If I tried to change it, I'd be deviating from the truth of the story. Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand.
Truth can be dangerous.
If you go beyond the facts, things can happen, like Joshua's being shot. But wonderful things can happen, too. It is a superb piece of religious writing, but because it has gone beyond fact, it is deeply upsetting and untruthful to some people. If a story is not specified as being Christian, it is not Christian. But that is not so.