Exploring the Nature of God in the Old Testament: Is the God of the Bible a Moral Monster?

BH: Copan’s work has been an eye opener for me. I minister to an audience online and Old Testament passages seek to be the stumbling block for skeptics and even Christians! Paul carefully weighs the passages in light of their historic, geographic, economic and socioeconomic contexts; things most layman bible readers aren’t aware of.

This is, by no means, a poor apologetic attempt to “gloss over God’s behaviour”. Instead, it shines a light on often over-looked and wrongly condemned aspects of scripture. I couldn’t recommend this book more highly.
5 stars from me.
-Brandon M

Canada on Dec 07, 2023

Amazon Customer: This is an informative book and I am enjoying learning more about God

United States on Dec 04, 2023

Katie O'Dowd: I learned a lot from this book about the true nature of the old testament God, He certainly is not a moral monster and I love how this book compiled lots of comparative data from the civilizations that lived around the time the events of the old testament took place. It shows how God is actually very current and flexible and gracious to His people, not a cruel genocidal maniac as He's always accused of being. I've read this twice now and will probably always go back to it for reference.

United Kingdom on Nov 04, 2023

Roys: Easy to understand and have clear points.

Germany on Oct 29, 2022

Darío Rafael Pan Uc: What a book!!

I recommend this book to all christians, we can undestand more about the way that God works

God bless you, Paul Copan

Mexico on Sep 08, 2022

M: It does a pretty good job of doing what it claims to do. I mean, considering how it's not an easy thing to rationalize old testament ethics, the book did a pretty good job at it. There will always be people who say otherwise and outright reject its arguments and explanations. And there will definitely be people who take this as the ultimate defense of old testament ethics. But nonetheless, however you look at it, I think it's worth the read to get a fair understanding that this particular issue requires. I say it's worth the read unless you're already coming into the topic with an extreme bias.

India on Mar 20, 2021

mills: The author of this book, Paul Copan gets straight to the task of dismantling accusations that various militant Atheist and critics of God have hurled at their concept of God as arrogant, jealous and down right punitive in the Old Testament.

I have heard plenty of people, (and some Christians) say they prefer the New Testament and the much milder Jesus over the Old Testament angry God of fury. One fails to realize according to Christianity's Bible the God in the Old and New Testament are one in the same as a Trinity.

I've run across plenty of Christians who find it hard to read the Old Testament and deal with the fact that God wanted all those Hitties, Jebusites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Amorites, Canaanites, wiped out in the Old Testament. If you read the Old Testament carefully these were not innocents but wicked violent people who were having sex with animals and sacrificing their children to demon gods.

Leviticus chapter 18. These were not good people God was judging. God personally knows every heart down to the most private detail so he is in a better position to judge everyone.

Most people would much rather read about Jesus saying, forgive...

United States on Jul 02, 2012

Jeff K. Clarke: Have you ever read the Bible and concluded that the picture of God you see in both Testaments seems to be in contradiction with one another? If you've ever thought that the God of the Old Testament is seemingly portrayed as an angry, blood-thirsty, jealous, worship-demanding King; while the New Testament seems to paint a very different picture - a God of love, grace,, kindness, and mercy, you're not alone.

These distinctions have led some to conclude that the various writers in both Testaments talked about a different God altogether. Others have moved one step further and determined that the Old Testament should not even be a part of the Biblical canon. Others still have accepted both Testaments as inspired Scripture, yet have never understood the portrait of God they see depicted in the Old. These concerns present us with nothing new. If Christians have often struggled with trying to find a reasonable conclusion to this important issue, many others who do not subscribe to the Christian faith have all the more.

In his latest book, Paul Copan confronts this issue head-on. Using the criticisms of the New Atheists as his conversation partners (specifically Richard...

United States on May 19, 2011