Joshua Ryan Butler. The Skeletons in God’s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War. Thomas Nelson, 2014. This is part 3 of my review of The Skeletons in God’s Closet. For part 2 click here. Part 3 begins with the story of Rachel, a congregant at Butler’s church who […]
Old Testament
31. Eric Seibert on biblical violence and the Canaanites
If there was one thing drilled into me growing up in the church, it is that the Bible is “The Good Book”. And “good” meant, among other things, morally good. So throughout years of Sunday school I never thought twice about the mass drowning of men, women, children and animals in the Noahic flood. I never […]
26. Peter Enns on faith, the Bible, and evolution
Richard Dawkins famously declared that Charles Darwin made it possible to be “an intellectually fulfilled atheist”. Assuming that’s the case, did he also make it impossible to be an intellectually fulfilled theist, or at least an intellectually fulfilled Christian? In short, can evolution be reconciled with the Bible and Christian faith? Does Genesis 1-3 demand […]
12. A conversation on scripture as narrative with biblical scholar Keith Bodner
In this episode of the podcast we sit down with Dr. Keith Bodner, Professor of Religious Studies and the Stuart E. Murray Chair of Christian Studies at Crandall University in Moncton, New Brunswick. While the study of scripture since the Enlightenment has frequently been dominated by textual critical questions, Professor Bodner brings his background in English […]
Could God again command the killing of infants and children for a greater good? A critique of William Lane Craig
This is my eleventh installment of my ongoing critique of William Lane Craig’s podcast “Richard Dawkins and Driving Out the Canaanites.” (Yes, there is an end in sight. One final installment and I’m done.) For the tenth installment click here. This time around we join the podcast at 16:56 as Craig explains the unique nature […]
William Lane Craig on genocide as a sign of purity
This is the tenth installment of my ongoing critique of William Lane Craig’s defense of the Canaanite genocide. For part nine, “The Canaanite genocide as cruel and unusual punishment in extremis,” click here. We rejoin the podcast at (14:16). Just prior to this point Craig had argued that God did not wrong the Canaanite adults […]
The Canaanite genocide as cruel and unusual punishment in extremis
We’ve now arrived at the ninth installment of my ongoing critique of William Lane Craig’s podcast “Richard Dawkins and Driving out the Canaanites.” And you’re thinking to yourself: “Geez, isn’t this overkill? Move on Rauser.” And I’m thinking: “That pun was in poor taste. And I’m not moving on, because there is just so much […]
William Lane Craig thinks the Canaanites should’ve run! (And too bad if they didn’t.)
This is the eight installment of my ongoing critique of William Lane Craig’s podcast “Richard Dawkins and Driving out the Canaanites.” In this installment we’re going to return to an excerpt from the podcast which I transcribed originally in part 5. In this section Craig argues that the Canaanites had time to “get out of […]
William Lane Craig’s defense of genocide based on a reprobate culture
This article is the sixth installment in my series “On William Lane Craig’s defense of the Canaanite genocide”. (You can find part five here.) At this point we join the conversation at 10:32 into the podcast when Craig observes: “When you think how utterly corrupt these Canaanite cultures were — practicing child sacrifice to their gods, […]
On William Lane Craig’s defense of the Canaanite genocide (Part 5)
In the fourth installment of my critique of William Lane Craig’s podcast defending the Canaanite genocide, Matthew Flannagan reiterated an objection he had posted in response to an earlier installment of the series, namely that Craig does not understand himself to be defending genocide. Matt writes: “Craig has repeatedly explicitly denied that the command was to […]
Evangelicals who redefine genocide? A response to Justin Taylor
A few days ago Matt Flannagan took issue with my claim that William Lane Craig is defending biblical genocide. In Matt’s view, what Craig is defending is not genocide at all. It soon became evident that Matt and I disagree over how the word “genocide” is to be defined. This is an important issue and […]
On William Lane Craig’s defense of the Canaanite genocide (Part 4)
In this article I continue my critique of William Lane Craig’s “Reasonable Faith” podcast episode “Richard Dawkins and Driving out the Canaanites.” In this fourth installment I will critique Craig’s appeal to Israel’s status as a theocracy. We join the podcast in progress as it approaches the 6 minute mark and Craig states: “This is not a […]
Putting God in the Dock? A response to Justin Taylor
Thanks to Adam Omelianchuk and Walter for making me aware of Justin Taylor’s posted defense of biblical genocides. As Walter noted in his comment, there isn’t anything new here. But after giving it a brief read I did decide to comment on one section that reflects a very common error in thinking. Here’s what Taylor […]
On William Lane Craig’s defense of the Canaanite genocide (Part 2)
In my first installment in this series I argued that conservative Christian apologists like William Lane Craig and Paul Copan are at their weakest when they argue that God commanded putative moral atrocities like genocide. And I noted that the interlocutor for my critical discussion would be William Lane Craig’s defense of the Canaanite genocide in […]
