AI Snips
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Motivation Behind The Books
- Paul Copan was motivated to defend the Old Testament against critics like Richard Dawkins after 9/11 and wrote "Is God a Moral Monster?" expanding an earlier article.
- He has continued researching difficult OT texts, especially warfare and ethics, producing follow-up books and collaborations.
Why Canaanites Were Judged
- The Canaanite commands target practices, not ethnic identity, and God delays judgment for centuries to allow repentance.
- Paul emphasizes wrongdoing like child sacrifice and ritual sex as the morally relevant issues prompting divine action.
Hyperbole In Warfare Language
- Ancient war texts use hyperbolic, sweeping language like "man, woman, young and old" as a rhetorical marism for totality.
- Many conquest reports include survivors, so literal annihilation is unlikely and hyperbole explains the discrepancy.