In a lively debate, which includes questions from the audience, Christian philosopher and ethicist J.P. Moreland and Kai Neilsen, one of today’s best-known atheist philosophers, go head to head on the fundamental issues and questions that have shaped individual lives, races, and nations throughout history. The book is divided into three sections: (i) the transcriptof the oral debate on the existence of God between Christian philosopher J.P. Moreland and atheist philosopher Kai Nielsen; (ii) commentaries on the debate by two Christian philosophers (William Lane Craig and Dallas Willard) and two atheist philosophers (Antony Flew and Keith Parsons); and (iii) concluding thoughts by Moreland and Nielsen.

Table of Contents 

• • Preface
  • Introduction: Why Debate the Existence of God?    11
• Pt. I    Does God Exist? The Formal Debate
  • 1    Yes! A Defense of Christianity    33
  • 2    No! A Defense of Atheism    48
  • 3    A Christian’s Rebuttal    55
  • 4    An Atheist’s Rebuttal    64
  • 5    Closing Arguments for Atheism    69
  • 6    Closing Arguments for Christianity    73
  • 7    Questions and Answers    76
• Pt. II    Does It Matter That God Exists? The Debate Continued
  • 8    Ethics Without God    97
  • 9    Ethics Depend on God    111
  • 10    More Questions and Answers    127
• Pt. III    What Do Others Think? Responses to the Debate
  • 11    In Defense of Rational Theism    139
  • 12    The Case for God Challenged    162
  • 13    Is There a Case for Christian Theism?    177
  • 14    Language, Being, God, and the Three Stages of Theistic Evidence    197
• Pt. IV    What Would the Debaters Say? Some Closing Arguments
  • 15    Atheism and Leaky Buckets: The Christian Rope Pulls Tighter    221
  • 16    Defending Atheism Again: Remarks on God and Coherence    247
• Pt. V    How Can I Decide for Myself? The Debate Made Personal
  • 17    The Choice of a Lifetime    287
  • Appendix: Facing the Specific Questions    293
  • Bibliography    308
  • Atheism
  • Christian Theism