Well-known atheist, Richard Dawkins, wrote: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

How do you respond when people critique the picture that the Old Testament paints of God? This can be especially difficult if you yourself are disturbed by some of the stories.

In this series we dive into four of the most infamous Old Testament stores and explore them in-depth. And, spoiler alert, there is a lot more going on in these stories than it may first appear!

In this episode we look at the account of the conquest, exploring the question: If God is good and loving, why would he command the Israelites to kill the Canaanites? Related, Is God guilty of commanding ethnic cleansing, or genocide, in this account?