Portrait of God in Saul's Rise and Rejection

It has long been taught in the church that Saul was rejected because of his disobedience to God. In recent literary studies on the First Book of Samuel, however, God is portrayed as malicious, hostile, ambiguous, or problematic, especially in God's relation to King Saul. While agreeing that those pictures of God are an integral part of 1 Samuel, the author argues that those portrayals are mainly based on the representation of God by Prophet Samuel who is a fallible human being. Reading the text closely, she presents God as working in dynamic relation with humans, giving them room to exercise their freedom and holding them accountable. She delves into cases where human interests enter the picture to deflect God's intention. Her reading shows how human action or inaction affects and sometimes distorts the divine portrait. This book will help both the theologically conservative and the liberal readers who want to ponder on the ways in which God operates in the history and on the parts humans play.