Joshua, America, and the Myth of Innocence: Undoing Manifest Destiny (Daniel Hawk)

Was America founded as a “new Israel”? And if so, what happens when biblical conquest narratives are used to justify colonization, displacement, and violence? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast, Dr. James Spencer speaks with Dr. Daniel Hawk, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary and author of Undoing Manifest Destiny: Settler America, Christian Colonists, and the Pursuit of Justice, about how Christian theology became entangled with the American settler story—and why that story now needs to be reexamined.

Drawing on decades of Old Testament scholarship, especially his work on the Book of Joshua, Daniel Hawk explains how biblical narratives meant to form Israel’s identity were gradually transformed into templates for empire in the American imagination. Early Christian colonists interpreted their arrival in the New World through conquest theology—believing God had given them the land and authorized the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. Over time, this reading hardened into a powerful civil religion, blending Christian language with national mythology.

James and Daniel explore how Manifest Destiny functioned as a theological story—one that framed American expansion as divinely sanctioned while masking injustice behind a “myth of innocence.” They discuss how the Exodus and conquest narratives were selectively used to legitimize political freedom and territorial expansion, while conveniently excluding Scripture’s deep moral critique of power, violence, and covenant unfaithfulness.

The conversation also addresses the enduring effects of settler colonialism—not merely as a historical event, but as a set of social, economic, and cultural structures that continue shaping American life. Daniel argues that unresolved colonial sin damages everyone: Indigenous communities who bear the weight of dispossession and trauma, and white Christians whose imaginations have been warped by unexamined dominance and control.

Rather than assigning blame, Hawk calls Christians to a posture of discipleship, humility, and repentance. Undoing the settler narrative begins with learning local histories, listening to Indigenous voices, and allowing uncomfortable truths to challenge long-held assumptions. Healing, he suggests, requires telling the whole story—without mythologizing the past or silencing pain.

James and Daniel also reflect on the role of globalization, modern capitalism, and environmental exploitation as ongoing echoes of colonial logic, as well as Daniel’s work with the First Nations Version Bible translation project—an effort to hear Scripture through Indigenous linguistic and cultural frameworks.

This episode invites Christians to ask hard questions: How should Scripture shape our understanding of land, power, and justice? What does repentance look like at a communal level? And how might the church become an agent of reconciliation rather than a guardian of national mythology?

Topics include:

• The Book of Joshua and Christian identity

• Manifest Destiny as civil religion

• How biblical narratives were misused to justify colonization

• Settler colonialism vs. other forms of empire

• The “myth of innocence” in American history

• Structural sin and enduring injustice

• Listening to Indigenous voices and histories

• Discipleship, repentance, and reconciliation

• Christianity beyond nationalism

You can get Undoing Manifest Destiny: Settler America, Christian Colonists, and the Pursuit of Justice at ivpress.com (use code IVPPOD20 for a 20% discount)

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To read James's article on this topic, check out his author page on Christianity.com.

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