Description:
The violence that appears throughout the Old Testament has presented no small problem for Evangelical Christians who wish to build their ethical systems upon or derive their values from this sacred text. While philosophical issues like the "problem of evil" are challenging for theism in general, their difficulties increase dramatically when their specific god, Yahweh, commands actions that we would consider to be grossly immoral. In this presentation, Dr. Bowen will show how the God of the Bible demands his people commit genocide on groups of foreigners and how Christian apologists and evangelicals attempt to excuse and explain away these violent commands.
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Bio:
Dr. Joshua Bowen holds a Bachelor of Science in Religion from Liberty University, a Master of Theology in Old Testament from Capital Bible Seminary, a Master of Arts in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and a PhD in Assyriology (with a minor in Hebrew Bible) from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Bowen has written books and articles in the fields of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, including The Atheist Handbook to the Old Testament, Volumes 1 and 2, Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian, Volumes 1 and 2, Learn to Read Ancient Hebrew, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (forthcoming), and a commentary on the book of Leviticus (forthcoming). He teaches courses on ancient languages, including learning how to read Sumerian, Akkadian, and Biblical Hebrew. He spends a great deal of time on social media engaging with Christian apologetics, including topics like slavery, rape, and today's topic, divine commands of violence and genocide.
Please Note:
Doors open at 9:00 am for optional buffet breakfast ($5 donation) and socializing. Speaker program begins at 10:00 am.
Important: $5 breakfast fee waived for awesome humans bringing in food to share!
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HSGP HUMANIST CENTER
MESA, AZ 85201-4009
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