Just over a month ago I wrote an article inviting my readers to “Share Your Candidate for the Worst Argument Against Christianity.” It is now time to offer the complementary invitation of sharing your candidate for the best argument against Christianity.
What do I mean by “best”? Well, for starters one expects that the argument will be valid (deductive; inductive; or abductive). But you need not bother articulating and numbering premises. More often than not in life we communicate our arguments as enthymemes (i.e. an argument in which one or more premise is not explicitly stated). And you’re free to share your argument in that form if you prefer.
Next, we must keep in mind that calling an argument the “best” is a value judgment relative to particular criteria. I have stipulated that validity is a necessary criterion for qualifying as “best”. But beyond that I’m leaving the evaluative criteria open. Thus, some folks may define the “best” argument as the one they find personally compelling, that is, the argument that was for them a catalyst for fomenting (or sustaining) skepticism about Christianity. Others may define the “best” argument as one that they will anticipate appealing to the widest constituency, even if they have not found it personally compelling. And so Christians are especially welcome to submit their best arguments against Christianity. There is no right or wrong here, but only different definitions of “best”. If you like, feel free to articulate the criteria by which you are measuring “best”, though that is not required.
Finally, keep in mind that an argument against Christianity need not target explicitly Christian content. Thus, while one argument may target the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, another may target the existence of a perfectly good God. While only the former argument is specified to Christianity, each of them targets an essential Christian belief, and thus each qualifies as an argument against Christianity.
