In his book Morality Without God, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argues that a secular account of the nature of moral properties—namely, that wrongness is constituted by the property of harming others—is preferable to a theistic account, in which wrongness is identified with the property of being contrary to God’s commands Chapter 6 is entitled “Why be moral?” In […]
Entries Tagged as 'Books'
Sinnott-Armstrong on God, Secularism and “reasons” to be moral. Part One:
September 3rd, 2025 Comments Off on Sinnott-Armstrong on God, Secularism and “reasons” to be moral. Part One:
Tags: Dualism of Practical Reason · God and Morality · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong · Why be Moral?
Problems in Value Theory An Introduction to Contemporary Debates: My Chapter with Graham Oppy is finally published
February 10th, 2020 Comments Off on Problems in Value Theory An Introduction to Contemporary Debates: My Chapter with Graham Oppy is finally published
Yesterday, I was informed that the book Problems in Value Theory An Introduction to Contemporary Debates has finally been published. The book is now available both on amazon on Bloomsbury’s website. Chapter 3 of this book “Does Morality Depend on God?” is co-authored by myself and Graham Oppy (Monash University). Both Graham and I each wrote […]
Tags: Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Graham Oppy
The Naturalness of Belief: New Essays in Theism’s Rationality.
February 10th, 2019 Comments Off on The Naturalness of Belief: New Essays in Theism’s Rationality.
The book The Naturalness of Belief: New Essays on Theism’s Rationality recently arrived from the publishers and is available on Amazon. Matt contributed a chapter to this book entitled “Divine Commands and the Euthyphro Dilemma: Some Naturalistic Misperceptions” The Naturalness of Belief is edited by Paul Copan (Palm Beach Atlantic) and Charles Taliaferro (St Olaf […]
Tags: Books · Divine Command Theory · Euthyphro Dilemma · Naturalism · Publications · The Naturalness of Belief
On Judging Books by their Covers: A Fisk of the Secularist Outpost’s book review of Did God Really Command Genocide?
November 4th, 2014 Comments Off on On Judging Books by their Covers: A Fisk of the Secularist Outpost’s book review of Did God Really Command Genocide?
You should not judge a book by its cover, unless you are a secularist… then it is okay. In a post entitled “Books Like This Should be a Warning Signal to Inerrantists“, published on 26 September 2014, The Secular Outpost’s Jeffery Jay Lowder refers to Paul Copan and this blog’s Matthew Flannagan’s, then forthcoming, book Did […]
Tags: Canaanites · Did God Really Command Genocide? · Old Testament Ethics · Paul Copan
Out Now: Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan
November 4th, 2014 Comments Off on Out Now: Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan
Well done Matt and Paul. 🙂 Out now! Get your copy today of Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God, by Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan, published by Baker Books. More here. Buy from Baker Books Buy on Amazon in paperback Buy for your Kindle Buy from Book Depository (The New Zealand store launch is […]
Tags: Canaanites · Did God Really Command Genocide? · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Is God a Moral Monster? · Old Testament Ethics · Paul Copan

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.




