Rating: 
Summary: A Thorough Tour
Review: Moreland and Craig have produced a philosophical text which is both clear and takes the reader on a very thorough tour of all the key issues facing a modern Christian. This is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to ground their faith in a way that is both Biblical and logical.Having read Moreland's book "Scaling the Secular City" and a reasonable amount of Craig's literature, you can definitely see their material cropping up again. However, the arguments have matured and been filled out, so that you serve to gain even more by reading this book as well. In particular, the book has really interesting sections on models of truth, the philosophy of time, the problem of evil and ways of understanding God's foreknowledge and predestination. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in seriously thinking through the validity of Christianity.
Rating:
Summary: A Thorough Tour
Review: Moreland and Craig have produced a philosophical text which is both clear and takes the reader on a very thorough tour of all the key issues facing a modern Christian. This is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to ground their faith in a way that is both Biblical and logical. Having read Moreland's book "Scaling the Secular City" and a reasonable amount of Craig's literature, you can definitely see their material cropping up again. However, the arguments have matured and been filled out, so that you serve to gain even more by reading this book as well. In particular, the book has really interesting sections on models of truth, the philosophy of time, the problem of evil and ways of understanding God's foreknowledge and predestination. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in seriously thinking through the validity of Christianity.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: The authors are two Baptist professors of philosophy at the evangelical Talbot school of theology. The present thick book (654 p.) is mostly a compilation of summaries or passages from the authors' earlier works in philosophy. For those like me who have already read their works, the potential interest of this book would be the successful integration of their earlier works into a worldview, that is a consistent view and in particular into a Christian one, given the commitment of the authors to the intellectual defense of Christianity. How do they succeed? First of all let us think of the organisation of the book. In Anglo-Saxon countries the academic world is "organised" according to positivism, in the sense that all academic fields (except the natural and possibly social) fields have been excluded from "science", unlike Europe, where universities, due to a lesser positivist influence, still have faculties called "religious sciences", "human sciences", etc. In a similar manner, in Anglo-Saxon countries, in philosophy, the topic of "God" has been excluded from metaphysics, and is found in the field of "philosophy of religion". As the present book is directed at Christians and not mainstream readers, I was hoping the authors would not follow the positivist view. Unfortunately they failed by uncritically organising their book according to positivism, even to the point of restricting "science" to the "natural sciences", and moving out of the metaphysics section major metaphysical questions (realism, God, space and time...)! Secondly let us look at the integration of views expressed in the book. Critical readers know that the different views emitted by Craig in his various apologetics arguments contradict each other. I was expecting Craig to have worked on solving this when making this book. Instead the book is replete with contradictions. One example of inconsistency is about divine omniscience. Craig still rejects omniscience (favoring instead middle-knowledge, a doctrine I think wrong), but when trying to defend exclusivism (the view that humans who did not get a chance to hear the gospel go to hell!), he argues that God knows about each human if he/she will believe or not the gospel so that God places those would-be believers at a place where they will hear it... which requires God to be omniscient! (BTW exclusivism was not a belief of the early church, I would rather have expected some major Christian doctrines such as deification / theologal virtues). Another example of inconsistency is about relativity. In his discussion of time, Craig rejects (wrongfully in my opinion) the B-Theory of time, and then also Einstein's relativity!!! Yet he uses Einstein's relativity in his cosmological argument!!! Finally it is quite disappointing , not to say irritating, to see how little work Craig put into this book. Much of his contributions consists in cutting and pasting what he wrote elsewhere, even the introduction of the present book, taken from the introduction of his book Reasonable Faith. Moreover Craig's style is sometimes unworthy of a philosopher, being rather rhetorical (e. g. he writes that "fatalism INFECTED..."). Some of Craig's contributions are simply entirely misleading (the "philosophy of space and time" deals only with time!) or show no improvements. For example, why can't he see that proponents of the B-Theory of time don't have to see their experience as irrational, but only as relative to their moving along the time dimension in which they are stuck (unlike an omniscient creator who would see the time-line in an absolute manner). Or how can Craig still reject Einstein's relativity and accept instead Lorentzian relativity, the latter implying a "mischievous" epistemology as he himself concedes (and why not then think that the world or our existence is an illusion if we are to be so deluded?) In conclusion, as Craig has not solved the contradictions between his different Christian apologetics arguments, nor solved some other problems, this book lacks consistency and credibility and therefore fails at providing a plausible worldview. After reading this book, I think even more that Craig is more interested in converting people than in making good philosophy, I am afraid to say. A better integration can be found in the works of the Baptist thinker Norman Geisler (even if I think he is wrong about issues such the making of the Christian canon and inerrancy), probably because Geisler has used the resources of thomistic philosophy, the cathedral of Christian thought built by Thomas Aquinas. The present book may however be useful for those who want to get an overview of the authors' works, before possibly reading their specific books or papers (but beware of the kinds of problems I mentioned above). I must add that I did not find Moreland's contributions problematic (but only Craig's), so that I still give three stars to the book.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Excellence
Review: This book has given me a philosophical grounding that I never believed I could attain. Everything is explained thoroughly and (in my opinion) in a way easily understood by the beginner. The only thing that is needed is a desire to learn. This book is so excellent--thank you Dr. Craig and Dr. Moreland!!
