ISBN : 9780199671854
Adherents of the Abrahamic religions have traditionally held that God is morally perfect and unconditionally deserving of devotion, obedience, love, and worship. The Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures tell us that God is compassionate, merciful, and just. As is well-known, however, these same scriptures contain passages that portray God as wrathful, severely punitive, and jealous. Critics furthermore argue that the God of these scriptures commends bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia, condones slavery, and demands the adoption of unjust laws-for example, laws that mandate the death penalty for adultery and rebellion against parents, and laws institutionalizing in various ways the diverse kinds of bigotry and oppression just mentioned. In recent days, these sorts of criticisms of the Hebrew Bible have been raised in new and forceful ways by philosophers, scientists, social commentators, and others. This volume brings together eleven original essays representing the views of both critics and defenders of the character of God as portrayed in these texts. Authors represent the disciplines of philosophy, religion, and Biblical studies. Each essay is accompanied by comments from another author who takes a critical approach to the thesis defended in that essay, along with replies by the essay's author.
Introduction
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
I: PROBLEMS PRESENTED
1. Does God Love Us?
Comments on 'Does God Love Us?'
Reply to Stump
2. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Comments on 'The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob'
Reply to van Inwagen
3. Satanic Verses: Moral Chaos in Holy Writ
Comments on 'Satanic Verses: Moral Chaos in Holy Writ.'
Reply to Plantinga
II: SOLUTIONS PROPOSED
4. Animal Sacrifices
Comments on Animal Sacrifices
Reply to Crenshaw
5. God Beyond Justice
Comments on 'God Beyond Justice'
Reply to Morriston
6. The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek
Comments on 'The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek'
Reply to Draper
7. What does the Old Testament Mean?
Comments on 'What does the Old Testament Mean?'
Reply to Morriston
8. Reading Joshua
Comments on 'Reading Joshua'
Reply to Antony
THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
9. What About the Canaanites?
Comments on 'What About the Canaanites'
Reply to Wolterstorff
10. Canon and Conquest: The Character of the God of the Hebrew Bible
Comments on 'Canon and Conquest: The Character of the God of the Hebrew Bible'
Reply to Fales
CONCLUDING REMARKS
11. God's Struggles
Index