Tag Archive for: Paul Copan

New-Testament Slavery: Fact vs. Fiction with Dr. Paul Copan

Does the Bible REALLY support slavery, as skeptics often claim? Last week, Dr. Paul Copan joined Frank to unpack the cultural and theological context of Old Testament passages, like Leviticus 25. This week, Paul returns to examine the New Testament’s most controversial passages on slavery, addressing questions about human dignity, morality, and God’s ultimate plan while answering questions like:

  • What rights and protections did servants actually have under biblical law?
  • What does the punishment for mistreating servants reveal about their dignity and value?
  • How did the Bible call out abuses of slavery and work to humanize servants?
  • What did Paul teach Christians about how to treat slaves in the New Testament?
  • Were there barriers that made abolishing slavery outright impossible in ancient Rome?
  • Why does God sometimes take incremental steps to eradicate deeply entrenched evils?
  • Why were most abolitionists Christians while some famous atheists supported slavery?
  • How are modern atheists “borrowing” from Christianity when they complain about slavery?

You’ll learn that slavery in the Bible is far more nuanced than skeptics want you to believe. Tune in to discover how Jesus’ radical model of service, Paul’s letters, and the early church’s example paved the way for the eventual abolition of slavery in both the ancient and modern world.

If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!

Resources mentioned during the episode:

Old-Testament Slavery: Fact vs. Fiction with Dr. Paul Copan
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
PaulCopan.com
Is God a Moral Monster?
Is God a Vindictive Bully?
Christianity Contested
Slavery in the Bible: Answering Atheist Critiques
The BIBLE and SLAVERY Explained! with Dr. Carmen Imes

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Old-Testament Slavery: Fact. vs. Fiction with Dr. Paul Copan

Does the Bible condone slavery? Critics often point to verses like Leviticus 25 as proof that Scripture supports the kind of dehumanizing chattel slavery we know from the antebellum South. But is that REALLY what the text is teaching? Old Testament scholar and author, Dr. Paul Copan, joins Frank to unpack this hot-button issue and explain how to think carefully about slavery in its historical and redemptive context. You’ll hear answers to questions like:

  • What are 8 things a person needs to study in order to understand this topic well?
  • What does the opening chapter of Genesis teach us about slavery?
  • What is chattel slavery and how is it different from slavery in the Bible?
  • How did the Mosaic laws on slavery compare to other nations in the Ancient Near East?
  • What is the context of Leviticus 25:44 and how should it be understood?
  • How is the term “slave” in modern Bible translations misleading?
  • What is the ultimate vision of God’s Law when it comes to human dignity and freedom?
  • Why wasn’t slavery completely prohibited in the Old Testament?

Tune in as Frank and Paul peel back the layers of cultural context, translation challenges, and God’s ultimate plan of redemption—revealing why the Bible’s teaching on this controversial and complex issue is far different than what skeptics claim. This episode will barely scratch the surface, so be sure to tune in next week as they continue the conversation!

If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY HERE. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!

Resources mentioned during the episode:

PaulCopan.com
Is God a Moral Monster?
Is God a Vindictive Bully?
Christianity Contested
Slavery in the Bible: Answering Atheist Critiques
The BIBLE and SLAVERY Explained! with Dr. Carmen Imes

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Hamas vs. The Canaanites: Same Kind of Evil? | with Dr. Paul Copan

How can you negotiate with people who are intent on your destruction and are even willing to commit demonic acts to do so? The world watched in horror as the terrorist organization, Hamas, carried out the brutal attacks against innocent and defenseless Israeli citizens this past weekend, mercilessly slaughtering entire families, raping women, and dismembering young infants and children. Can these heinous crimes that we’ve witnessed offer any insight as to why God ordered the “utter destruction” of the enemies of Old Testament Israel?

In light of the recent terror attacks in Israel, Dr. Paul Copan sits down with Frank to reflect on this centuries old conflict and how it relates to some of the events that took place in the Old Testament. Paul will also talk more about his latest book, ‘Is God a Vindictive Bully: Reconciling Portrayals of God in the Old and New Testaments,’ which was written to help Christians better understand the biblical and historical backdrop of the hostility between Israel and the surrounding nations. During the episode, Paul and Frank answer questions like:

  • Why won’t Palestinians make peace with Israel?
  • Why would God order people groups to be killed in the Old Testament? Isn’t that ‘ethnic cleansing?’
  • What’s going on with Frank’s Israel trip that was planned for November?
  • What are imprecatory prayers and what do they reveal about the human condition and the nature of God?
  • How long did God wait before He brought judgment to Israel’s enemies?

