- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter Abstracts
-
1 Does God Love Us? - Comments on ‘Does God Love Us?’
- Reply to Stump
-
2 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - Comments on ‘The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’
- Reply to van Inwagen
-
3 Satanic Verses:Moral Chaos in Holy Writ - Comments on ‘Satanic Verses: Moral Chaos in Holy Writ’
- Reply to Plantinga
-
4 Animal Sacrifices* - Comments on ‘Animal Sacrifices’
- Reply to Crenshaw
-
5 God Beyond Justice* - Comments on ‘God Beyond Justice’
- Reply to Morriston
-
6 The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek -
Comments on ‘The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples’
* -
Reply to Draper
-
7 What Does the Old Testament Mean? - Comments on ‘What Does the Old Testament Mean?’
- Reply to Morriston
-
8 Reading Joshua - Comments on ‘Reading Joshua’
- Reply to Antony
-
9 What About the Canaanites? - Comments on ‘What About the Canaanites?’
- Reply to Wolterstorff
-
10 Canon and Conquest: The Character of the God of the Hebrew Bible* - Comments on ‘Canon and Conquest’
- Reply to Fales
-
11 God's Struggles - Index
The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek
The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek
- Chapter:
- (p.179) 6 The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek
- Source:
- Divine Evil?
- Author(s):
Eleonore Stump
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter discusses the problem of evil as it is raised by the story in the Hebrew Bible in which God commands Israelites to slaughter the Amalekites and possible defenses or theodicies as regards that story. One way to deal with this story is to reject it as non-veridical, either by claiming that it should not be taken as part of divine revelation or by interpreting it to say something other than its literal meaning. This chapter adopts a different approach. It partially describes a putatively possible world which is very similar to the actual world, including the existence of evil, but in which the central claims of Christianity are also true. The chapter then investigates, as a thought experiment, whether the story of the slaughter of the Amalekites could be literally true in a world of that sort. The chapter argues that it could.
Keywords: problem of evil, defense, theodicy, Hebrew Bible, Amalekites
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Chapter Abstracts
-
1 Does God Love Us? - Comments on ‘Does God Love Us?’
- Reply to Stump
-
2 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - Comments on ‘The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’
- Reply to van Inwagen
-
3 Satanic Verses:Moral Chaos in Holy Writ - Comments on ‘Satanic Verses: Moral Chaos in Holy Writ’
- Reply to Plantinga
-
4 Animal Sacrifices* - Comments on ‘Animal Sacrifices’
- Reply to Crenshaw
-
5 God Beyond Justice* - Comments on ‘God Beyond Justice’
- Reply to Morriston
-
6 The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples: Think Amalek -
Comments on ‘The Problem of Evil and the History of Peoples’
* -
Reply to Draper
-
7 What Does the Old Testament Mean? - Comments on ‘What Does the Old Testament Mean?’
- Reply to Morriston
-
8 Reading Joshua - Comments on ‘Reading Joshua’
- Reply to Antony
-
9 What About the Canaanites? - Comments on ‘What About the Canaanites?’
- Reply to Wolterstorff
-
10 Canon and Conquest: The Character of the God of the Hebrew Bible* - Comments on ‘Canon and Conquest’
- Reply to Fales
-
11 God's Struggles - Index