Leading apologist and scholar Paul Copan examines challenging Old Testament texts, placing them in their larger historical and theological context to help readers reconcile the seemingly disconnected natures of God portrayed in the Old and New Testaments.  
  
"Do you have a problem with something, or a lot of things, in the Old Testament? Copan has provided a virtual encyclopedia of helpful answers to frequently asked questions that trouble many readers. This is a thoroughly detailed reference work that those of us who teach or preach the Old Testament will turn to frequently, or point others to, when such questions are aired. An excellent resource indeed!"  
\--__Christopher J. H. Wright__, Langham Partnership; author of Old Testament Ethics for the People of God   
"People are inclined to think that the Old Testament God is like the Taliban and the New Testament God is a comfort animal. Dr. Copan takes on that kind of view with passion. I can't imagine that there are any misapprehensions about the Scriptures, particularly about the Old Testament, that aren't covered by this book. You may not agree with everything in Dr. Copan's study, but you will be dazzled by the range of issues he covers and the range of material he offers."  
\--__John Goldingay__, Fuller Theological Seminary (emeritus)  
  
"Many books have been published that suggest that the Old Testament describes God not as he really is but rather as Israel depicted him from their rather primitive, tribal perspective. One prominent evangelical voice has even suggested that Christians 'unhinge' themselves from the Old Testament. In this well-thought-out and accessible book, Paul Copan takes on these critics 'from within' the church. He does so with grace yet conviction. I highly recommend this book for all Christians who are tempted to ignore the Old Testament."  
\--__Tremper Longman III__, Westmont College (emeritus)  
  
"God's people are often confused by and suspicious of the Old Testament, wondering how it aligns with Jesus; these conversations are pressing for my seminary students and for local pastors and congregations. Dr. Copan provides a valuable resource in accessible language that speaks with informed conviction and with grace. I highly recommend it for all whose faith seeks understanding."  
\--__Lissa M. Wray Beal__, Providence Theological Seminary, Otterburne, Manitoba

__Paul Copan__ (PhD, Marquette University), a Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, and apologist, is the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. For 6 years, he served as president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. He was a visiting scholar at Oxford University in 2017. Copan is the author or editor of more than 40 books, including Is God a Moral Monster?; True for You, But Not for Me; That's Just Your Interpretation; When God Goes to Starbucks; and A Little Book for New Philosophers.

__Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit (Apologetics &amp; Evangelism)__ Critics outside the church often accuse the Old Testament God of genocide, racism, ethnic cleansing, and violence. But a rising tide of critics within the church claim that Moses and other "primitive," violence-prone prophets were mistaken about God's commands and character. Both sets of critics dismiss this allegedly harsh, flawed, "textual" Old Testament God in favor of the kind, compassionate, "actual" God revealed by Jesus. Are they right to do so?  
  
Following his popular book Is God a Moral Monster?, noted apologist Paul Copan confronts false, imbalanced teaching that is confusing and misleading many Christians. Copan takes on some of the most difficult Old Testament challenges and places them in their larger historical and theological contexts. He explores the kindness, patience, and compassion of God in the Old Testament and shows how Jesus in the New Testament reveals not only divine kindness but also divine severity. The book includes a detailed Scripture index of difficult and controversial passages and is helpful for anyone interested in understanding the flaws in these emerging claims that are creating a destructive gap between the Testaments.

Leading apologetics author Paul Copan examines challenging Old Testament texts, placing them in their larger historical and theological context to help readers reconcile the seemingly disconnected natures of God portrayed in the Old and New Testaments.

__Contents  
  
Part 1: The Great Divorce: How Wide the Divide between the Old and New Testaments?__ 1. The Old Testament God: Critics from Without and from Within  
2. Is the God of the Old Testament the Same as the God of the New? (1): Marcion versus Moses  
3. Is the God of the Old Testament the Same as the God of the New?  
(2): Moses versus Jesus?  
4. Is the God of the Old Testament the Same as the God of the  
New? (3): Moses versus Jesus? (Continued)  
__Part 2: Lex Rex (the Law, the King): What Makes the Law of Moses So Special?__ 5. "From Heaven or from Human Origin?" Is the Mosaic Law Just  
Another Ancient Law Code?  
6. Multiple Sources and Late Dates? Does the Mosaic Law Have Multiple Authors? Was Fighting the Canaanites a Fiction from the Sixth Century BC?  
7. Differences between the Law of Moses and Ancient Near Eastern  
Laws (1): The Biblical Vision and Worldview  
8. Differences between the Law of Moses and Ancient Near Eastern  
Laws (2): Human Dignity, Relationship, and Equality  
9. Differences between the Law of Moses and Ancient Near Eastern  
Laws (3): Poverty and Wealth  
__Part 3: Crime and Punishment: Violations and Penalties in Old Testament Law__ 10. A Bit of Ancient Near Eastern Context  
11. Israel's Punishments as Nonliteral in the Pentateuch  
12. Israel's Punishments as Nonliteral in Old Testament History  
__Part 4: For Whom the Bell Tolls: Harsh Texts and Difficult Old Testament Questions__ 13. How Was David "a Man after God's Own Heart"?  
14. Why Does God Harden People's Hearts?  
15. Divine Smitings (1): Noah's Flood, Egypt's Firstborn, Uzzah's  
Death  
16. Divine Smitings (2): Elisha and the Bears, and Punishing Children  
to the Third and Fourth Generations  
17. "Bashing Babies against the Rock"? Imprecatory Psalms in the Old Testament  
18. "Let His Homestead Be Made Desolate": Imprecatory Psalms in  
the New Testament  
19. Loving Jacob, Hating Esau? Putting Divine and Human Hatred in  
Perspective  
__Part 5: Of Human Bondage: Women and Servants in Israelite Society__ 20. Is the Old Testament Really Misogynistic and Patriarchal?  
21. Espousing Multiple Wives? Revisiting the Matter of Polygamy  
22. Other Troubling Texts about Women: The Nameless Concubine,  
the Question of War Rape  
23. "Servants" in Israel: Persons or Property?  
24. The "Acquisition" of "Foreign Slaves" (1): A Deeper Dive into  
Leviticus 25 000  
25. The "Acquisition" of "Foreign Slaves" (2): Two Objections and the  
Runaway Option  
__Part 6: War and Peace: Warfare and Violence in the Old Testament (and the New)__ 26. Jesus Loves Canaanites--and  
Israelites Too: "Jesus 101" and the  
Old Testament's "Dark Texts"  
27. "We Left No Survivors": Exaggeration Rhetoric in Israel's War Texts  
28. Revisiting the Translation of Herem: "Utter Destruction," "Consecration," "Identity Removal," "Removal from Ordinary Use"?  
29. Deuteronomy's Intensified Rhetoric and the Use of Haram  
30. Did the Israelites "Cruelly Invade" the Land of Canaan?  
31. The "Actual" God in Old Testament Warfare  
__Part 7: The Heart of the Matter: The Summing Up of All Things in Christ__ 32. "God Is Christlike, and in Him There Is No Un-Christlikeness at All": Our Critics from Within  
33. Our Critics from Without (1): Two Important Questions  
34. Our Critics from Without (2): Five Big Steps  
Questions for Small Groups  
Indexes

Copan, Paul

Back Cover

Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit (Apologetics &amp; Evangelism)  
  
Critics outside the church often accuse the Old Testament God of genocide, racism, ethnic cleansing, and violence. But a rising tide of critics within the church claim that Moses and other "primitive," violence-prone prophets were mistaken about God's commands and character. Both sets of critics dismiss this allegedly harsh, flawed, "textual" Old Testament God in favor of the kind, compassionate, "actual" God revealed by Jesus. Are they right to do so?  
  
Following his popular book Is God a Moral Monster?, noted apologist Paul Copan confronts false, imbalanced teaching that is confusing and misleading many Christians. Copan takes on some of the most difficult Old Testament challenges and places them in their larger historical and theological contexts. He explores the kindness, patience, and compassion of God in the Old Testament and shows how Jesus in the New Testament reveals not only divine kindness but also divine severity. The book includes a detailed Scripture index of difficult and controversial passages and is helpful for anyone interested in understanding the flaws in these emerging claims that are creating a destructive gap between the Testaments.

Is God a Vindictive Bully?

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