us and go out before us and fight our battles" (I Samuel 8:5,19-20. Even though it had worked numerous times, trusting God to save them, a God whom they could not control, did not seem enough. God warned them that a king would rob them of their best for his own ends but they refused to listen.
God gave them a king, Saul, who started well but, because he understood God in the Canaanist way (as a deity who needed to be placated with sacrifices before he would protect them) he went bad. Then God gave them a kind "after my own heart", David - which happened to be the pinnacle of their kingship, to which the people of Israel always looked back. Then Solomon, who turned away from God's ways. Then a succession of kings, most evil, some goodish.
The cycles of decline, fall, oppression, repentance (led by a good king), rescue and restoration continued, but the falls became ever deeper. The light to the nations dimmed and dimmed and the degree of misrepresentation of God got worse and worse, with both leaders and people complicit together. Eventually, God said "No more!" and removed them, first the northern nation of Israel, scattered by Assyria, then the southern nation of Judah, exiled to Babylon. It was to the people of Judah that the accusation that they were "affluent, arrogant, unconcerned ... haughty" was levelled, as the very reason for their exile, explained via the prophet Ezekiel [16:49]. As God revealed through the prophet Jeremiah [45], "I will overthrow what I have built, and uproot what I have planted." God uprooting what humans planted is bad enough, but God uprooting what God planted is extremely serious, on a par the Flood and the destruction of Sodom.
Yet, God had not finished. God restored the people of Judah to their land 70 years later. As Erich Sauer puts it, the people had yearned after Babylon (figurative of worldliness) so God sent them to Babylon and "in Babylon, they were cured of Babylon." When they returned, they were very careful to keep God's laws, which they had previously spurned, and separate themselves from other people. Maybe they were at last rid of a Canaanist mindset? Not quite.
Very careful - over-careful. The sect of the Pharisees arose, seemingly anti-Canaanist, but over-strict, with the sins of legalism and hypocrisy. The hearts of individuals had still not been changed. It was time to activate the third stage of the Plan.
God planned a people who would represent God as individuals among individuals. This was fulfilled by the work of a promised Messiah [e.g. Jeremiah 31:31-34] [Note: Messiah]. The Messiah (Christians believe) turned out to be God in human form, Jesus of Nazareth, living among us, dying for us, rising and then sending the Holy Spirit to indwell individuals and transform their hearts (Romans 12:2) from "affluence, arrogance, unconcern, haughtiness" to "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness-humility and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). This change in heart would alter behaviour, speech, and ways of thinking, and would attract others who would turn to the Messiah and allow the Holy Spirit to transform them too. This spreads, and whole societies and cultures become changed. That is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many Global North Christians presume that the Gospel is only for individuals but it is more glorious than that. God's action at the individual level did not nullify but rather enables action at the cultural level as well. Cultural change and healing occur when enough individual hearts are changed, but seldom occur otherwise. Tom Holland [2019] tells of how it is this Gospel of Christ that has brought into the world's dominant culture (Western / Global North) some measure of care for the poor and marginalised, of sacrificial self-giving, of care for Creation - even though not fully nor perfectly. (Scrivener [2022] gives a similar account, calling it "The Air We Breathe".) This has reversed Canaanism in the Earth more effectively than anything else (as well as instigating a lot of things like science, technology, universal education, some level of material security, etc.)
However, over the past 2000 years, Canaanism has remained in the heart of people, including (sadly) Christians. The Emperor Constantine and the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne used conquest even to spread Christianity - until Alcuin of Northumbria persuaded the latter to more peaceful means with "Faith is a free act of the will, not a forced act. ... You can force people to be baptised, but you cannot force them to believe." But since then many Christians have used force and conquest. And the elitism that ruins tsedeq has been notable among many Christians, especially after they become affluent. Up to today, after the onslaught of an anti-Jewish paganism in the middle of the 20th century and an anti-Christian humanism since then, we now see a Canaanist reaction among many Christians, against "woke" and glorying in a seeming defeat of such 'enemies'.
