God and Goodness: A Natural Theological

God and Goodnesstakes the experience of value as a starting point for natural theology. Mark Wynn argues that theism offers our best understanding of the goodness of the world, especially its beauty and openness to the development of richer and more complex material forms. We also see that the world's goodness calls for a moral response: commitment to the goodness of the world represents a natural extension of the trust to which we aspire in our dealings with human beings.

Mark Wynn teaches Philosophy of Religion at the Australian Catholic University.

Preface

x

Acknowledgements

xi

Introduction

1

(1)

The goodness of the world as its reason for existence

1

(1)

Some approaches to the rationality of religious belief

2

(3)

Two objections to natural theology

5

(4)

PART I The goodness of the world as its reason for existence

9

(60)

Providence and beauty

11

(26)

The argument from design

11

(5)

Tennant's argument

16

(5)

Humean responses to Tennant

21

(3)

The sociobiological critique

24

(12)

Conclusions

36

(1)

The world as a source of value

37

(32)

Introduction

37

(1)

Swinburne's argument from consciousness

37

(9)

Haldane's argument from concept use

46

(4)

The world as a generator of value

50

(17)

Conclusions

67

(2)

PART II Disvalues and the goodness of the world

69

(48)

Providence and evil

71

(30)

Introduction

71

(5)

How good is good enough?

76

(10)

An example of the integral whole approach

86

(6)

Divine inscrutability and divine power

92

(5)

Some applications

97

(2)

Conclusions

99

(2)

Theodicy in an ecological mode

101

(16)

Introduction

101

(5)

Towards an ecological theodicy

106

(6)

Failing to see the value of the world

112

(2)

Conclusions

114

(3)

PART III Moral commitment to the goodness of the world

117

(22)

A non-epistemic case for trusting in the goodness of the world

119

(20)

Introduction

119

(4)

A moral, communitarian case for religious belief

123

(7)

Relationship to God as a trust relationship

130

(6)

Conclusions

136

(3)

PART IV The goodness of the world and the concept of God

139

(52)

Worship and the concept of God

141

(28)

Introduction

141

(2)

The religious adequacy of the individualistic model

143

(6)

Developing the individualistic model

149

(10)

The anthropological basis of the proposal

159

(7)

Conclusions

166

(3)

Salvation and the concept of God

169

(22)

Introduction

169

(1)

The world's resemblance to God

170

(5)

A Teilhardian account

175

(4)

A final approach: the relation of necessary complement

179

(8)

Conclusions

187

(4)

Conclusion

191

(7)

Between Cleanthes and Demea

193

(2)

Re-enchanting the world

195

(3)

Notes

198

(21)

Bibliography

219

(7)

Index

226

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God and Goodness: A Natural Theological Perspective

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials