1. A Moral Argument for God’s Existence
Have to move fast; less interaction than I would prefer; talk to me later to ask questions

2. Key Questions Is there just one moral argument for God’s existence?
What is William Lane Craig’s famous moral argument?
What is the best way to defend Craig’s moral argument?

3. Just One Moral Argument?
There are many moral arguments for God’s existence.
Their goal: show God is the only (or at least the best) explanation for certain aspects of morality
moral knowledge, moral accountability, moral transformation, moral rationality, forgiveness, the nature of guilt, and the existence of objective morality
A great scholarly source for the history of these arguments will come out later in The Moral Argument: A History by Baggett and Walls

4. Craig’s Moral Argument
We’ll look at one moral argument: William Lane Craig’s
It claims that God is necessary for objective moral values and duties

5. Craig’s Moral Argument
It is easy to remember, and it follows a basic rule of logic:
1. If God does not exist, then objective moral values and
duties do not exist.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists.
Explain the logic of the argument briefly. Give an example of modus tollens.
If there is complete cloud coverage, then no blue sky is visible.
Blue sky is visible.
Therefore, there is not complete cloud coverage.
If I were hit one minute ago in my unprotected face with a baseball at 100 MPH, then I would currently be feeling pain.
I am not currently feeling pain.
Therefore, I was not hit one minute ago in my unprotected face with a baseball at 100 MPH.

6. Defining Terms
Moral Value: whether something is morally “good” or “bad”
E.g., love is “good” and hatred is “bad”
Moral Duty: whether something is morally required or morally prohibited (our moral “responsibilities”)
E.g., loving children is morally required and torturing children for fun is morally prohibited
Not going to stress the distinction in interest of time

7. Defining Terms
Objective: Does not depend upon what anybody thinks about it; true regardless of what anybody thinks
E.g., the earth is round
Subjective: Depends upon personal opinion
Cookies & Cream is the best flavor of ice cream

8. Clarifying Premise 2
Question: What does Premise 2 mean when it says there are “objective moral values and duties”? Answer: Some things are morally good or bad regardless of what any human thinks. Also, we have certain moral responsibilities regardless of human opinion. Illustration: The Holocaust…
We’ll start with clarifying Premise 2

9. Illustration of Objective Morality
The holocaust is objectively wrong if… …it was wrong even though the Nazis thought that it was right. …AND it would still be wrong even if the Nazis had won WWII and killed off everyone who disagreed with them.

10. Clarifying Premise 1
Question: Premise 1 states: “If God does not exist, then objective moral values and duties do not exist.” What does this mean? Answer: In any “world” (complete description of reality) that lacks God, there would be nothing in that description of reality that could serve as an objective standard of what is “good” or “bad” or “right” or “wrong.”
Note that just because we can conceive of a world without God does not mean such a world is possible.

11. Defending the Moral Argument
Let’s defend Premise 2 first:
1. If God does not exist, then objective moral values and
duties do not exist.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists. 2

12. Defending Premise 2
Moral experience tells us some things are objectively right and wrong
Moral criticism is proper and unavoidable…
Is there nothing objectively wrong with such things as:
Nazis starving, torturing, and murdering Jews
Terrorists flying airplanes into buildings
Is there no objective difference between torturing children for fun and loving children? Are they just matters of preference?

13. Defending Premise 2
Making moral comparisons assumes an objective moral standard. Can the actions of these two people be morally equal?

14. Defending the Moral Argument
Now let’s defend Premise 1:
1. If God does not exist, then objective moral values and
duties do not exist.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists. 1

15. Standard of Objective Morality
If there is objective morality, something must serves as the standard of objective morality…
Something needs to be the foundation or “measuring stick” that establishes what is objectively “good” or “bad” and establishes our objective moral responsibilities…
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16. Standard of Objective Morality
How could an atheist justify the existence of objective moral values and duties? What could be the one true standard that establishes what is universally good/bad and right/wrong for all people?

17. Standard of Objective Morality
We must consider what the standard of objective morality would have to be like.
The standard of objective morality seemingly must have five qualities…

18. Standard of Objective Morality
Five Key Qualities of the Standard of Objective Morality:
Personal
Beyond Humanity (Transcendent)
Unchanging
Eternally Existing
Necessarily Good/Good in Itself
These are attributes of God! But…
Atheism has nothing like this.
Personal... Morality is a function of persons and not impersonal things. It is persons who are moral agents and take morally significant action, so it would seem bizarre for the foundation of goodness to be impersonal. It would also be odd for an impersonal reality to be the source of moral duties. Could an impersonal reality establish moral duties and hold human persons accountable for upholding them? Transcendent... This is essential to objectivity. In order to be the foundation of moral truths that go beyond subjective human opinion, this foundation must be a transcendent reality. Unchanging... It would not do for the standard of objective morality to be in flux such that what is good or bad or right or wrong today may be different from what it was yesterday. Eternally existing... If some moral truths are to be necessary truths, as they appear to be, then it seems important that the foundation for these truths is eternal. For example, if Christian theism is true, love (a moral value that seems to require not just personhood but multiple persons to give and receive love) could exist and be expressed eternally by the Trinity so that love is an eternally existing moral value that existed prior to and independently of humans. Necessarily Good... The ultimate standard of objective morality must not merely be contingently good or good in virtue of something else; rather, it ought to be good in itself. It ought to be “the Good” and the standard by which anything else can be called good by comparison, and it ought to be this way necessarily and not contingently. Were it not to be the Good necessarily, this foundation would not be a good candidate to place moral duties upon us. A source of moral duties that is not itself essentially good would be open to the criticism of being arbitrary.

19. Defending the Moral Argument
Both premises seem to be true. If they are true, then the conclusion has to be true!
1. If God does not exist, then objective moral values and
duties do not exist.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists.

20. Questions?
IF TIME show video (5 min)… “The Moral Argument” (Reasonable Faith)

21. “Euthyphro Dilemma”
Socrates
Objection to Premise 1: Why does the fact that God says something is right mean that it is objectively right? God’s existence would not mean that there is objective morality because either: A) Morality is still subjective because it depends on God’s arbitrary (random) opinion. If God had said that murder and torture are good, would that make them good? OR B) God simply recognizes that certain things are good or bad and then issues moral commands to us on that basis. That means there is a standard of “goodness” outside of God. God is not needed.

22. “Euthyphro Dilemma” Response to Objection: There is a third option!...
Socrates
Response to Objection: There is a third option!...
C) God Himself—in His very nature—is the Good.
So God’s commands are not arbitrary, and they do not come from outside of God.
God is necessarily the Good. His holy character is the source and standard of objective morality.

23. Atheists on Morality Atheists have various views on morality.
Atheists struggle to justify that atheism can provide a standard/foundation for objective morality, so many do not try to do so…
Atheist philosopher Michael Ruse accepts the implausible view that morality is an illusion that we have evolved for survival purposes: “Morality is a biological adaptation no less than our hands and feet and teeth. Considered as … an objective something, ethics is illusory. Morality is just an aid to survival and reproduction, … and any deeper meaning is illusory.”
Ruse
The quote comes from Ruse’s book The Darwinian Paradigm