Dr. Kurt Jaros, VeracityHill.com
This article will be subject to revision and updating. Created October 8th, 2023. Last Revised August 29th, 2024.
I saw an AP news article recently described America’s continue toward non-religion (Nones). This sparked a reminder for a case for Christianity that I have been working on deep in the recesses of my Apple Notes iPhone application. Whenever I come across a study that supports religiousity or Christianity, more specifically, I’m creating an archive. I have decided to make this (small) archive live at this website. Here I explain the rationale for The Utilitarian Argument for Christianity.
Pascal’s Wager may be familiar to those with some experience in apologetics ministry. For those who are not, here are some links for your introduction to The Wager.
One of the challenges to the Wager is one of conviction. Suppose you thought the Game Theory all worked out and that you should believe that God exists. But, you just don’t feel convicted by this truth. What should you do then?
In this data dump, I will provide some rationale (via an ABDUCTIVE argument) for thinking that first, religion and then, Christianity specifically, is the preferred ethical lifestyle to adopt. In this respect, Christianity is the best working framework for eudaimonia … the ancient Greek conception of the good life. This argument should be appealing to utilitarians, individuals who hold that we should perform the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. One tactic theistic philosophers have had for critiquing utilitarianism is a negative approach, one that undercuts utilitarianism for its inability to define or ground what makes something good. This expanded argument, on the other hand, takes a positive approach. The argument says, ‘Yes! Let’s do the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people … so let’s all become Christians.’
Macro-Social Goods
There are great number of books argument for the great good that Christianity has brought to Western Civilization. Most recently, Tom Holland’s Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World analyzes just how much the moral progress of Western civilization has depended upon Christian ethics and Christian people. Holland argues that we swim in Christian waters, and that even non-Christians frame issues of injustice in Christian ways, even thought they may not realize it!
Rodney Stark’s The Rise of Christianity is a shorter book looking at historical growth of Christianity, including relevant factors of moral progress such as caring for the poor, women’s rights, and self-sacrifice.
A great argument can be made that Christianity has done the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people at the macro-social level. While this might gain the admiration of utilitarians, it is removed from personal conviction. It might not persuade the utilitiarian to change her beliefs about God or Christianity, in particular, or her lifestyle habits. In order to do that, we should also demonstrate why her personal livelihood should adopt religious and more specifically, Christian theism … because it’s a good for her.
Micro-Social Goods
Before describing the individual benefits of religious belief (and action subsequently flowing from belief), allow me to clarify that what I am about to propose is not the Prosperity Gospel or Word of Faith message. Rather, this is like the Proverbs, which provide general truths. One might seek a heterosexual, monogamous marriage (one trait of eudaimonia), but end up marrying a narcissistic abusing partner (not eudaimonia). But, if one were to become a Christian, they would have the best chance of doing the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people, which would include themselves.
For Being Religious
1. Being Religious is good for your mental health.
A. “Put faith in mental health: Attending religious services can ward off
depression”
News Article: https://studyfinds.org/religious-services-depression/
Academic Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31811549/
2. Being Religious is good for your sex life (mostly Christian study)
A. “God bless: Strongly religious people have a more satisfying love life”
News Article: https://studyfinds.org/religious-people-love-life/
Academic Study:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2022.2108745
3. Being Religious avoids “deaths of despair” for middle age people
A. News Article: “Rise in middle-aged white ‘deaths of despair’ may be fueled by
loss of religion, new research paper argues”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/deaths-of-despair-may-be-driven-by- loss-of-religion-new-research-paper-argues-11673876749
4. Being Religious is good for your marriage
A. “Relationship satisfaction is higher among married young women than their cohabiting or dating peers.”
YouGov Study in partnership with IF Studies: “Who Asked Whom: Does it Matter Who Makes the First Move in a Relationship?” https://ifstudies.org/blog/who-asked-whom-does-it-matter-who-makes-the- first-move-in-a-relationship
5. Being Religious (But Attending a Congregation) Leads to Happiness
Pew Research: “Religion’s Relationship to Happiness, Civic Engagement and Health Around the World”
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/01/31/religions-relationship-to-happiness-civic-engagement-and-health-around-the-world/
Further trove of resources for religiosity and mental health: https://undeceptions.com/podcast/mental-health/
For Being Christian
A. Being Christian is good for your marriage
- Principle #1: “Enjoy the wife of your youth” – Proverbs 5:18
News Article: “Study: Marry Young, Marry Your First, Stay Married”
Think Tank Study: https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-religious-marriage-paradox- younger-marriage-less-divorce - Principle #2: Don’t Co-Habitat – “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24)
News Article Sub-title: “Research shows that marrying young without ever having lived together with a partner makes for some of the lowest divorce rates - Co-habitation may not get you out of poverty or help you build wealth, but marriage will
B. The Traditional Christian View of Family (i.e. monogamous marriage and having children) is inherently, objectively offensive to those with alternative experiences. This implies rebellion of the natural order.
- A. “Be Fruitful and Multiply” – God to Humanity, Principle #3 Have Children … Lots of Them “The connection between faith and family cuts in the opposite direction as well. As Eberstadt observes: ‘In an age when many people live lives that contradict the traditional Christian moral code, the mere existence of that code becomes a lightning rod for criticism and vituperation—which further drives some people away from church’ (emphasis original). In other words, if your parents were divorced, or you grew up with two mommies, or you are currently sleeping with your girlfriend, or you are not particularly enamored of the thought of monogamy and raising children, the Christian faith—which has always been a scandal to sinners—carries an additional offense, which previous generations did not have to overcome. ‘People do not like to be told they are wrong,’ Eberstadt notes, ‘or that those whom they love have done wrong. But Christianity cannot help sending that message.’
– Mary Eberstadt, Original Source How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization published by Templeton Press, 2014 - Patriarchy Alert: “Young Men Who Asked For the First Date Are Happier Than Young Women Who Asked For the First Date”
YouGov Study in partnership with IF Studies: “Who Asked Whom: Does it Matter Who Makes the First Move in a Relationship?”
The traditional, Christian view of men as leaders in the social structure reflects our innate biological drive, resulting in (generally speaking) satisfaction for men who ask for the first date.
C. Being a Christian is good for your mental health
- Biblical application of forgiveness (not hasty forgiveness) is good for your health. Human Health and Christianity in the Context of the Dilemma of Forgiveness in The Journal of Religious Health
With all of this scientific and sociological data presented, I think a good case can be made that to live the Christian lifestyle will lead to the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people (benefitting even people who are not Christian!). Therefore, everybody should become a Christian!
Getting back to my introductory point about conviction, if you just don’t feel like Christianity is true, then I suggest that one order their behavior and lifestyle as if it were true. For example, start attending church on a regular basis and even get involved in the community life of that church. In this way, you will be placing yourself in the company of Christian people and in so doing I think you’ll find that your mental beliefs will begin to resonate with conviction.