ABSTRACT
First Published in 2004. God and Goodness takes 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.
Wynn argues that the goodness of the world provides a glimpse into what we should mean by 'God'. Here, he seeks to recover the mediaeval sense that the goodness of the world offers an image of the goodness of God, not simply in relation to the world, but in itself. This book will be an invaluable read for those interested in natural theology and philosophy of religion.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |7 pages
Introduction
part |60 pages
The goodness of the world as its reason for existence
chapter |26 pages
Providence and beauty
chapter |32 pages
The world as a source of value
part |47 pages
Disvalues and the goodness of the world
chapter |30 pages
Providence and evil
chapter |15 pages
Theodicy in an ecological mode
part |22 pages
Moral commitment to the goodness of the world
chapter |20 pages
A non-epistemic case for trusting in the goodness of the world
part |59 pages
The goodness of the world and the concept of God