Among Christians especially, the Gospel of Christ mixes with Canaanism in a way not easily separted - like oil and water mixed into a mayonnaise, and like wheat and tares sown in a field. But Christians of the Global North seem now to be increasingly adopting a Canaanist attitude and misrepresenting God.
Even this solution via individuals eventually peters out, and even Christians increasingly misrepresent God (as just described). This is why God's third solution occurs: Jesus the Messiah will come again and winds up history as we know it. God will one day remake Creation (Earth and Heavens), as prophesied (in Matthew, other Gospels, Revelation and some Jewish Scriptures). This will occur at the end of this Era, when humanity as a whole gets so bad that none of the above ways work any more. This is when God will re-create a New Heavens and Earth, in which there will be no evil, but all will be Fulfilled. And those who refuse are banished. Finally, the intended joy of all Creation arrives. [Note: Revelation]
Is it that God has tried two solutions that failed then tries a third? Is it like installing a completely new version that fixes all the bugs? I do not think so. Rather, I see it as part of God's Plan all along. The glory of this long, slow (to us) four-stage solution is that it retains the Dignity of all Creation, especially human beings, as responsive agents. In stages 1, 2 and 3, people are given plenty of chances to repent, God waiting patiently, so, when the final stage begins, humanity cannot say to God "Ah, but you did not let us try X solution!" Moreover, each stage set the ground for, and prepared for, the next and later stages. For example, during the stage of Israel, promises were made about the two coming stages and expectations were raised. Notice how the Messiah is not just plonked onto the Earth, but comes as a natural process of human ancestry (except for the Messiah being born to a virgin). God loves all Creation, and wants to honour its agency as much as possible [Note: Creation's Agency].
But eventually the final stage must occur, the one that will last forever in joy for all Creation and Creator together.
If all the above is valid, therefore, the apparent violence and even 'genocide' we seem to read about in Scripture - in early Genesis, in Joshua, in Jeremiah 45 and in Revelation chapter 4 onwards - is not what it seems. It is God's surgical removal of the cancer that would destroy and bring huge suffering to the entire Creation. Out of love for Creation, including the poor and defenceless and marginalized among humankind, God must remove it, after giving the cancerous many opportunities to be healed and find it refuses every offer.
This satisfies me on the questions about God's so-called 'genocide' in the past. But what about today?
I will let you discuss this, with a set of questions to help. Currently we live 2000 years through the third stage and look forward to the fourth stage, which some say is imminent. I address these questions mainly to those who believe they are people of God, people who represent God in the world, but others might find them instructive too. Avoid taking sides; try to discuss from what we know of God's perspective.
Note on Genocide. We today are appalled at what we call genocide: the destruction of a race of people, because they are that race. And some reject the Bible and Christianity, and even God, on the grounds that it seems to support such genocide. Many Christians of course do not, but we hear of high profile cases of genocide-allowers claiming Christian faith. Many of the latter, in my view, are dishonouring Christ, in that they are 'using' Scripture to bolster their political prejudices rather than submitting humbly to Scripture. Nevertheless, and more deeply, I wonder whether we superior people today really are in a position to judge God. Maybe what God (seems to have) brought about is not the same as what we call genocide today?
Note on Scripture. I want to accept all Scripture, including those above, as God's Word (Communication to Humankind), and I want to believe the same God is revealed in both the Jewish Scriptures and the New Testament, and I want to subject myself to its wholeness. So I must come to a satisfactory understanding of such 'difficult' parts. I do not find the standard answers, from either side, helpful.
Note on The Air We Breathe. In The Air We Breathe, Greg Scrivener [2022] argues that the values that 'decent' Western liberal society takes for granted come from the Gospel of Christ, or at least the Torah - things like Equality, Compassion, Consent, Enlightenment, Science, Freedom, Progress, to each of which he devotes a chapter. Tom Holland argues similarly though for a slightly different set of values; they were not present in Greek and Roman culture but came because of the Gospel of Christ.
