When I was in Baltimore last November I caught up with fellow theologian and blogger Randal Rauser. Randal is professor of Theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton Canada. Randal and I have had some spirited but cordial exchanges in the past, including a panel discussion at the Society of Biblical Literature in 2010.While we do not […]
Entries Tagged as 'War Ethics'
Dialogue with Randal Rauser
March 13th, 2014 1 Comment
Tags: Baltimore · Canaanites · Divine Command Theory · Old Testament Ethics · Randal Rauser
In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture
October 25th, 2013 1 Comment
Another of the books Matt has contributed to arrived from the publisher’s today. In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture addresses and responds to the major contemporary challenges to the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture. It is edited by Steven B Cowan and Terry L Wilder and published by B&H Academic. The […]
Tags: Apologetics · Doug Geivett · Ethics · Genocide · In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture · Mary-Jo Sharp · Paul Copan · Published · Steven B Cowan · Terry L Wilder · William A Dembski
Is a Divine Command Theory Pscyopathic? Sam Harris on Divine Commands: Part II
June 25th, 2013 11 Comments
In my last post, Sam Harris on Divine Commands: Part I, I criticised Sam Harris’ characterisation of divine command meta-ethics. In this post I want to turn to his second line of criticism of a Divine Command Theory. In Harris’ debate with William Lane Craig at Notre Dame, transcript here, Harris stated: “I’m glad he raised the […]
Tags: Debates · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural? · Religion and Violence · Sam Harris · William Lane Craig
Life and Death – Matthew Flannagan Interviewed on Shine TV
October 2nd, 2012 40 Comments
Matt was interviewed on Life and Death issues for Shine TV’s Just Thinking show recently. The Episode aired last week.
Tags: Feticide · Just Thinking · MandM on Video · Shine TV
Lawful Authority and Just Wars
June 16th, 2011 66 Comments
A reader pointed me to this interesting post on Pacifism and Just War Theory from Baylor University Philosophy Professor, Alexander Pruss. Interestingly Pruss offers an argument similar to the one I presented at a panel discussion on the ethics of war recently. In this discussion I suggested that traditional Christian Just War Theory follows from […]
Tags: Alexander Pruss · Just War · Pacifism · War Ethics
Pacifism, the Bible and the Sin of Selfishness
May 27th, 2011 20 Comments
‘If someone wants something from us and we do not want to give it to them that is the sin of selfishness and the Bible condemns selfishness.’ This was one of the three points a Christian pacifist speaker made in defending his stance at the panel discussion on War Ethics that Matt mentioned in Pacifism and The […]
Tags: Pacifism · Role of the State · War Ethics

A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.





Contra Mundum: Pacifism and Just Wars
July 5th, 2011 27 Comments
Comedian Bill Maher recently berated Christians for being hypocrites for supporting military action against terrorists in his “New Rules” segment on the U.S. TV show Real Time (transcript here). Jesus, Maher contended, was a pacifist; “Jesus lays on that hippie stuff pretty thick. He has lines like, “do not repay evil with evil,” and “do […]
Tags: Bill Maher · Contra Mundum · Investigate Magazine · Just War · Pacifism · War Ethics