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A review by davehershey
Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan
3.0
Copan tackles one of the most difficult issues for any Christian: what is a Christian to do with the many passages in the Old Testament that make God appear a cosmic tyrant (or a "moral monster" as per the title of the book)? He does an admiral job. Perhaps the best thing about this book is that any Christian who wants answers to such questions could pick it up, read it and understand. It is not for teachers/pastors/theologians only.
On the other hand, this book's greatest strength may also be its biggest weakness. There are a few points where Copan seems to move through an argument too quickly. Some of the critiques from the skeptic that Copan mentions deserve a much fuller treatment. This is most apparent where Copan strays away from the questions of Old Testament interpretation and into other areas. I believe he wanted to turn a corner from answering questions on the Old Testament to providing a positive support for Christian faith (this is what part four is about) but I do not believe the two meager chapters doing this were sufficient.
One argument that is unsatisfying is when Copan addresses God commanding the killing of all Canaanites, including infants. Most Christians believe that all infants who die automatically go into God's presence; Copan himself adheres to this. Thus, those infants who died may actually have been saved since if they had lived and grown in Canaanite culture they would have worshiped idols, become depraved and gone to hell. The problem for the Christian, the problem Copan seeks to answer, is if this is true then why do we consider it a sin for a woman to kill her children out of fear they may grow up and become atheists? After all, isn't she saving them in the same way the Canaanite infants were saved? Copan's answer to this question is too brief, basically arguing the killer of the infant is not in the same position as the Israelites sent into Canaan by God. I believe there is a lot more to address here. Greg Boyd actually critiqued Copan on this very point in his blog a few days ago: http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/baby-universalism-and-reasonable-infanticide/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gregboyd+%28Greg+Boyd+and+Christus+Victor+Ministries%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
Overall, this is a very helpful book that provides answers for Christians on the Old Testament. Copan sets forward a strong theology of progressive revelation, seeing a "redemptive curve" in the text (a la William Webb's Slaves, Women and Homosexuals). I recommend this for those with questions on the Old Testament.
One postscript: Copan makes some arguments in various points for apologetic reasons that I think an evangelical theologian would not be able to make. I mean, it seems apologists can get away with things that theologians cannot. It seems the same is true with Bible scholars: a Bible scholar can hint at something like "open theism" when a text points that direction, but if a theologian goes that way, they get crushed! I am not sure why this is, but it is interesting.
On the other hand, this book's greatest strength may also be its biggest weakness. There are a few points where Copan seems to move through an argument too quickly. Some of the critiques from the skeptic that Copan mentions deserve a much fuller treatment. This is most apparent where Copan strays away from the questions of Old Testament interpretation and into other areas. I believe he wanted to turn a corner from answering questions on the Old Testament to providing a positive support for Christian faith (this is what part four is about) but I do not believe the two meager chapters doing this were sufficient.
One argument that is unsatisfying is when Copan addresses God commanding the killing of all Canaanites, including infants. Most Christians believe that all infants who die automatically go into God's presence; Copan himself adheres to this. Thus, those infants who died may actually have been saved since if they had lived and grown in Canaanite culture they would have worshiped idols, become depraved and gone to hell. The problem for the Christian, the problem Copan seeks to answer, is if this is true then why do we consider it a sin for a woman to kill her children out of fear they may grow up and become atheists? After all, isn't she saving them in the same way the Canaanite infants were saved? Copan's answer to this question is too brief, basically arguing the killer of the infant is not in the same position as the Israelites sent into Canaan by God. I believe there is a lot more to address here. Greg Boyd actually critiqued Copan on this very point in his blog a few days ago: http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/baby-universalism-and-reasonable-infanticide/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gregboyd+%28Greg+Boyd+and+Christus+Victor+Ministries%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
Overall, this is a very helpful book that provides answers for Christians on the Old Testament. Copan sets forward a strong theology of progressive revelation, seeing a "redemptive curve" in the text (a la William Webb's Slaves, Women and Homosexuals). I recommend this for those with questions on the Old Testament.
One postscript: Copan makes some arguments in various points for apologetic reasons that I think an evangelical theologian would not be able to make. I mean, it seems apologists can get away with things that theologians cannot. It seems the same is true with Bible scholars: a Bible scholar can hint at something like "open theism" when a text points that direction, but if a theologian goes that way, they get crushed! I am not sure why this is, but it is interesting.