There is some relevance, but I would find Israelite, Roman, and modern slavery morally repugnant. In fact, I think the claim that Roman slavery was fundamentally different from modern slavery is one of the weakest dodges I’ve ever encountered. Each version of slavery differs from other versions, but all are morally wrong.

That does not answer my question. In simplified form: If God really did command it, then what? Is it moral, or is God evil? Deflecting it with the obvious possibility of false prophets who might even deceive the elect (if that is possible) is just that: a deflection.

I am deflecting a foolish question. The fact is that I could not be convinced that God was commanding an immoral action. My problem with your position is that you are very clearly convinced that he did.

So if I was convinced that God commanded an immoral action I would then presumably be somebody else, and my answer would be irrelevant.

If I correctly surmise what you’d like to get at, which is whether something is moral because God made it so, or whether there is some standard of morality to which one can hold God, I would simply say that God establishes morality, in my view, by establishing the functional laws of the universe. Within that system, God could not and would not order an immoral act. One test of whether something is ordered by God is whether it is moral.

I don’t accept that morality comes only from special revelation. In fact, I make less of a distinction between special and general revelation. Thus again, I simply find your question flawed.

That does not answer my question. In simplified form: If God really did command it, then what? Is it moral, or is God evil? Deflecting it with the obvious possibility of false prophets who might even deceive the elect (if that is possible) is just that: a deflection.

The explanation for your misrepresentation of my position is leaning more towards the willful rather than the accidental. I am not defending genocide as moral–I am defending God-commanded genocide as moral.

You are wrong about everyone picks and chooses. Anyone, like myself, who claims the bible is the word of God cannot “pick and choose.” That is why we have to deal with the difficult passages were God commands unspeakable acts, and not just argue that “my God would never do that, therefore those passages are human inventions. Oh, but the gospel part, I’ll keep that, because I like that God.”

Do you realize that statement makes no sense whatsoever? If I could provide proof of God’s command to wipe out a nation (I don’t expect to, but that your premise) then you would take that proof only as evidence for the demonic? Are you saying “even if you prove it, I won’t believe it

Do you realize that statement makes no sense whatsoever? If I could provide proof of God’s command to wipe out a nation (I don’t expect to, but that your premise) then you would take that proof only as evidence for the demonic? Are you saying “even if you prove it, I won’t believe it” or are you saying “if you prove it, then it only proves God is evil.” ?

When you say “genocide is immoral” as if contrasting it to my opinion, you are misrepresenting me.

“Statements like yours encourage me to continue to write forcefully about Biblical interpretation and to oppose the despicable notion that “God commanded it

Neufeld’s Christians apologetics are, based on this single post, non-biblical.

I’m certain they are non-biblical according to your approach to the Bible. Remember that “biblical” and “non-biblical” will depend heavily on one’s approach to interpretation.

I should say I refer only to those points that I understood, because some of the writing was, for me, impenetrable.

It appears that, to you, some of the stuff you thought you understood was impenetrable as well.

Your comment is long enough to be a substantial blog post in itself. For most of it, I’d suggest you read the essays I referenced. In some cases I may make blog entries later.

One point I do want to comment on more immediately:

Moses didn’t attack the Midianites because of personal racial hatred; that would have been evil and no different than the Rwandan massacre. He did it at God’s command, therefore it was not evil. For all of Neufeld’s “would this or that type