God and cosmos : moral truth and human meaning

345 Pages·2016·2.12 MB·English

by  Baggett

God and Cosmos

God and Cosmos
Moral Truth
and Human Meaning
z
DAVID BAGGETT
JERRY L. WALLS
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Baggett, David.
Title: God and cosmos : moral truth and human meaning / David Baggett and
Jerry L. Walls.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015030027| ISBN 978–0–19–993121–7 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN
978–0–19–993119–4 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Religion and ethics. | Ethics. | God. | Religious ethics.
Classification: LCC BJ47 .B338 2016 | DDC 205—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.
gov/2015030027
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan, USA
To Marybeth Baggett, with profound gratitude and love

Contents
Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction  1
Introduction to Part I
1. Alone in the Cosmos  23
2. The Case for Abduction  54
3. The Problem of Evil, Freedom, and Moral Responsibility  79
Introduction to Part II
4. Moral Value  115
5. Moral Obligations  145
6. Moral Knowledge  179
7. Moral Transformation  213
8. Moral Rationality  243
Introduction to Part III
9. A Moral Argument  273
Conclusion  303
Index  309

Acknowledgments
it is our pleasure to acknowledge and thank the many friends and col-
leagues who contributed to this project. Those in our respective depart-
ments at Liberty University and Houston Baptist University deserve many
thanks, as do the administrators at our respective universities who sup-
port us by allowing us the time necessary to do this sort of work. Thanks
also to our students for stimulating discussion of these issues, particularly
students in the Ph.D. seminar Dave taught in the spring of 2015, using an
earlier draft of this manuscript as the main text. Thanks to the Harvard
Theological Review for permission to reprint Dave’s critical review of Tom
Nagel’s book Mind and Cosmos, and to Philosophia Christi for permission to
reprint a few paragraphs from the Spring 2014 article “Omnibenevolence,
Moral Apologetics, and Double Ramified Natural Theology,” by David
Baggett and Ronnie Campbell.
As always, Jerry is grateful to Tim, Angela, Madelyn, and Mackenzie
Amos, and Jonathan and Emily Walls, for love and inspiration all along.
Thanks to Kurt Jaros, Nick Dodson, and Lindi Rigg for logistical help,
and to Jonathan Pruitt, Managing Editor at MoralApologetics.com, a bril-
liant budding scholar and a dear friend, for much great assistance, includ-
ing the idea for the cover. As always, we have enjoyed working with Cynthia
Read, and we deeply appreciate the whole team at Oxford University Press
who believed in this project and in myriad ways supported it along the way.
Finally, profoundest thanks to Marybeth Baggett, whose adroit editing
strengthened the book considerably, whose encouragement and love made
their mark on each page, and whose patience during a long, arduous pro-
cess was steadfast. To her, with gratitude, we dedicate this book.