Church Lied: King David—The Serial Killer After God’s Own Heart: Warlord. Usurper. Racketeer. Mob Boss.

You know King David. Or at least, you think you do.- The shepherd boy who defeated Goliath.- The sweet psalmist of Israel.- The man after God's own heart.- The ancestor of Jesus.- The flawed-but ultimately faithful-hero of the Bible.That's the King David church gave us.But there's another David hiding in the pages of your Bible, who is surrounded by political intrigue, warfare, bloodshed, betrayal, sex, assassination, convenient deaths, and an astonishing rise from obscure shepherd to king, by violent means.In Church Lied: King David-The Serial Killer After God's Own Heart, bestselling author and Bible deconstructionist Valerie Love returns to the biblical text and places the familiar Sunday-school portrait of David alongside the questions raised by critical biblical scholarship.What if Saul wasn't simply paranoid about David?What if he had legitimate reason to fear the wildly popular young warrior who would eventually replace his dynasty?Why does the Bible say Elhanan killed Goliath when generations of Christians have been taught that David did?Why did David flee to Israel's enemies, live among the Philistines, receive territory from a Philistine king-and nearly march with them into the very battle in which Saul and Jonathan died?Why do so many people standing between David and the throne die while David repeatedly emerges innocent-and politically stronger?What really happened with Nabal and Abigail? Bathsheba and Uriah? Michal? Abner? Ish-bosheth? Mephibosheth? Absalom?And perhaps the most explosive question of all: Why does the biblical narrative work so hard to assure us that David didn't commit the dastardly deeds he benefits from?Drawing upon the biblical text, historical-critical scholarship, and the scholarly concept sometimes called the Davidic Apology, Valerie Love invites readers to investigate how the image of Israel's legendary king may have been shaped, defended, sanitized, and ultimately transformed into the David millions of Christians were taught to revere.This is not another devotional about becoming a person after God's own heart.This is an investigation.It is an invitation to remove the stained-glass filter, read the stories again, ask the questions religion discouraged you from asking, and encounter the bloody, ambitious, complicated King David hiding in your Bible.If you've ever wondered what happens when you read Scripture without apologetics, without religious programming, and without being afraid of where the evidence leads, this book is for you.The church gave you the shepherd boy.Now meet the bloody serial killer.