Note: Standard Answers. Standard answers include (among others): "The God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New revealed by Jesus." (But did not Jesus affirm the OT?) "These OT things did not really happen, but were written by scribes who wanted to suggest divine support for Israel's tribal victories." (That presupposes the Bible as merely human book, but might it be the work of a God Who is active with people?) "It is a mystery that we cannot probe; somehow we just have to accept both." [Note: Mystery]. (But does not that leave us open to dividing into camps supporting one against the other? [Note: McLaren]) I want to take the account in the Jewish Scriptures seriously, without explaining them away, along with that in the New Testament.
Note: Mystery. All is ultimately mystery to the rationalising mind. But did not God give humanity the ability to understand intuitively even if not with precise rationalising? e.g. Proverbs 25:2.
Note on Canaanite, Canaanist and Canaanism. "Canaanite" refers to tribes and mini-nations who dwelt in the lands at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea around 4000 years ago. The Hebrew Scriptures name half a dozen Canaanite tribes, all descended from Canaan, grandson of Noah. It seems, from the Scriptures and from archaeological records as far as the latter can tell us, that their culture was pervaded by an attitude and mindset opposed to that which God wants. That is why I call such a mindset "Canaanist" and "Canaanism".
The word "Canaanism" is used only once elsewhere, for the small Canaanism Movement nearly a century ago, which died out in the 1960s. It was used as a perjorative label for the Council for the Coalition of Hebrew Youth founded in 1939, whose two-dozen members were right-wing Jews who wanted to establish a Hebrew homeland distancing themselves from Judaism. It had some influence on art and scultpure but little else. That many of its members were in Irgun or the Stern Gang suggests that the attitude that pervaded it resembles what we have called Canaanism.
Note on Heroes and Heroism. The Canaanite tribes, evolving to the Greek mindset, lauded heroes, whereas God's mindset is to value the ordinary person, so is heroism bad? Heroism is not bad in itself, but when heroes become self-absorbed elites it becomes evil and powerful heroes do much evil. As has been said, "Alexander the Great wanted to be Achilles, Julius Caesar wanted to be Alexander, and Napoleon wanted to be Julius Caesar." And Adolf Hitler's mindset was centred on the Viking idea of heroes. All were Canaanist and devastated much around them. Rory Stewart's BBC series on The Long History of Heroism [BBC, 2025] is a useful study, and shows the evolution of the idea of heroism, from conquerors, through to 'ordinary' people and self-giving people (note the influence of God's view here; true heroism is self-giving, serving some Higher than the self) to today's self-obsessed poster super-heroes.
Note on Another Kind of Sin. After God exiled the people of Judah to Babylon so that "in Babylon they were cured of Babylon [wanting to be like the world]", and restored them to Jerusalem, they became ultra-careful to ensure that what they understood as the Law of God was kept by the people, so that exile would not happen again. Pendulum swings to the opposite extreme. They formed "human rules" [Mark ===] to keep people a distance from transgressing Mosaic Laws. Jewish society became 'righteous' - yet this is accompanied by its own kind of sin, as seen in the Pharisees and Teachers of Law: hypocrisy, harshness ("You lay heavy burdens on people but lift not a finger to help" [===]), putting religious purity over compassion (as in the priest and levite who passed by on the other side [===]), and a sense of moral arrogance. Paul develops This theme in the book to the Romans. Almost, one might suggest that these are the main sin of the Jews while Canaanism is the main sin of the Gentiles - except that today, since God has spread people throughout the Gentiles to bring God's attitude there, it is not as simple as that since Gentile culture has changed because of that. Among the Gentiles, we find echoes of God's desired culture in what Greg Scrivener calls The Air We Breathe [Note: The Air We Breathe], and (surprising to me when I first read it, in Tom Holland's Dominion, but it grew on me as I pondered it) that the Gospel of Christ is what has led to today's 'Woke' culture. And might it be that the emergence and ascendency of angry anti-Woke in Andrew Tate, Donald Trump and others is a re-emergence of raw Canaanism - even among Christians? Was Adolf Hitler, inspired by Nietzshe, an earlier attempt at this re-emergence? Both 'sides' have sin, and in some ways the same root sin, but emerging in different forms. Many things to discuss there. But in this article, I outline only Canaanism, because I see it emerging now, especially in the most dominant and influential nation. Might this accelerate the destruction of the Earth, leading to ultimate judgment by God [Revelation 11:18]? And are Christians delinquent in supporting it?
