In this episode of The Word Made Human, we confront one of the Bible’s most brutal and bewildering texts: the book of Joshua. Told as a sweeping tale of divine conquest, Joshua has often been used to justify violence, nationalism, and exclusion. But what happens when we remove the divine mandate and read this story for what it is — the imagined origin story of a people seeking identity, security, and a sense of place in the world? If there is no god, then this book is not divine history, but human storytelling: flawed, urgent, and shaped by fear as much as hope. Join us as we dissect the myths of conquest and search for what, if anything, can still guide us toward a more ethical future.

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