← All books

Moral Values and the Idea of God

W. R. Sorley, Moral Values and the Idea of God (Gifford Lectures, 1918)

W. R. Sorley, Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge

Careful to a fault, and honest about the fault: the moral argument alone does not close the case, and it says so.

Catch rate
Not found in the wild
Base research
200
Stat total
336

Base stats

Every stat is a checkable fact about the actual book, not a designer's mood. Bars are drawn against the highest value any book reaches.

Stamina86
Contend88
Defend96
Popularity66
Total336

Cited for this book

Sorley delivered these Gifford Lectures at Aberdeen during the First World War and published them in 1918. The argument is narrow and made carefully: moral values are objective — they bind whether or not anyone obeys or even notices them — and an authority that holds like that has to belong to a Mind, whose nature is goodness. He does not claim it proves God by itself. He claims it rules out any account of the world with nothing but matter in it, and leaves the rest to the other arguments.

Moves learned

By levelling up. A book that develops keeps what it knew and learns the rest on its new schedule.

LvMoveTypeCat.PwrAccPP
1Chapter…BibleScripture12
44Not Along One LineRationalityArgument68100%20
46Random VerseBibleArgument10100%30
48It Held Before You Saw ItEthicsArgument82100%15
52The Order of a Supreme MindEthicsArgument92100%10
What Would Jesus Tech

Helping Christians use tech, find rest, and glorify God.

Listen
All Episodes
Explore Topics
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
About
The Hosts
Speakers
Books
Scripture
Scholar's Dream Game
Contact
Patreon
© 2026 What Would Jesus Tech · whatwouldjesustech.com·