THE MORAL ARGUMENT: Resources for Study

If there is no God, then Evolution must be true. And if Evolution is true, then it can be easily demonstrated that virtually everything we call wrong is really right. It's a part of what created us and what ultimately will make us better and therefore should be encouraged. If evolution is true--if winning and keeping your genes in the pool is what life is really all about, then stealing, adultery, lying and even rape are good (not bad). And yet our conscience tells us otherwise.

We all recognize that certain things are just wrong--even evil. But where does that come from? If there is no God, how can there be an objective moral standard? And if we all have this moral standard within us, who put it there? If there is no God, we are all free to do what we want. But we all know that that is not the way that it is. There is an objective moral standard--a law in our heart. And if there is, there is a Lawgiver who put it there.

RESOURCES for Digging Deeper

My Class: "The Law in Your Heart":
*MP3 Audio (45 minutes)
*PowerPoint Slideshow: When you click on this link, you will note the option at the top to "Open with Google Slides" or you may open with MS PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress (which is free).
*Class Handout
*I recommend opening the audio and using the PowerPoint Slideshow as you listen (and/or the handout).

*The entire 16-week course may be found here: "HOW TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST THAT CHANGES THE WORLD (Apologetics 101: A Cumulative Case)"

INTRODUCTORY
Videos

*Craig, William Lane. "Moral Argument" (2 1/2 minutes)

*Turek, Frank. "A Challenge to the Moral Argument." (8 minutes)

*Turek, Frank. "Can Evolution Explain Morality?" (5 minutes)

Articles

*Lyons, Eric. "The Moral Argument for the Existence of God"
*Manning, Erik. "Every Christian Should Begin to Master the Moral Argument Today"

INTERMEDIATE
Videos

*Copan, Paul. On Guard Conference: "Can We Be Good Without God?"
*Lanier, Mark. Lecture at Lanier Theological Library by top lawyer, Mark Lanier.

Audio
*Craig, William Lane. "07 Moral Argument" (Over 2 hours). Four lectures from Craig's "Introduction to Apologetics" course, comprised of 51 lectures. Scroll down the list there to "07 Moral Argument."
*"Arguments for God's Existence" by Peter Kreeft (78 minutes). Starting at the 18-minute mark, Kreeft gives an excellent 10-minute summary of the moral argument (which he terms "the argument from conscience"), based largely on C.S. Lewis' version of it.

Articles (& chapters of books)

*Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity (pages 8-20). FREE! ebook. FREE! audiobook.

*Shenvi, Neil. "Do Objective Moral Values Exist?"

*Copan, Paul. Passionate Conviction (pages 79-92). Cheap used and full of other great essays besides the one on the moral argument.

*Copan, Paul. "The Moral Argument for God's Existence."

*Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist, Chapter 7: "Mother Teresa vs. Hitler" (p.169-196).

*Last Seminary hosts 24 articles on the moral argument that can be download for FREE--with brief abstracts for each.

Books
*Budziszewski, J. What We Can't Not Know: A Guide.

*Lewis, C.S. The Abolition of Man. FREE! here. A Lewis classic.

*Baggett, David and Jerry L. Walls. Good God: The Theistic Foundations of Morality.

Still looking?....

Check out this brief article and bibliography from my friend Carson Weitnauer.....

OR...this excellent website devoted to exploring moral arguments.....

OR...this list of resources at Christian CADRE.

CLASSIC QUOTE:

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. 

Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. 

Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

- C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity, p.22-23 of the free online ebook version)