Christianity and the Roots of Morality: Philosophical, Early Christian, and Empirical Perspectives

Copyright

Contents

Foreword

List of Contributors

Introduction

Part 1: Morality and Religion: Setting the Evolutionary and Philosophical Scene

Moral Gods and the Origins of Human Cooperation

The Evolution of Morality and Religion

Religious Morality or Moral Religion? Kantian and Pragmatist Reflections

Divine Evil, Godless Responsibility, Religious Happiness

Comment 1: Comments on Ilkka Pyysiäinen’s “The Evolution of Morality and Religion”

Comment 2: Religion Irrespective of Morality

Part 2: Morality and Early Christianity

Morality and the Evolution of Christianity

The Sermon on the Mount: Christian or Universal Ethics?

Foundations of Early Christian Morality in the Light of Modern Argumentation Analysis

Are Christians Better People? On the Contrast between “Us” and “Them” in Early Christian Rhetoric

Comment 1: Morality, Networks, and Cultural Evolution: A Short Commentary on Petri Luomanen’s “Morality and the Evolution of Christianity”

Comment 2: Content and Motivation in Christian Ethics: Comments on Syreeni’s, Thurén’s, and Räisänen’s Papers

Part 3: Morality and Christianity in Everyday Life

Learning and Living the Golden Rule: Religious Communities and Morality

Religion and Moral Choice: Does an Innate Moral Sense Account for Religion’s Influence on Moral Choice?

Religion and Morality: Empirical Illustrations

Comment 1: A Theologian’s Response to Ammerman, Monroe, and Pessi

Comment 2: Religion, Altruism, and Everyday Life: Some Reflections

Synthesis for Further Discussion

Index of Modern Authors

Subject Index