Paul Copan

Paul Copan (b. 1962) is an American analytic philosopher of religion and Christian apologist. He holds the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and earned his PhD in philosophy from Marquette University under the supervision of theistic philosophers in the Reformed and analytic tradition. He served as president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society (2004–2008). Copan's work focuses on defending the rationality of theism, the moral character of the God of the Hebrew Bible, and the historical reliability of Christian claims. His best-known book, Is God a Moral Monster? (2011), responds to New Atheist critics—particularly Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris—who argue that Old Testament depictions of divine commands (especially regarding the Canaanite conquests, slavery laws, and patriarchy) render Yahweh morally repugnant. Copan argues these texts must be read in their Ancient Near Eastern context and as accommodated revelation. He co-edited The Rationality of Theism with Paul K. Moser, gathering analytic defenses of theistic belief. Critics, including biblical scholar Thom Stark and philosopher Wes Morriston, have argued that Copan's contextualizing readings minimize moral difficulties in the text and rely on selective historical reconstruction. Copan also writes extensively on William Lane Craig's kalam cosmological argument, moral arguments for God, and religious pluralism, situating himself within mainstream evangelical analytic apologetics alongside Craig, J. P. Moreland, and Alvin Plantinga.