No one was harmed in the making of this religion
If God exists, he can’t or won’t further reduce human suffering from what we observe. Could an all-loving God create and preside over such a world? William Lane Craig says Yes-indeedily! His treatment of this passage from the Old Testament clears it right up.
The Bible says God ordered genocide:
“But as for the towns of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as Yahweh your God has commanded.” (Deuteronomy 20.16-18)
Ok, then. How does Craig get the blood out of God’s robes?
Well, first of all, the Bible might be wrong. It isn’t, but this is preferable to saying God is evil or nonexistent.
Second, the Canaanites were given 400 years to repent. It would be unjust to be patient any longer.
Third, God gave us life. He can end it whenever and however he wishes and he’s still loving.
Besides all that, it’s not murder when God does it. God has the right to command an act, which, in the absence of a divine command, would have been sin, but which is now morally obligatory in virtue of that command.
Finally, who did God wrong by ordering the Isrealis to exterminate the Canaanites?
The adults had it coming.
The babies were better off dead. Running them through with swords hastened their entry into heaven. Their finite pain was offset by infinite bliss in paradise.
The baby-killing Israeli soldiers were heroes.
Ta da!
Really. Here is Craig’s article. Check it out:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/slaughter-of-the-canaanites
Recent Comments