Good God: The Theistic Foundations of Morality by David Baggett


Good God: The Theistic Foundations of Morality
Title : Good God: The Theistic Foundations of Morality
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0199751811
ISBN-10 : 9780199751815
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 283
Publication : First published March 10, 2011

This book aims to reinvigorate discussions of moral arguments for God's existence. To open this debate, Baggett and Walls argue that God's love and moral goodness are perfect, without defect, necessary, and recognizable. After integrating insights from the literature of both moral apologetics and theistic ethics, they defend theistic ethics against a variety of objections and, in so doing, bolster the case for the moral argument for God's existence. It is the intention of the authors to see this aspect of natural theology resume its rightful place of prominence, by showing how a worldview predicated on the God of both classical theism and historical Christian orthodoxy has more than adequate resources to answer the Euthyphro Dilemma, speak to the problem of evil, illumine natural law, and highlight the moral significance of the incarnation and resurrection of Christ. Ultimately, the authors argue, there is principled reason to believe that morality itself provides excellent
reasons to look for a transcendent source of its authority and reality, and a source that is more than an abstract principle.

Good God: The Theistic Foundations of Morality Reviews

  • Emily Gayle

    This book was a challenging read as it was very wordy in its explanations and difficult vocabulary. I do like the layout of the book and learned a lot from it.

  • Jeffrey

    David Baggett and Jerry Walls combine philosophy of religion and ethics with standard apologetic arguments for God's existence in this book resulting in a more popular rendition of God's relationship to moral duty (commands) and values (good nature) coupled with an apologetic argument for God's existence from the nature of morality. In chapter one Baggett and Walls not four features/arguments from ethics that point to God (objectivity, the dualism of practical reason, moral obligation/ought, and, freedom and responsibility). The authors then shift to the most common objections against God framed as arbitrariness, abhorrent commands, and tautology objections in chapters 2, 7-9. Chapters 3-6 deal with god's relation to ethics (both values and duties) as well as the nature of God (not Calvinistic). They end with more Christian theological concerns in chapter 10 with a discussion on virtue ethics. Throughout the work they continue to make the distinction between moral values (good/bad) and moral obligation (right/ought, wrong/prohibition). Their appendixes, specifically on moral outrage, are very helpful to see both the logical and existential issues with worldviews and ethics. Would recommend reading alongside "God and Moral Obligation" by Evans.

  • Osvaldo Santiago

    Very good cumulative case version of the moral argument for God's existence, plus a very robust grounding of morality in Divine Command Theory while avoiding the horns of the Euthyphro Dilemma. The chapter contra Calvinism was uncharitable and unfaithful in presenting the views on unconditional election, and the argument is unsuccessful for various reasons. I believe it leaves the authors open to the charge of special pleading with respect to their elaborate explanation of why the conquest narratives of the OT do not conflict with a robust biblical and Anselmian understanding of God. Otherwise, this book is a helpful resource (even for Calvinists!) in: employing moral arguments for God's existence and understanding Divine Command Theory that avoids the extremes attributed to Ockham, making helpful distinctions between the ontological and epistemic status of moral values, and applying a coherent integration of elements from deontological and virtue (and perhaps even consequentialist) ethics toward Christian theology and practice, among other strengths and virtues of the book.

  • Wade Bearden

    Morality truly makes sense when it is rooted in God.