Does the Old Testament Condone Rape and Genocide? With Paul Copan — The Alisa Childers Podcast #298/13/2018 There are some really difficult verses in the Bible...especially in the Old Testament. Why do some people think the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament? Does the Old Testament condone things like rape, genocide, and the oppression of women? Today, Dr. Paul Copan was kind enough to sit in the hot seat and field questions about specific Bible verses that seem to support these things. Here are the resources we referenced: Paul's article about Greg Boyd's "Cruciform" hermeneutic. Paul's debate with Greg Boyd on the Unbelievable Podcast
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ERIC D NELSON
8/13/2018 08:37:14 pm
There is no hint in the account of Jesus cleansing the temple that would suggest that he hurt any person or animal. He fashioned a whip and drove them out. When you crack a whip it startles the animals causing them to run. You do not hit them.
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Alisa Childers
8/13/2018 10:45:05 pm
Hi Eric, thanks for listening!
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ERIC D NELSON
8/14/2018 06:18:50 am
There is no doubt that Jesus was angry when he cleansed the temple. Angry at the corruption of the money changers. I believe this was an act of 'prophetic theater' that not only pointed out the corruption of the temple system, but would also come to show there would no longer be a need for the temple at all, because he was bringing a new and better covenant. This actually DID lead to his arrest and execution.
Alisa Childers
8/14/2018 07:44:10 am
I loved Gregg's book. Essential reading for any Christian wanting to understand eschatology for sure. 8/13/2018 10:19:56 pm
Hyperbole is not a good argument to justify these stories. Dueteronomy 20:16 very specifically says God has "commanded them", so Copan's answer very quickly becomes lacking unless we are comfortable saying the author exaggerated God's commands for his own artistic pleasure or some other unkown purpose. Hyperbole is a way for evangelical Christians to skate to the side of a literal interpretation when there really is not a good or positive answer to protect the God of the OT from the idea of commanding the Isrealites to kill others. God, earlier, even comforts them, through the priest, by saying he will go with them to destroy their enemies. The easiest reading is to see that God wants them to kill all things that breathe.
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Alisa Childers
8/13/2018 10:29:52 pm
Fair point. I know that one of my former guests, Clay Jones disagrees with Copan, and wrote about it in the piece below. I agree with Copan that there is some hyperbolic language, but I think it should not be discarded that Jones thinks Copan takes it too far. Here is an article to consider:
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