In contemporary Christianity the claim is often made that only behaviors are sinful. However, the idea that only external acts can be sinful, or immoral or transgressive, is a very modern idea. It is certainly not one the biblical authors or the early Church Fathers would have endorsed, let alone Jesus (Matt 5:21-30). In fact, one Church Father, Clement of Alexandria, argued that even our dreams could be sinful. While some modern Christians may balk at the thought of involuntary... Read more
In the last few posts I have offered a defense of the “literal view” of the conquest of the Canaanites. This renewed interest surrounding the justice of God’s commands to Moses to conduct herem, or total destruction, against the Canaanites was sparked by a controversial interview the YouTube skeptic Alex O’Connor conducted with Christian philosopher, William Lane Craig. In these posts, I have provided some reasons to think that even if the commands to destroy the Canaanites, to include women,... Read more
In this series, I have been defending the literalist view of the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan. This series was prompted by an interview William Lane Craig did with the YouTube atheist, Alex O’Connor. In that video, Craig defended the attack on the Canaanites by appealing to a version of Divine Command Theory, whereby God’s commands are directly related to His perfect nature. Craig also referenced this 2009 article by Clay Jones, which highlights some of the “abominable practices” of the... Read more
In my last article, I addressed a recent controversy that broke about Israel’s conquest of the Canaanites. In that article, I began a defense of the literalist view of the war against Canaan; one that has recently reemerged in light of an interview that William Lane Craig did with Alex O’Connor, an atheist YouTuber. In that interview, Craig defends the literal view of the conquest based on two major premises: first, that the commands of God are always in alignment... Read more
Recently, an online debate flared up regarding the biblical conquest of the Canaanites, or what some have even called the Canaanite Genocide (according to the modern use of the word). The debate started when online atheist YouTuber, Alex O’Connor, interviewed Richard Dawkins. In that interview, O’Connor pressed Dawkins about why he doesn’t debate Christian apologists or philosophers, many of whom O’Connor seems friendly with. Dawkins, in typical pompous fashion, said that he doesn’t have time for such people, and, unprompted... Read more
In my last post on Deuteronomy Chapter 7, I discussed the three reasons the Bible gives for why God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites. Those reasons were: 1) to prevent the Israelites from intermarrying with pagan women, which 2) would lead to false beliefs about God, i.e., to idolatry, which 3) would, in turn, lead them to participate in abominable practices and behaviors. In this post, we will look at four warnings God gives to His people prior to... Read more
“This communion which the saints have with Christ doth not make them in any wise partakers of the substance of his Godhead, or to be equal with Christ in any respect: either of which to affirm is impious and blasphemous.” (WCF 26.3) The First Temptation and Unbelief Do you remember the first temptation? It is the same temptation that comes at us still today. “You can be as God knowing good and evil.” How could Adam and Eve have known... Read more
In this episode of the Apologetics.com radio show, Dr. Harry Edwards, Lenny Esposito (vice-president of The Kirkwood Center) and I (Anthony) discussed the problem with adopting an attitude of worldview relativism in our culture. This episode was motivated by the comments and controversy surrounding Dr. Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard University. Can a culture survive without any sense of a transcendent, universal and culturally irrelevant code of conduct? Or are all truth claims relative to persons and cultures, and,... Read more
One of the most contentious and vexing questions of biblical history is God’s ordering Israel to destroy the people of Canaan. This order to annihilate the Canaanites, and other nations within the land of Israel, is presented most clearly in Deuteronomy, chapter 7: When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy, and he clears away many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites,... Read more
In my last three posts: here, here and here, I argued there are serious problems with the #HeGetsUs campaign. #HeGetsUs is a ministry run by a 501c3 called “Come Near.” One of the problems I see has to do with the nature of propaganda. But, before I address the problem of propaganda, either in a secular or Christian form, let me briefly address the organization itself. This is “Come Near’s” own description of the organization, taken directly from the #HeGetsUs... Read more
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