Note on Justice and Love. We often see God's justice and God's love as somehow in tension with each other and (to Christians) the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the only way to resolve it. But that comes from too individualist a mindset, and in fact God's justice is because of God's love, not in spite of it. See Justice As Love.
Note on tsedeq. See page on tsedeq.
Note on War. But, some will say, does not war stimulate better things afterwards? Occasionally, but usually not; maybe partially, but never fully and with much damage to the whole. Most local wars end up in directing half the nation's efforts towards various types of revenge and resistance. After World War I, did we not have the 'Roaring Twenties' when the economy of Europe boomed? Well yes, but it was roaring for the elites who led us into debauchery, not for ordinary folk, and then the Great Depression of the 1930s struck. After World War I France especially wanted revenge on Germany, to humiliate them, and this led to the rise of Nazism that caused World War I. After World War II, did not we have a long reign of peace and prosperity? Yes ... but two things. One is that it was the influence of the Christian mindset of generous self-giving love that was uppermost in healing Germany and most European nations and trying to bring recovery leading to prosperity. The other is that, because we turned to "affluence, arrogance, unconcern" in our prosperity, we began to destroy the world, especially climate and biodiversity, and became haughty enough to ignore and even encourage devastating wars in Africa. Though by God's grace, there is some recovery after war, humankind itself does not allow much good after war. That is a summary of a much longer discussion, involving many.
Note on Competition. I, along with CS Lewis, have suggested that competition is evil, but what about competition in sport? Does not competition among academics and companies foster innovation, growth in knowledge and a 'healthier' economy? Actually the answer is No. See discussion of Competition and Competitiveness in the economy, where it is shown that competition harms the environment, human health and even the economy itself. For more discussion from a Christian perspective, see Competition, Rivalry and Status: Some Biblical and Practical Reflections.
Note on Representing God. In a situation in which humans as a whole refuse the mandate of representing God to the rest of Creation and they turn to evil, the people of Israel are to represent God as a culture among cultures and thus be a "light to the nations" and Christians are to represent God as people among all peoples, and thus be "salt" and "light". See Representing God. Other humans are not excluded: they could become part of Israel, and much more easily become Christians.
Representing God is a privilege (that all are invited to enter) but also a responsibility. Amos 1,2 show us that the standards God applied to God's representatives (Israel and Judah) are much higher than applied to the other nations. So, in a way of speaking, God seems to be much more angry when God's people misrepresent God than with the sin that other peoples do.
Note on Creation's Agency. Genesis 1 tells us that God "saw" that the Creation was Good. That is, Creation displayed itself in how it operated as an agent subject to the laws of various aspects with which God had gifted it (physical, biological, psychological, social, jural, etc. laws that enable Good). Then we find human beings occasionally arguing with God, and God dignifying them by listening. Then, when the people of Israel crossed the Sea and the Jordan River, the Scripture tells us of natural processes that held the waters back. These are just a couple of examples of how God respects Creation's agency.
Note on Creation Care. Creation Care is in the eyes of God, not just those of environmentalists. One can argue that Creation Care is what humans were made for [see New View - Overview of its Theology. To refuse that role and mandate is a deep, and not superficial, sin of the heart (individual) and culture (society). The thing is that God, in mercy, overlooked that sin in the past because humankind had little impact on the Planet Earth, but today, with the human population, amplified by our technological and economic power, we are "destroying the Earth", as the Elders in Revelation 11:18 put it, saying the time (kairos) has come for the destruction of such people. (That is why I pick that sin out among the many others.) Are we among them? Should not Christ's people lead in the Good rather than lead in refusing the Good? Very sadly, a number of Christian organisations are leading in fighting against Creation Care, such as the Cornwall Alliance. Are they right or am I?
