Moral objections to the Old Testament 1Peter J. WilliamsTyndale House, Cambridge

Trust: the vital conceptWhat deserves trust?What precedes trust?Trusting one who knows more

1. Objections to violence

Religion and Violence

And then

The New Atheism

Especially Christian faith The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomanical, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, page 51

Biblical StrangenessNatural strangeness of another cultureNatural strangeness of another timeCultures naturally tend to view themselves as superiorChronological snobbery / progress narrativeWe find it hard to question assumptions of our own culture

Doesnt God command the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites?How can a God of love command the destruction of seven nations?What about the poor, innocent children?Thats genocideIf your God could tell them to kill people, then he might tell you to kill someone. Thats just like the suicide bombers.

A common atheist perspective of the command to destroy the CanaanitesOld TestamentGenocideReligiousTerrorism==

Christian morality seems strange to atheists because we believe different things about the universe

Central to all questions is the character of God and his trustworthiness

What God commands is right, but this has limitsGod cannot command you to do bad(e.g. lie)But he can command you to do something which would have been bad if he hadnt commanded youUnqualified, that sounds riskyFor Christians this is highly qualified by the character of God

The character of GodBut God reveals himself as mercifulOld Testament gives record of his gracious actionsGod has proven characterHumans can trust him

New Atheist attacks on the Old Testament

Joshua and Hitler the Bible story of Joshuas destruction of Jericho, and the invasion of the Promised Land in general, is morally indistinguishable from Hitlers invasion of Poland, or Saddam Husseins massacres of the Kurds and the Marsh Arabs (Dawkins, The God Delusion, p. 280)

Dawkins version of the storyGod doesnt speak to peopleNo miracles performedNo massive exodus Characters judged as if God hadnt actually told them to do something

The beginningGod gave everyone lifeGod does not think violence is goodIn the beginning there was no violence

The endThe wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6 ESV)

What you need to know about the Canaanites 1They were punished for their wickedness, not for their raceRahab and extended family were spared (Joshua 6:25)When Israel committed same sins as Canaanites they were judged like the CanaanitesThey knew what God could do and chose to resist

What you need to know about the Canaanites 2They sacrificed their children

for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:31 ESV)

What you need to know about the Israelite conquest 1Israel had a unique position as Gods judicial representativeAccompanied by miracles as sign that it was not of human initiativeThey could not reasonably doubt Gods command

What you need to know about the Israelite conquest 2Limited by proportionalityUnparalleled restraint in ancient warfare

What if?Put an end to Canaanite child sacrificeOver centuries might result in killing of fewer children

What you need to know about Godmerciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6 ESV)Delayed their punishment by hundreds of years:the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete (Genesis 15:16 ESV)Did most of the fighting

Yes, but thats just the way the Bible justifies it

Dont lots of nations claim to be better than other ones?Bible claims the oppositeIsrael became as bad as the other nationsE.g. Genesis 19 and Judges 19Manasseh burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with wizards (2 Kings 21:6 ESV) Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him (2 Kings 21:11 ESV)

Doesnt the Bible encourage people to kill others today?Absolutely not!No group has same judicial position as Israel had on earthGod did not order their action privately, but with greatest show of signs of all historyCompletely different from all modern warsReaders know theyre reading about something unique

Recap: a common atheist perspectiveOld TestamentGenocideReligiousTerrorism==

Dawkins viewJoshuaHitleror Saddam

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitleror SaddamSpecific guilt

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitleror SaddamSpecific guiltNot indiscriminate

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitleror SaddamConcern for childrenSpecific guiltNot indiscriminate

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitler or SaddamConcern for childrenSpecific guiltNot indiscriminate400 year delay

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitleror SaddamConcern for childrenSpecific guiltNot indiscriminate400 year delayWarning ignored

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitleror SaddamConcern for childrenSpecific guiltNot indiscriminate400 year delayWarning ignoredWarrant

Morally indistinguishable really?JoshuaHitleror SaddamConcern for childrenSpecific guiltNot indiscriminate400 year delayWarning ignoredWarrantGod fights

Things which sound similar can involve huge moral contrasts

Which objection is being made?It was immoral for God to command the destruction of the CanaanitesIt was immoral for the Israelites to obey such a command if it really was given in the way the Bible describes

Questions?

****

*Child sacrifice (youll find this image under Pozo Moro) - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monumento_de_Pozo_Moro_(M.A.N._Inv.1999-76-A)_02.jpg Attribution: Luis Garcia. Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported(CC BY-SA 3.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

*Assyrians (probably from British Museum) killing captives simply couldnt find an unrestricted versionAssyrians impaling captured Judeans - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JudeanImpalement_Roaf185.jpg Permission: Public domain due to age****