Dennis Prager Says Moral Absolutes Depend on God as New Book Hits Shelves Next Week

Dennis Prager is staking a central claim in his new book that moral absolutes derive only from a creator, an argument he will press publicly as the book arrives next week. The release comes after a 2024 accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down and required substantial assistance to complete the manuscript.

Development details

The book, titled If There Is No God: The Battle Over Who Defines Good and Evil, is drawn from a single weekend lecture Prager delivered to 74 teenagers in 1992 and will reach shelves next week. Prager, a longtime radio host and founder of the digital educational platform PragerU, frames the volume as a full-throated defense of objective, biblical morality at a moment when he says belief in such absolutes faces increasing challenge.

Prager, born in 1948, has published more than a dozen books on religion and morality. Portions of the current book were finalized under extraordinary circumstances: in 2024 he suffered a catastrophic fall that left him paralyzed from the waist down, and a portion of the manuscript was completed by dictation from his hospital bed. Joel Alperson helped organize and record the original weekend lecture and assisted with dictation and editing during recovery.

Dennis Prager: Context and escalation

Prager’s central assertion is explicit: only if there is a God can there be absolute moral truths. He discussed belief in a creator in a recent television appearance on Life, Liberty and Levin and expanded the argument in an excerpt published ahead of the book’s release. The excerpt frames modern moral disputes—questions about good and evil—as evidence that objective answers depend on biblical foundations.

The claim has prompted immediate pushback. A prominent science-and-culture blog challenged both the idea that religion is the only source of morality and the existence of an objective moral standard, posing classic ethical dilemmas—abortion, animal rights, trolley-style problems—as examples where moral answers remain contested. That blog also noted the publication’s editorial slant in favor of religion and referenced the outlet’s founder, Bari Weiss.

What makes this notable is that the book, though rooted in material from 1992, was completed under the constraints of a serious injury, merging decades-old lectures with post-accident dictation to produce a text that Prager intends to promote from his hospital room.

Immediate impact

The immediate consequences are both personal and public. On a personal level, the 2024 fall changed how Prager finished the book: dictation and outside editing were required, and Joel Alperson is explicitly credited in the book’s introduction for his organizing and recording role. Publicly, the book’s release has already generated a schedule of engagement: an interview with Abigail Shrier is set for next week and will be conducted from Prager’s hospital room.

The controversy over the book’s thesis has drawn commentary from voices outside Prager’s circle, reinforcing the cultural split the author addresses. Media appearances and the forthcoming interview are likely to rehearse the core dispute: whether moral objectivity requires a theistic foundation or whether morality can be grounded in nonreligious frameworks.

Forward outlook

Two confirmed milestones govern the near term: the book’s arrival on shelves next week and the planned interview between Prager and Abigail Shrier, which will take place from his hospital room. Prager has already made at least one television appearance to discuss belief in a creator, and the excerpted chapters published ahead of release establish the themes he will press in forthcoming media engagements.

Beyond those scheduled events, the book is positioned to continue the conversation about objective morality, drawing responses from critics and supporters alike. The immediate timeline—book release and hospital-room interview—will provide the first public test of how Prager’s argument lands when presented in full and subject to sustained questioning.