In 2018, William Lane Craig and Erik J. Wielenberg participated in a debate at North Carolina State University, addressing the question: "God and Morality: What is the best account of objective moral values and duties?" Craig argued that theism provides a sound foundation for objective morality whereas atheism does not. Wielenberg countered that morality can be objective even if there is no God. This book includes the full debate, as well as endnotes with extended discussions that were not included in the debate. It also includes five chapters by other philosophers who have written substantive responses to the debate - J. P. Moreland, David Baggett, Mark Linville, Wes Morriston, and Michael Huemer. The book provides crucial resources for better understanding moral realism and its dependence on, or independence from, theistic foundations.

Key Features

• A valuable debate about whether or not God is the best explanation for objective morality, bringing together theists and atheists working on the same subject who normally are not in conversation with each other.
• Includes clear coverage of ontological and epistemological issues in metaethical theories, focusing on Divine Command Theory and Non-natural Robust Moral Realism.
• Engaging and accessible throughout, making the book well suited for undergraduate and seminary classrooms.

Debaters

Erik J. Wielenberg is Professor of Philosophy at DePauw University and is the author of Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe (2005), God and the Reach of Reason: C.S. Lewis, David Hume, and Bertrand Russell (2007); and Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative Realism (2014).

William Lane Craig is Professor of Philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology and Houston Baptist University. He has authored or edited more than forty books, including, Divine Foreknowledge and Human Freedom (1990), Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology (with Quentin Smith, 1995), The Kalam Cosmological Argument (2000), God, Time, and Eternity (2001), and God Over All (2016).

Editor

Adam Lloyd Johnson is a Ph.D. student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Contributors

P. Moreland, David Baggett, Mark Linville, Wes Morriston, and Michael Huemer

1. Introduction Adam Lloyd Johnson

Part I: The Debate

2. Opening Speech William Lane Craig

3. Opening Speech Erik J. Wielenberg

4. First Rebuttal William Lane Craig

5. First Rebuttal Erik J. Wielenberg

6. Second Rebuttal William Lane Craig

7. Second Rebuttal Erik J. Wielenberg

8. Closing Statement William Lane Craig

9. Closing Statement Erik Wielenberg

10. Questions and Answers William Lane Craig, Erik J. Wielenberg, and Adam Lloyd Johnson

Part II: Responses to the Debate

11. Wielenberg and Emergence: Borrowed Capital on the Cheap J. P. Moreland

12. Does Morality Have a Theological Foundation? Wesley Morriston

13. Psychopathy and Supererogation David Baggett

14. Groundless Morals Michael Huemer

15. Darwin, Duties, and the Demiurge Mark Linville

Part III: Final Remarks

16. Final Remarks William Lane Craig

17. Final Remarks Erik J. Wielenberg