Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Does morality point to God? Dr. David Baggett joins Dr. William Lane Craig to unveil their new book, Reasonable Moral Faith.
Dr. David Baggett — widely regarded as the leading contemporary defender of the moral argument for God's existence — joins Dr. William Lane Craig for a wide-ranging conversation on their new co-authored book, Reasonable Moral Faith (Baker Academic). They discuss how their differing approaches to the moral argument — Craig's deductive formulation and Baggett's abductive one — merged into a single inductive case in the book, and why a robust moral realism (the view that objective moral values and duties are real, true, and binding) is essential to any strong version of the argument. Along the way they tackle the most common misunderstanding of the moral argument — that it accuses atheists of being less moral than theists — and explain why having a subjective experience of morality doesn't make the moral truths themselves subjective. This is part one of a two-part discussion; the next episode lays out Craig and Baggett's actual argument for God from morality.
About the guest: Dr. David Baggett is one of the foremost philosophers writing on ethics and theism today. He is the author of a four-volume series on the moral argument published by Oxford University Press, formerly headed the Center for the Foundations of Ethics at Houston Christian University, and is now studying law at the University of Missouri School of Law.
0:00 Introduction and welcoming Dr. Baggett
1:55 How Baggett and Craig's collaboration began
4:40 Deductive vs. abductive vs. inductive versions of the moral argument
8:43 The "family" of moral arguments and defining objective moral values/duties
11:22 The most common misunderstanding of the moral argument
13:38 Why subjective moral experience doesn't mean subjective moral truth
15:33 Overview of the book's four parts
16:46 Part 1: Historical roots — Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euthyphro dilemma
20:53 Part 2: Moral realism and what it requires
Links:
Episode notes and transcript: reasonablefaith.org/media/reasonable-faith-podcast/is-the-moral-argument-reasonable
Get Reasonable Moral Faith (Baker Academic): https://a.co/d/01tMHBAZ
More from Dr. Baggett: moralapologetics.com/moral-apologetics-live
Watch Part 2 of this conversation: youtu.be/kb2lWPm28v4
More from the Reasonable Faith Podcast: reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/reasonable-faith-podcast
Support Reasonable Faith's 20th anniversary: reasonablefaith.org/donation
Further reading:
George Mavrodes, "Religion and the Queerness of Morality"
Plato, Euthyphro (the Euthyphro dilemma)
J. L. Mackie on moral realism and objective prescriptivity
Baggett & Craig, Reasonable Moral Faith (Baker Academic)
Subscribe for more conversations on faith, philosophy, and the case for Christianity.
About Reasonable Faith: Reasonable Faith is the ministry of Dr. William Lane Craig, providing an articulate, intelligent voice for biblical Christianity in the public arena. Learn more and explore hundreds of free resources at reasonablefaith.org.
#MoralArgument #WilliamLaneCraig #DavidBaggett #Apologetics #Christianity
For more resources visit: reasonablefaith.org
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
reasonablefaith.org/forums
Be sure to also visit Reasonable Faith's other channel which contains short clips: youtube.com/drcraigvideos
Follow Reasonable Faith On Twitter: twitter.com/rfupdates
Like the Reasonable Faith Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/reasonablefaithorg
For more resources visit: reasonablefaith.org
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
reasonablefaith.org/forums
Be sure to also visit Reasonable Faith's other channel which contains short clips: youtube.com/drcraigvideos
Follow Reasonable Faith On Twitter: twitter.com/rfupdates
Like the Reasonable Faith Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/reasonablefaithorg
Does morality point to God? Dr. David Baggett joins Dr. William Lane Craig to unveil their new book, Reasonable Moral Faith.
Dr. David Baggett — widely regarded as the leading contemporary defender of the moral argument for God's existence — joins Dr. William Lane Craig for a wide-ranging conversation on their new co-authored book, Reasonable Moral Faith (Baker Academic). They discuss how their differing approaches to the moral argument — Craig's deductive formulation and Baggett's abductive one — merged into a single inductive case in the book, and why a robust moral realism (the view that objective moral values and duties are real, true, and binding) is essential to any strong version of the argument. Along the way they tackle the most common misunderstanding of the moral argument — that it accuses atheists of being less moral than theists — and explain why having a subjective experience of morality doesn't make the moral truths themselves subjective. This is part one of a two-part discussion; the next episode lays out Craig and Baggett's actual argument for God from morality.
About the guest: Dr. David Baggett is one of the foremost philosophers writing on ethics and theism today. He is the author of a four-volume series on the moral argument published by Oxford University Press, formerly headed the Center for the Foundations of Ethics at Houston Christian University, and is now studying law at the University of Missouri School of Law.
0:00 Introduction and welcoming Dr. Baggett
1:55 How Baggett and Craig's collaboration began
4:40 Deductive vs. abductive vs. inductive versions of the moral argument
8:43 The "family" of moral arguments and defining objective moral values/duties
11:22 The most common misunderstanding of the moral argument
13:38 Why subjective moral experience doesn't mean subjective moral truth
15:33 Overview of the book's four parts
16:46 Part 1: Historical roots — Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euthyphro dilemma
20:53 Part 2: Moral realism and what it requires
Links:
Episode notes and transcript: reasonablefaith.org/media/reasonable-faith-podcast/is-the-moral-argument-reasonable
Get Reasonable Moral Faith (Baker Academic): https://a.co/d/01tMHBAZ
More from Dr. Baggett: moralapologetics.com/moral-apologetics-live
Watch Part 2 of this conversation: youtu.be/kb2lWPm28v4
More from the Reasonable Faith Podcast: reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/reasonable-faith-podcast
Support Reasonable Faith's 20th anniversary: reasonablefaith.org/donation
Further reading:
George Mavrodes, "Religion and the Queerness of Morality"
Plato, Euthyphro (the Euthyphro dilemma)
J. L. Mackie on moral realism and objective prescriptivity
Baggett & Craig, Reasonable Moral Faith (Baker Academic)
Subscribe for more conversations on faith, philosophy, and the case for Christianity.
About Reasonable Faith: Reasonable Faith is the ministry of Dr. William Lane Craig, providing an articulate, intelligent voice for biblical Christianity in the public arena. Learn more and explore hundreds of free resources at reasonablefaith.org.
#MoralArgument #WilliamLaneCraig #DavidBaggett #Apologetics #Christianity
For more resources visit: reasonablefaith.org
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
reasonablefaith.org/forums
Be sure to also visit Reasonable Faith's other channel which contains short clips: youtube.com/drcraigvideos
Follow Reasonable Faith On Twitter: twitter.com/rfupdates
Like the Reasonable Faith Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/reasonablefaithorg
For more resources visit: reasonablefaith.org
We welcome your comments in the Reasonable Faith forums:
reasonablefaith.org/forums
Be sure to also visit Reasonable Faith's other channel which contains short clips: youtube.com/drcraigvideos
Follow Reasonable Faith On Twitter: twitter.com/rfupdates
Like the Reasonable Faith Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/reasonablefaithorg