Note on Mclaren. In his book, The Great Spiritual Migration, Brian McLaren speaks on the challenging verses about God's so-called genocide, reporting a student who responded with "But if it [genocide] is in the Bible I have to accept it could be valid." His view was diametrically opposed to that of McLaren.
Note on God With Us. God desires to work and live with us, not just above us, and us to live and work with God, not just for God. However, during this era of sinfulness, when we refuse to work with God, but only for ourselves, and things suffer, much of God's working with us takes on the character of warning, of problem-solving, of rescue, of correction, of remedying, of preventing, etc. But please, as you read about that, remember God is also with us in positive ways, especially those who represent God, even though we do not mention that a lot here.
Note on Melchizedek. Genesis 14; Hebrews 7:1-2; Psalm 110:4. See page on Melchizedek.
Note on the Messiah. The Messiah, whom Christians (and I) believe to be Jesus of Nazareth, is to be characterized by justice and peace in His reign. When God speaks of the Messiah in battle [rest of Psalm 11], it is not the competitive kind that is Canaanism, but the kind where the evil ones fight against God, and the Messiah brings right judgment on those who treat God as their enemy, to bring peace and justice on Earth. Whereas Canaanist fighting is a deliberate, provocative, readily-taken action, God's 'fighting' is reaction, reluctantly adopted as a last resort after much patience, and this is what characterizes the fighting carried out by God's Messiah.
Note on Interpreting the Book, Revelation. Please do not focus on trying to work out the processes and timelines by which this all will occur, such as the Millennium; only notice the Two Witnesses, the Jews and the Messiah's people, Christians. As one person puts it, the message of Revelation is, "Jesus wins" - but not in a Canaanist way - so that the eventual outcome is all working together in tsedeq and shalom rooted in the agape love of God.
McLaren BD. 2016. The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World's Largest Religion is Seeking a Better Way to be Christian. Hodder & Stoughton.
Scrivener G. 2022. The Air We Breathe. The Good Book Company.
Original Introduction, to 20 August 2025
Why did God obliterate most of humanity by the flood? Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Why did God command the people of Israel to entirely annihiliate various Canaanite tribes? Today we call this "genocide" and utterly condemn it [Note: Genocide] - so it causes a great problem for those who want to take the Bible seriously [Note: Bible].
I have been struggling with this for many decades [Note: Answers that do not satisfy me] but recently have discovered an explanation that satisfies me. I write about it here, partly to help sort out my understanding of it, but partly because I have not read it elsewhere, so it might be helpful to others.
It involves recognising the importance, to God, of all Creation (rather than only individual human relationships with God), of culture (not just individuals) and of the heart (not just visible behaviour). The way of understanding I have discovered does more that resolves that problem, making sense of many other things and even helps us understand the world today.
Of society's culture, we can differentiate two basic types: that which God intends humanity to hold, and that which is opposed to it. I will label the attitude opposed to God's intention, Canaanism, because it seems to have pervaded especially the Canaanite tribes of old. [Note: Canaanite, Canaanist, Canaanism]
This page, URL= "http://abxn.org/nv/canaanism.html",
is part of the on-going work in developing a 'New View' in theology and practice that is appropriate to the days that are coming upon us. Comments, queries welcome by emailing
Compiled by Andrew Basden as part of his reflections from a Christian perspective. Copyright (c) Andrew Basden to latest date below, but you may use this material for almost any purpose, but subject to certain conditions.
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Created: 25 February 2025. Last updated: 21 March 2025. 3 April 2025 examples of today. 27 July 2025 2000 years. 28 July 2025 new Summary. 28 July 2025 radah. 11 August 2025 Notes edited. 17 August 2025 some edited, extra stuff removed - uploaded. 18 August 2025 heroes. 21 August 2025 New intro; para + note on Another Kind of Sin, References. 29 August 2025 new intro; summary moved to start. 7 September 2025 contents; a bit rw intro and Againsness, and re violence.