Introduction the god of the bible is a good god who demonstrates his love for people by giving his son for the salvation of those who believe john 3. God is arrogant and jealous god punishes people too harshly. The conquest of canaan is arguably the most intractable ethical problem in the bible, and to date no solution has garnered a consensus, says john w. The new atheists dawkins, dennett, harris, hitchens level arguments against old testament morality as primitive and barbaric, presumably undercutting belief in the biblical god yahweh. A recent string of popularlevel books written by the new atheists have leveled the accusation that the god of the old testament is nothing but a bully, a murderer, and a cosmic child abuser. Is god an a moral monster who encourages slavery and abuse. For a nonjewish person, the god of the old testament might come across is very cruel. But to will that they should be is to decree them jonathan edwardsrelated.
If anybody who has a hard copy of copans book wants to fix any pagination errors, id be in your debt. How do we explain gods command to israel to exterminate the canaanites. Not according to philosopher paul copan, who has written about this issue in his book is god a moral monster making sense of the old testament god. Is god a moral monster making sense of the old testament god kindle edition by copan, paul.
Copan points out that the phrase eye for an eye is not to be taken literally. However, opans analysis and explanation of gods actions is stellar. A recent string of popularlevel books written by the new atheists have leveled the accusation that the god of the. For example, god is accused of encouraging slavery or encouraging fathers to sell their daughters as slaves. Paul copans book consists of a response to the new atheists aggressive claims summarized by richard dawkinss description of the old testament god as a moral monster. Jan 01, 2011 is the god of the old testament nothing but a bully, a murderer, and an oppressor.
Now, it is selfevident that if he knows all things beforehand, he either approves of them or does not approve of them. But like the phoenix, god rises from the ashes, shorn of the moral categories that humans. A recent string of popularlevel books written by the new atheists have leveled the accusation that the god of the old testament is nothing but a bully, a murderer. Is god a moral monster a recent string of popularlevel books written by the new atheists have leveled the accusation that the god of the old. Is god a moral monster, committing or condoning genocide as some have interpreted from this text. The issue of commanding israelites to kill is difficult accept but not believe. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read is god a moral monster. But gods speeches from the whirlwind at the end of the book reflect a paradigm shift. In this timely and readable book, entitled is god a moral monsterapologist paul copan takes on some of the most vexing accusations of our time, including. When a person rejects the god of the bible, he often chooses to label him as immoral. Copan takes the time to explain many of the old testaments seemingly inexplicable and tedious laws. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Is a brief assessment on how much the modern world has been influenced by jesus, and argues that he is far more important than many of us imagine him. All that own the being of a god, own that he knows all things beforehand. Gods greatest achievement is the son of gods selfhumiliation. This god is not interested in justice or injustice. However, upon closer examination, it is clear that verses are being taken out of context by those attempting to read and understand scripture. Nonbelievers have been known to accuse god of being hypocritical, selfish, arrogant, judgmental, hateful, and even homicidala moral monster. His central argument is that no, having god helps, but of course as were all made in god s image we dont need him and that we can be moral without him but having him helps make us better. Awhile back i read paul copans book is god a moral monster. God is arrogant and jealous god punishes people too harshly god is guilty of ethnic cleansing god oppresses women god endorses slavery christianity causes violence and more copan not only answers god s critics, he also shows how to read both the old and new testaments faithfully, seeing an unchanging, righteous, and loving god in both.
Click download or read online button to is god a moral monster pdf book pdf for free now. It brings together important material that is otherwise scattered and demonstrates how this material responds to a line of moral criticism that has, by and large, been neglected by christian philosophers until now. What a great study of one of the most attacked subjects of christianity. Making sense of the old testament god 1st edition by copan, paul isbn. Yet the old testament presents creational moral ideals in genesis 12. Is an assessment of whether god craves attention, or whether being religious and worshipping god is a way of improving the self. We might as well say that yahweh isnt a moral monster because, really, when. Because of israels embeddedness in the ancient near easts harsh, morallyproblematic social milieu, old testament legislation is in.
God s greatest achievement is the son of god s selfhumiliation. The god of the bible is a good god who demonstrates his love for people by giving his son for the salvation of those who believe john 3. On closer inspection, the hero status accorded to abraham, moses and david in the old testament and echoed in the new testament is rooted not in their moral perfection but in their uncompromising dedication to the cause of yahweh and their rugged trust in the promises of god rather than lapsing into the idolatry of many of their contemporaries. Click download or read online button to get is god a moral monster book now. The book is good enough that i am leaning toward including it in the future as one of the four textbooks in the seminary apologetics course i teach and that, dear reader, is high praise indeed. In this timely and readable book, apologist paul copan takes on some of the most vexing accusations of our time, including. Is an assessment of the covenant, and whether picking one people is horrid and discriminatory or a good way to benefit the whole of humanity, i. These vocal atheists christopher hitchens, richard dawkins, and sam harris, both in writing and public debate, interpret the biblical god as a.
This viewpoint is even making inroads into the church. He sends rain upon the just and the unjust, the good and the evil alike. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A recent string of popularlevel books written by the new atheists have leveled the accusation that the god of the old t. Is god a moral monster download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Paul copan takes on neoatheists claims of a petty, malicious old testament god. He finished with, and besides rockets fly people to the moon but religion flies planes in the buildings as his final argument. Apr 22, 2017 is god an a moral monster who encourages slavery and abuse. What makes my jaw drop is that people today should base their lives on such an appalling role model as yahweh and even worse, that they should bossily try to force the same evil monster whether fact or fiction on the rest of us. Sometimes the real monster lies not so much in criticisms from without as in our own holding to. As an example, he asks us to continue reading in ex. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading is god a moral monster making sense of the old testament god. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading is god a moral monster making sense of. Making sense of the old testament god ebook written by paul copan. Christians believe that god himself is the standard. Jan 16, 2015 the issue of commanding israelites to kill is difficult accept but not believe. In the past i perused the discussion boards on the internet and at times found it difficult to defend what god did in the old testament against the accusations of some of todays modern critics. Moral standards require the existence of a good god when atheists attack the morality of the bible, it is important to ask where their standard for right and wrong comes from.
In the eyes of some, it presents god as fearinspiring, violent and vengeful a sharp contrast to the love and. He regularly displays humility in his interactions with human beingsespecially in jesus of nazareth, who comes to serve humans. How could an allpowerful, allloving god allow evil to exist. Many skeptics criticize biblical morality, claiming that the god described in the bible is immoral. This is a necessary step, before we can begin to move forward constructively, as a people who hope in god. And how are we to reconcile the seemingly disconnected natures of god portrayed in the two. Oct 04, 2011 gods greatest achievement is the son of gods selfhumiliation. Making sense of the old testament god grand rapids. Download is god a moral monster pdf ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format. By his very nature, god is humbleand he dwells with the humble in heart isa. Oxonian richard dawkins thinks that yahweh is truly a moral monster. I have already recommend this book to people who have children who have rejected the god of the bible for moral reasons. His central argument is that no, having god helps, but of course as were all made in gods image we dont need him and that we can be moral without him but having him helps make us better. Anyone familiar with the writings of the new atheists is aware of their penchant for taking potshots at old testament ethics.
The subject of david quammens monster of god is the nowendangered status of the maneating, socalled alpha predators who, for centuries, threatened the status of humanity on the food chain. Is god a moral monster making sense of the old testament. Is god a moral monster making sense of the old testament god english edition ebook. Hilber, professor of old testament at grand rapids theological seminary. Are the charges made by the new atheists a distorted representation of old testament ethics or is god a moral monster, as the new atheists says he is.
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