From the 17th to the 23rd of November 2010 the annual conference of the Evangelical Philosophical Society will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, in the USA. This year my good friend and fellow blogger Matt Flannagan will be attending and speaking on “God and the Genocide of the Canaanites.” Here’s the blurb on his talk from the EPS website:
How could a just and loving God command Joshua to genocide the Canaanites as is apparently taught in the Old Testament? Is God really a moral monster as Christianity’s critics use these passages to claim? Matthew will re-examine these passages in light of the context they were written in showing that the skeptics’ case against God relies on a questionable reading of the Old Testament.
It’ll be a great opportunity for Matt, who, in addition to presenting the above paper will also be taking part in a panel discussion on “navigating Old Testament ethics.”
Matt is in a very similar position that I’m in with my trip to Oxford (see my link on the right hand side of the page). Most people who attend academic conferences are affiliated in some way with a university department, and as a result they have access to funding via that department. Not so for those who are yet to land that elusive first position. Do head on over to M and M and read about the trip. I often hear Christians in New Zealand tell me how great it would be to have Christian scholars at the top of their field working from New Zealand. Well, this is an opportunity to help get people into those positions. I know that any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Pat
Looks like Kiwi Christian theorists are taking on the world! Matt, Ray Comfort and yourself (ok Ray doesn’t really count) are getting it going.
Glenn
Ray who?
Martin Woodhouse
I’ve tried the Canaanite thing on my friends the Witnesses (who are about the most fundamentally Christian group I’ve come across).
They point out to me that “Jehovah warned the Canaanites first . . .”
— a response which I find somewhat less than persuasive; I trust your friend is going to do a lot better than this?
[ Incidentally, I believe I must hold some kind of record not merely as a person who asks Jehovah’s Witnesses in for a cup of tea but to whom the same Witnesses often say “Well, I think we really have to be going now . . .”
Actually, they seem to have stopped coming to my door these last couple of months.
I wonder why? ]
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Cheers
Martin
Pat
This dude from Christchurch; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Comfort or his personal blog; http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/
Madeleine
Thanks Glenn.
Martin, over at MandM I have linked to the blog post on the Canaanites that started it all – got Matt the invite do to the talk so you can see for yourself how he handles it and you could always check out the latest Investigate Magazine, the August edition, which will be on the shelves shortly (it usually comes out two weeks before the month it is supposed to be fore) as Matt has another version of his Canaanite article in his Investigate column.
Martin Woodhouse
I’m amazed there isn’t — [ so far; touch wood; fingers crossed, etc etc ] — a billboard mentioning the Flying Spaghetti Monster . . .
That’s another atheist fave, innit?
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Cheers, Martin
Martin Woodhouse
Sorry ! Wrong article, should have gone on the Billboard thread . . .
Appropriate penalty for my trying to be witty at the expense of beliefs I don’t hold, which I disapprove of in others and so certainly shouldn’t have attempted myself.
Cheers and apologies,
Martin