In the words of New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, “If God is not wrathful, then He is not loving.” As Christians, we should pray for the peace and safety of Israel, pray for the innocent civilians caught in the middle of the war(s), and pray for the salvation of those involved in these attacks. But if God is truly as loving and as just as the Bible describes Him, can He allow such wickedness and evil to go unpunished for those who don’t repent? Absolutely not!

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

You can also SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE.

Dr. Paul Copan’s website: http://www.paulcopan.com/

Dr. Paul Copan’s books: https://amzn.to/3RRjXe0

 

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Why Does God Hide? | with Michael Jones and Eric Hernandez

Why does God hide? If God loves us and truly desires that none should perish, why doesn’t He make His existence more obvious? Wouldn’t a loving God want us all to be saved? Divine hiddenness is a problem that puzzles many believers and non-believers, and in this midweek podcast episode, Christian philosophers + apologists Michael Jones and Eric Hernandez tackle it head-on! Other issues they discuss with Frank include Hell, torture vs. torment, non-resistant non-belief, and Molinism.

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST, be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into some great discussions with like-minded Christians while simultaneously providing financial support for our ministry.

Where to find Michael and Eric:

Michael’s website: https://inspiringphilosophy.org/

Michael’s YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/3BXKTjA

Eric’s YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/3PNY1xl

Texas Apologetics: http://texasapologetics.org

If you would like to submit a question to be answered on the show, please email your question to Hello@Crossexamined.org.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/CrossExamined_Podcast Rate and review! Thanks!!!
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Is God a Vindictive Bully? | with Paul Copan

Is God a vindictive bully? Is the God of the Old Testament different than the God of the New Testament? 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. But are they right to do so?

There’s no better person on the planet to discuss this issue than our good friend and noted apologist, Dr. Paul Copan! Following his popular book, Is God a Moral Monster?, his new book, Is God a Vindictive Bully?: Portrayals of God in the Old and New Testaments, contains brand new content and takes on some of the most difficult Old Testament challenges and places them in their larger historical and theological contexts to help us dispute these emerging claims that are creating a destructive gap between the Testaments.

On today’s podcast episode, Frank and Paul discuss the following questions:

  • Who are these critics “from without and from within” the Church?

  • Did Jesus really repudiate the laws of Moses?

  • What’s the deal with imprecatory psalms like Psalm 137 and “dashing babies against the rocks”?!

  • What can the Old Testament law still teach us today?

  • What is incrementalism, and how does God use it?

  • Does “utter destruction” really mean what we think it does?

To view the entire VIDEO PODCAST, be sure to join our CrossExamined private community. It’s the perfect place to jump into great discussions with like-minded Christians while providing financial support for our ministry.

Paul’s new book: https://a.co/d/7gB1YLZ

Paul’s website: http://www.paulcopan.com/

If you would like to submit a question to be answered on the show, please email your question to Hello@Crossexamined.org.

Subscribe on Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/CrossExamined_Podcast Rate and review! Thanks!!!
Subscribe on Google Play: https://cutt.ly/0E2eua9
Subscribe on Spotify: http://bit.ly/CrossExaminedOfficial_Podcast
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Does the Bible Condone Slavery?

Passages in the Old Testament mention buying “slaves” or servants.  One even states “If a man sells his daughter as a female slave (Ex. 21:7) ….”  What?  Buying and selling slaves?  Selling your daughter?  This is crazy and obviously immoral!   But are we understanding the passages correctly?  Are people really considered property in the OT?   Was “slavery” in the OT the kind of institution we had in America up to the Civil War?   No.  Dr. Paul Copan, author of Is God a Moral Monster? joins Frank and sets the record straight.  They cover many of the objections that skeptics raise in Frank’s answer to the slavery question in this short video from the University of Nebraska.

If you want to send us a question for the show, please email us at Hello@CrossExamined.org.

Subscribe on iTunes: http://bit.ly/CrossExamined_Podcast rate and review! Thanks!!!

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