A scant few weeks ago Dr
Paul Copan appeared on the
UK radio program Unbelievable? to discuss his book
Is God A Moral Monster? Paul Copan's view is that people have been misunderstanding several passages in the
Bible that appears that God commanded His people to perpetuate genocide on the people of
Canaan. He argues that, like many accounts of the period, instead of truly meaning that everything was killed - men, women, children, and live-stock - the Bible is just saying that the
Israelites' enemies lost really, really badly and not that they killed everyone - even civilians. I'm personally not completely sold on this viewpoint but I find it interesting. In weeks after a program, Unbelievable?'s host Justin Brieberly, reads e-mails and correspondence on earlier programs. In the episode just a couple of weeks after Paul Copan appeared, he read an e-mail from Madeleine Flannagan who, along with her husband Dr. Matthew Flannagan, agree with Dr Copan's view. In the following link to their blog, the Flannagans posted the text of what was read on the air. I'm still not sure if I'm convinced I mean why not just go with what the text says and understand that God had good enough
moral reason and authority to command what God do/does and do/allow what God does? If we disagree - we are wrong. Be-that-as-it-may, I found Madeliene Flannagan's expressions well-worth reading and she summed up the position in a very compact way.
Madeleine on Unbelievable? | MandM
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