Is Christianity intellectually defensible?

Does God exist? Did Jesus rise after death? Was Mary a virgin? Will Christianity continue to shape the West?

Written by Bo Winegard

PHILO: Christianity is not only defensible, it is true. I will provide four chief arguments for this assertion, which is admittedly provocative in an era of widespread skepticism and atheism. First, Christianity explains the existence of the universe. Second, it provides meaning and encourages reverence and awe. Third, it humbles and disciplines. And fourth, it promotes a healthy, flourishing civilization. Of course, we will discuss each of these in more detail, so I’ll let you make your opening case against Christianity before responding.

MEANDER: Excellent. I look forward to this debate.

Christianity consists of a series of empirical propositions and hypotheses and the most important of these, the ones that distinguish Christianity from other ideologies and religions, are false. And because they are false, Christianity is false.

You might object that these propositions are not false because they are not even empirical claims. Science and religion belong to non-overlapping realms and can coexist peacefully. Religion deals with values. Science deals with facts.

But this position is untenable and easily falsified. The proposition that Jesus rose from the dead is an empirical assertion. It is not a moral or a poetic assertion. Similarly, the proposition that Mary was a virgin when she conceived is an empirical assertion. I could list many more, but I’ll refrain since the point is clear.

These assertions, which are crucial to Christianity, are obviously untrue. Jesus did not rise from the dead. And Mary did not conceive as a virgin. Christianity’s metaphysics are incoherent and require subjugating reason to tradition and conformity. Faith is an excuse for believing that which one cannot justify. And any ideology, any system of thought that requires subordinating logic and rationality to some supposedly higher good, e.g., the family, the nation, the Church, should be rejected.

The only honest and dignified orientation toward the universe is agnosticism. Even if it pains our hearts and thwarts our deepest desires, we must admit that the world provides no evidence for an omnipotent and benevolent god. In fact, if we are being honest, we must admit that the world, replete with tragedy and disaster, provides better evidence for a malevolent or at least a spectacularly incompetent god. As Stendhal is said to have quipped, “God’s only excuse is that he doesn’t exist.”  

Now, having said this, I should note that I am not an anti-religious crusader, not an atheistic Don Quixote attempting to slay metaphysical dragons. People are innately superstitious. Believing in extravagant and implausible metaphysics is as natural to them as singing elaborate songs is to a warbler. Humans, it might be said, are the metaphysical species. Therefore, trying to eradicate religion is hopeless. And unwise.

But that is not the question we are debating. The question is: Is Christianity defensible? And the answer to that is clear: It is not. It is false. And it should be rejected by honest men and women.