Sunday, November 11, 2012

When Massey Goes a-Simplifyin': A Response to Chris Massey on Divine Genocide


               Somewhat related to the moral argument is the issue of what’s come to be called the “slaughter of the Canaanites.” This is the issue of certain commands presumed to have been given by God to the Israelites as they were beginning their conquest of the land of Canaan. According to Old Testament accounts, God commanded the Israelites to kill every man, woman, and child in the land, and even to kill the cattle; to leave nothing alive. It is a topic for another day whether the command was specifically to kill all those who were living in the land, or whether the command was to dispossess the inhabitants of the land and to kill any who did not flee. For the sake of today’s post, we can assume that God did command Israel to kill everything alive in Canaan, including women and children, and to have no mercy.