1 Samuel Chapter 15 may be one of the hardest passages in the Bible to reconcile with a God of love. It describes God apparently commanding the slaughter of men, women and children in the Amalekite tribe.

How can Christians who take OT passages on warfare seriously reconcile it with the God of love shown in Jesus? Is God Evil?

John Allister is the vicar of St. Jude’s Church, Nottingham. He argues that the passage needs to be understood in its context.

Justin Schieber is co host of the atheist podcast Reasonable Doubt. He argues that the story cannot be reconciled with a good God.

 

 

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For John Allister http://custardy.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-amalekites.html  and his paper on the Amalekites http://www.churchsociety.org/churchman/documents/Cman_124_3_Allister.pdf 

For Justin Schieber http://freethoughtblogs.com/reasonabledoubts/ 

For more Christian/non-Christian debate visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or Via Itunes

You may also enjoy:

Unbelievable? 9 April 2011 - “Is God a Moral Monster?” Paul Copan & Norman Bacrac

Unbelievable? 8 Oct 2011 - Old Testament Grill-a-Christian with Peter J Williams

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