William Lane Craig Defends the Canaanite Slaughter
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– VIDEO NOTES
William Lane Craig is a Christian philosopher and public speaker, who today makes his third appearance on Within Reason. We discuss why Richard Dawkins refuses to debate him, and whether Old Testament slaughter can be justified.
– LINKS
Episode 51 with Richard Dawkins: https://youtu.be/gaRVzooavRI?si=7ljWbf5VM9dKZvrO
– TIMESTAMPS
00:00 What Dr Craig Thinks of Richard Dawkins
04:50 What Are Richard Dawkins’ Biggest Pitfalls?
11:19 Will Science Eventually Answer the Mysteries of God?
18:23 Why William Defends the Slaughter of the Canaanites
22:51 The Innocent People & Children of Canaan
32:02 Divine Command Over Objective Morality
44:53 Who Does God Wrong in the Canaanite Slaughter?
49:08 How Can One Know it is Truly a Command of God?
54:39 Is This Slaughter a Genocide or Not?
59:33 If Dr Craig Was a Canaanite
1:04:58 Conclusion
– CONNECT
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The Within Reason Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/within-reason/id1458675168
– CONTACT
Business email: contact@alexoconnor.com
——————————————
Comments
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@CosmicSkeptic
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Check out Shortform and get a free trial and 21% discount at https://www.shortform.com/oconnor
@mr.e2239
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
What William should have pointed out is that the "annihilation" style of language used is not literal. In terms of warfare that language was common in that region. In those times killing them all didn't mean literally killing every single person. Rather it meant if you defeated every enemy combatant.
@Snoo5349
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Among all the pearl-clutching moral outrage expressed here, there is not a single dispassionate analysis showing how Craig is in error about his ethical theory or it's application.
@ashalight1824
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
It looks like people view situation in a vacuum and don't understand how God's judgment happens. Also what is happening in comments is somehow insanely anthropocentric and the issue is being viewed as human life is what's most important in the universe, which is absurd.
@americanfox7319
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
If William Lane Craig was more political instead of religious then he'd be a genocide defending fascist
@orabmacat
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
The same argument as when they can’t justify something clearly immoral an wrong “perfectly just and loving “ killing children can never be right not even by god Makes more sense to conclude there no gods and all of this is made up BS
@hennimore1
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
The more I hear from WLC the more I agree with Dawkins' opinion on him.
@nameandphoto
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Stop platforming people who advocate for theft of land and genocide. This conversation disgusts me. Dawkins had it right. That you can calmly advocate for genocide does not mean you get a platform to advocate for genocide.
@ma22_783
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
But recent DNA evidence showed that most people in Israel have Caanite ancestry. So there was no slaughter
@ashenedavalon
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
This man is literally arguing for social Darwinism and might making right. He actually said with a smile that God can never do wrong because he has more power than us. Morality is only defined by power dynamics to this man. That is fucking scary.
@pls_mesempai2198
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Alex will happily justify the slaughter against the NS-germans
@ArmorofGod90
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
The atheist argumentative position has zero substance. It's laughable. If you don't believe in something, then why argue in a concept you have no investment. Makes zero sense.
@GayorgVonTrapp
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
You cannot have a relationship with a being that can never be wrong nor questioned. I used to have a brother in law that was all knowing – it was insufferable being with him.
@mahewson
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
If we get our morality from God, then how could anything God does or says go against our instinctive morality? If it is true that morality can only come from God, then anything that goes against our morality is, by definition, ungodly.
@NewOrleansSeptember
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
All groups of the day were barbaric and warlike. One of these groups calling the other worse is ridiculous.
@joshmurphy8
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
I love how respecting and high thinking Dr Craig is of Dr Dawkins. In contrast to Dawkins. I also just love how happy Alex looks when talking to Dr Craig
@Dutchman-SNS
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
The logical consistence of WLC here seems obivous to me. The objections are (1) there is no God and (2) if there is a God and God is like that then God is evil. Point 1 makes sense, if there is no God, then the whole they were justified by an inherent good God falls apart. Point 2, here is a matter of blind faith that per definition God is good.
@Opensecret...
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
So Dawkins was right
@thickFruitJuice
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Neither does the bible nor Atheism grant us a source of objective morality. Both are impoverished in this area.
Atheists claim to not believe in higher power but then live as if they have a higher moral source.
Perhaps a source lies elsewhere. We can accept a belief in a higher power without the bible.
@Camedy_Central
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Honestly when I heard the the euthyphro dilemma in philosophy I thought it was a sound argument using divine command theory as a leg against our ability to rationalize right from wrong. But if a God wrote the laws of physics, and we can deduct their principles naturally from reason, it would stand to reason that no matter how bonkers his morality we was, we would naturally be able to arrive at it just as we would any other law of nature, and if for one day a real almighty being said gravity wasn't a thing, then it would be the case and we'd be floating and use reason to deduct the lack of gravity, so if by a divine command murdering an entire nation was permissable, then the soldiers following the order would likely feel nothing but glee about it, and it would be absolutely righteous even if it then made no sense looking back on.
So despite whole heartedly disagreeing with believing in a god, if there is an almighty being that is 100% accurately depicted by the Christian bible, then Bill is 100% correct that never did or could do anything wrong.
@riikkaleenapietikainen7016
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
34:03 well i think Dawkings was right to call his morals evil…. "if god tells me to, it is my obligation to kill an innocent child". Disgusting.
@Netero6969
April 25, 2026 at 2:57 pm
Williams Lane's way of speaking feels very polite tbh but his beliefs are …