Is God a Moral Monster?

Author: Paul Copan
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441214542
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
A recent string of popular-level 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. This viewpoint is even making inroads into the church. How are Christians to respond to such accusations? And how are we to reconcile the seemingly disconnected natures of God portrayed in the two testaments? In this timely and readable book, apologist Paul Copan takes on some of the most vexing accusations of our time, including: 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.

God Behaving Badly

Author: David T. Lamb
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 1514003503
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 157

Book Description
God has a bad reputation. Many think of God as wrathful and angry, smiting people for no apparent reason. But the story is more complicated than that. Without minimizing the sometimes harsh realities of the biblical record, David Lamb unpacks the complexity of the Old Testament and assembles an overall picture that gives coherence to our understanding of God in both Old and New Testaments.

Did God Really Command Genocide?

Author: Paul Copan
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441221093
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 331

Book Description
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. Even Christians have a hard time stomaching such a thought, and many avoid reading those difficult Old Testament passages that make us squeamish. Instead, we quickly jump to the enemy-loving, forgiving Jesus of the New Testament. And yet, the question doesn't go away. Did God really command genocide? Is the command to "utterly destroy" morally unjustifiable? Is it literal? Are the issues more complex and nuanced than we realize? In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages. Pastors, youth pastors, campus ministers, apologetics readers, and laypeople will find that this book both enlightens and equips them for serious discussion of troubling spiritual questions.

Disturbing Divine Behavior

Author: Eric A. Seibert
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 145140770X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Book Description
How should we understand biblical texts where God is depicted as acting irrationally, violently, or destructively? If we distance ourselves from disturbing portrayals of God, how should we understand the authority of Scripture? How does the often wrathful God portrayed in the Old Testament relate to the God of love proclaimed in the New Testament? Is that contrast even accurate? Disturbing Divine Behavior addresses these perennially vexing questions for the student of the Bible. Eric A. Seibert calls for an engaged and discerning reading of the Old Testament that distinguishes the particular literary and theological goals achieved through narrative characterizations of God from the rich understanding of the divine to which the Old Testament as a whole points. Providing illuminating reflections on theological reading as well, this book will be a welcome resource for any readers who puzzle over disturbing representations of God in the Bible.

Who's Afraid of the Old Testament God?

Author: Alden Thompson
Publisher: Energion Publications
ISBN: 9781893729070
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 140

Book Description
Targeted to thoughtful readers, this book addresses a cluster of issues often troubling for the person who seeks to understand the Old Testament. Who's Afraid of the Old Testament God? speaks very frankly about some of these "problems," things like sin and the fall, Satan, "moral blemish" passages, strange laws, etc.

The Morality of God in the Old Testament

Author: Gregory K. Beale
Publisher: P & R Publishing
ISBN: 9781596388529
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 32

Book Description

Show Them No Mercy

Author: C. S. Cowles
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310873762
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
Did God condone genocide in the Old Testament? How do Christians harmonize the warrior God of Israel with the God of love incarnate in Jesus? Christians are often shocked to read that Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, commanded the total destruction--all men, women, and children--of the ethnic group known as the Canaanites. This seems to contradict Jesus' command in the New Testament to love your enemies and do good to all people. How can Yahweh be the same God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? What does genocide in the Bible have to do with the politics of the 21st century? Show Them No Mercy explores the Old Testament command of God to exterminate the Canaanite population and what that implies about continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The four views presented are: Strong Discontinuity – emphasizes the strong tension, regarding violence, between the two main texts of the Bible (C.S. Cowles) Moderate Discontinuity – provides a justification of God’s actions in the Old Testament with strong emphasis on exegesis (Eugene H. Merrill) Eschatological Continuity – a reading of the warfare narratives that ties them contextually to the book of Revelation and the Second Coming (Daniel L. Gard) Spiritual Continuity – incorporates the genocidal account into the full picture of the Old and New Testaments (Tremper Longman III) The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

If God, Why Evil?

Author: Norman L. Geisler
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 0764208128
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Book Description
A trusted apologist provides a fresh, balanced approach to understanding how a loving God can preside over a world filled with evil and suffering.

Why I Believed

Author: Kenneth W. Daniels
Publisher: Kenneth W Daniels
ISBN: 0578003880
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Book Description
Part auto-biography and part exposé of Ken Daniels' experience and long time belief in Christianity and the questions and answers he's had to ask about with regard to the validity of Christian theories.

Old Testament Ethics for the People of God

Author: Christopher J. H. Wright
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830827781
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 521

Book Description
Christopher Wright examines a theological, social and economic framework for Old Testament ethics. Then he explores a variety of themes in relation to contemporary issues including economics, the land, the poor, politics, law and justice, and community.