In a century of unrelenting, bloody warfare and religious persecution in Europe, Cromwell was, in many ways, a product of his times. As commander-in-chief of the army in Ireland, however, the responsibilities for the excesses of the military must be laid firmly at his door, while the harsh nature of the post-war settlement also bears his imprint.

Many people today think of Satan as a little red demon with a pointy tail and a pitchfork—but this vision of the devil developed over many centuries and would be foreign to the writers of the Old Testament, where this figure makes his first appearances. The earliest texts that mention the Satan—it is always “the Satan” in the Old Testament—portray him as an agent of Yahweh, serving as an executioner of evildoers. But over the course of time, the Satan came to be regarded more as God’s enemy than God’s agent and was blamed for a host of problems. Biblical scholar Ryan E. Stokes explains the development of the Satan tradition in the Hebrew scriptures and the writings of early Judaism, describing the interpretive and creative processes that transformed an agent of Yahweh into the archenemy of good. He explores how the idea of a heavenly Satan figure factored into the problem of evil and received the blame for all that is wrong in the world.

Through the mists of time, the last Templar and an Irish nun hunt an ancient, immortal evil. Tormond MacDonald, the last of the Templar Knights, was commissioned as Carnifex Dei, the Executioner of God, at Acre in the 13th century. His sacred mission - family, love, even his brother Templars - to fulfill his sacred vow, and he has pursued the enemy, a trio of witches, through the centuries. But always they elude him. Maebh O Broin, a 15th century nun, fleeing a different, undying evil, encounters the fearsome Executioner. They are thrown together by fate - or perhaps by Providence - and together, they travel the centuries. Every time they appear, they find a wrong to right, an evil to combat. But every time, the witches escape them. They run afoul of a demon, dealing a crippling blow to her malevolent designs. The demon plans her fiendish revenge upon Tormond and Maebh, and though it takes centuries . . . she will have them.

How should we understand biblical texts where God is depicted as acting irrationally, violently, or destructively? If we distance ourselves from disturbing portrayals of God, how should we understand the authority of Scripture? How does the often wrathful God portrayed in the Old Testament relate to the God of love proclaimed in the New Testament? Is that contrast even accurate? Disturbing Divine Behavior addresses these perennially vexing questions for the student of the Bible. Eric A. Seibert calls for an engaged and discerning reading of the Old Testament that distinguishes the particular literary and theological goals achieved through narrative characterizations of God from the rich understanding of the divine to which the Old Testament as a whole points. Providing illuminating reflections on theological reading as well, this book will be a welcome resource for any readers who puzzle over disturbing representations of God in the Bible.