Problem: It seems cruel that the men of Judah would “cut off his thumbs and big toes” (Judg. 1:6). Is this a case of cruel and unusual punishment?
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Problem: In Joshua 18, the tribes cast lots for the land. Doesn’t the Bible denounce gambling like this?
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Problem: Caleb said, “The one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as a wife” (Josh. 15:16). But then his brother Othniel volunteers to do capture Kiriath-sepher and succeeds. Thus we read, “Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it; so he gave him Achsah his daughter as a wife” (Josh. 15:17). Why does Caleb allow for incest of this magnitude?
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Problem: When critics see other books mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, they usually raise questions about the Hebrew canon: Were there many other holy books that never made it into the Bible? The Book of Jasher is mentioned here and in 1 Samuel 1:18. Is this an example of a “holy book” that never made it into the canon of Scripture?
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Problem: A great deal has been written on Joshua’s’ long day where the sun and moon stood still in the sky. What are we to make of this passage of Scripture? Was it meant to be understood literally, or figuratively? To answer that, let’s first take a look at it.
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Problem: The Gibeonites had heard about how Israel was taking down each and every one of their cities (Josh. 9:3). They banned together and deceived the Israelites by pretending that they had come from a “far country” (Josh. 9:9) –even though Gibeon is only about a day’s journey away. However, after finding out that they were enemies (Josh. 9:16), the Jews did not attack them (Josh. 9:18). Why would they honor an oath with these deceivers that became such a problem down the road in their history (see 2 Sam. 21:1ff)?
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Problem: Atheist Richard Dawkins considers the war over Canaan to be one of the most morally atrocious aspects of the OT.[1] In his book The God Delusion, he writes,

The Bible story of Joshua’s destruction of Jericho, and the invasion of the Promised Land in general, is morally indistinguishable from Hitler’s invasion of Poland, or Saddam Hussein’s massacres of the Kurds and the Marsh Arabs. The Bible may be an arresting and poetic work of fiction, but it is not the sort of book you should give your children to form their morals. As it happens, the story of Joshua in Jericho is the subject of an interesting experiment in child morality.[2]
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