Stewart Goetz is the Ross Frederick Wicks Distinguished Professor in Philosophy and Religion at Ursinus College, USA. His previous books include The Soul Hypothesis (co-edited with Mark Baker, 2011), A Brief History of the Soul (co-authored with Charles Taliaferro, 2011), The Purpose of Life: A Theistic Perspective (2012), The Routledge Companion to Theism (co-edited with Charles Taliaferro and Victoria Harrison, 2012), and A Philosophical Walking Tour with C. S. Lewis (2015). He is the Series Editor of Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy and Religion.Joshua W. Seachris is Program Director at the Center for Philosophy of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He is the editor of Exploring the Meaning of Life: An Anthology and Guide (2013), and has authored articles on a range of topics, including the problem of evil, Confucius and virtue, the meaning of life, and death.

… [A] notable range of considerations and responses, from how God could (or would) make life meaningful to the roles of perfectionism and hedonism … [T]hese essays succeed in providing a bridge between philosophy and religious studies.

• Acknowledgements IntroductionStewart Goetz and Joshua W. SeachrisSection I: Clarifying the Question: Conceptual and Theistic Tools1. The Meaning of Life and Narratives: A Framework for Understanding and Answering the Question of Life’s MeaningJoshua W. Seachris, University of Notre Dame, USASection II: Meaningfulness and God2. What God Could (and Couldn't) Do to Make Life MeaningfulTim Mawson, University of Oxford, UK3. Hedonistic Happiness Life's MeaningStewart Goetz, Ursinus College, USA4. Belief that Life has Meaning Confirms that Life has Meaning: A Bayesian ApproachTrent Dougherty, Baylor University, USA5. Can the Demands of the Perfection Thesis Be Trivialized? Nicholas Waghorn, St. Benet’s Hall, University of Oxford, UKSection III: Meaningfulness, Time, and Eternity6. Meaningfulness, Eternity, and TheismJohn Cottingham, University of Reading, UK, Heythrop College, University of London, UK, and St. John’s College, University of Oxford, UK7. The Expansion and Contraction of the Meaning of LifeCharles Taliaferro, St. Olaf College, USA8. How God Makes Life a Lot More Meaningful Richard Swinburne, Oriel College, University of Oxford, UKSection IV: The Purpose(s) of Life9. Affective Gethsemane Meaning for LifePaul Moser, Loyola University in Chicago, USA10. St. Isaac's DictumTerence Cuneo, University of Vermont, USASection V: Meaning in Ecclesiastes 11. Wisdom and Meaning: Philosophy and the Theology of the Meaning of Life in EcclesiastesCraig Bartholomew, Redeemer University College, Canada12. "Meaningless, Meaningless, Says Qohelet": Finding the Meaning of Life in the Book of EcclesiastesTremper Longman III, Westmont College, USANotes on ContributorsBibliography Index

Stewart Goetz is the Ross Frederick Wicks Distinguished Professor in Philosophy and Religion at Ursinus College, USA. His previous books include The Soul Hypothesis (co-edited with Mark Baker, 2011), A Brief History of the Soul (co-authored with Charles Taliaferro, 2011), The Purpose of Life: A Theistic Perspective (2012), The Routledge Companion to Theism (co-edited with Charles Taliaferro and Victoria Harrison, 2012), and A Philosophical Walking Tour with C. S. Lewis (2015). He is the Series Editor of Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy and Religion.Joshua W. Seachris is Program Director at the Center for Philosophy of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He is the editor of Exploring the Meaning of Life: An Anthology and Guide (2013), and has authored articles on a range of topics, including the problem of evil, Confucius and virtue, the meaning of life, and death.

… [A] notable range of considerations and responses, from how God could (or would) make life meaningful to the roles of perfectionism and hedonism … [T]hese essays succeed in providing a bridge between philosophy and religious studies.

• Acknowledgements IntroductionStewart Goetz and Joshua W. SeachrisSection I: Clarifying the Question: Conceptual and Theistic Tools1. The Meaning of Life and Narratives: A Framework for Understanding and Answering the Question of Life’s MeaningJoshua W. Seachris, University of Notre Dame, USASection II: Meaningfulness and God2. What God Could (and Couldn't) Do to Make Life MeaningfulTim Mawson, University of Oxford, UK3. Hedonistic Happiness Life's MeaningStewart Goetz, Ursinus College, USA4. Belief that Life has Meaning Confirms that Life has Meaning: A Bayesian ApproachTrent Dougherty, Baylor University, USA5. Can the Demands of the Perfection Thesis Be Trivialized? Nicholas Waghorn, St. Benet’s Hall, University of Oxford, UKSection III: Meaningfulness, Time, and Eternity6. Meaningfulness, Eternity, and TheismJohn Cottingham, University of Reading, UK, Heythrop College, University of London, UK, and St. John’s College, University of Oxford, UK7. The Expansion and Contraction of the Meaning of LifeCharles Taliaferro, St. Olaf College, USA8. How God Makes Life a Lot More Meaningful Richard Swinburne, Oriel College, University of Oxford, UKSection IV: The Purpose(s) of Life9. Affective Gethsemane Meaning for LifePaul Moser, Loyola University in Chicago, USA10. St. Isaac's DictumTerence Cuneo, University of Vermont, USASection V: Meaning in Ecclesiastes 11. Wisdom and Meaning: Philosophy and the Theology of the Meaning of Life in EcclesiastesCraig Bartholomew, Redeemer University College, Canada12. "Meaningless, Meaningless, Says Qohelet": Finding the Meaning of Life in the Book of EcclesiastesTremper Longman III, Westmont College, USANotes on ContributorsBibliography Index