Rating:
Summary: Pure Excellence
Review: This book has given me a philosophical grounding that I never believed I could attain. Everything is explained thoroughly and (in my opinion) in a way easily understood by the beginner. The only thing that is needed is a desire to learn. This book is so excellent--thank you Dr. Craig and Dr. Moreland!!
Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Questions
Review: This book is fine as an introduction to Christian philosophy. I would also recommend books by Gordon Clark and Vincent Cheung. Search the web for "trinity foundation" and "vincent cheung", and I think you will find them. Cheung's books are free for download.
Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Questions
Review: This book is fine as an introduction to Christian philosophy. I would also recommend books by Gordon Clark and Vincent Cheung. Search the web for "trinity foundation" and "vincent cheung", and I think you will find them. Cheung's books are free for download.
Rating:
Summary: A Definitive Introduction
Review: We live in a modern culture that is not interested in the cultivation of the mind. This is true inside the church as well as outside. In "Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview", authors Moreland and Craig, who are among the best in Christian scholars, place all of the fundamental concepts needed to provide a strong foundation for intellectual growth in one volume. The book is primarily written for the Christian but is very accessible for the non-Christian who is interested in the debate. The book begins by laying down a philosophical groundwork concerning concepts such as logic & rationality, epistemological issues such as truth and knowledge, and various important issues in metaphysics. Gradually, as the concepts build, the book covers areas in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, ethics, concepts of God, arguments for the existence of God, Christian doctrines, etc. This book is a philosophical text and should be treated as such. That is, it should be rigorously studied and not just read. Most people who have not contended with weighty concepts in philosophy and religion may find some sections tedious and difficult to grapple with-hence the need to study. Fear not however, for the book is intended for the beginner and intermediate levels of understanding. Bold face text will alert readers to key definitions and concepts, and the chapters end with summary and list of concepts that should be mastered. Footnotes are placed at the end of book so as to not clutter the text. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview is an indispensable scholarly work that combines classical apologetics with fundaments philosophical concepts. It is sure to provide a solid platform by which the Christian can conduct his or her intellectual life. It also exemplifies the intellectual rigor that we have come to know in J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig. Aristotle once said that the unexamined life is not worthy to be lived. With this book, one is well on their way to an examined life. It is high quality indeed
Rating:
Summary: A Definitive Introduction
Review: We live in a modern culture that is not interested in the cultivation of the mind. This is true inside the church as well as outside. In "Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview", authors Moreland and Craig, who are among the best in Christian scholars, place all of the fundamental concepts needed to provide a strong foundation for intellectual growth in one volume. The book is primarily written for the Christian but is very accessible for the non-Christian who is interested in the debate. The book begins by laying down a philosophical groundwork concerning concepts such as logic & rationality, epistemological issues such as truth and knowledge, and various important issues in metaphysics. Gradually, as the concepts build, the book covers areas in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, ethics, concepts of God, arguments for the existence of God, Christian doctrines, etc. This book is a philosophical text and should be treated as such. That is, it should be rigorously studied and not just read. Most people who have not contended with weighty concepts in philosophy and religion may find some sections tedious and difficult to grapple with-hence the need to study. Fear not however, for the book is intended for the beginner and intermediate levels of understanding. Bold face text will alert readers to key definitions and concepts, and the chapters end with summary and list of concepts that should be mastered. Footnotes are placed at the end of book so as to not clutter the text. Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview is an indispensable scholarly work that combines classical apologetics with fundaments philosophical concepts. It is sure to provide a solid platform by which the Christian can conduct his or her intellectual life. It also exemplifies the intellectual rigor that we have come to know in J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig. Aristotle once said that the unexamined life is not worthy to be lived. With this book, one is well on their way to an examined life. It is high quality indeed
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