NAME THAT FALLACY
“Your argument about God is wrong because you're an idiot.”
What is Ad Hominem?
“You're only a Christian because your parents raised you as a Christian.”
What is the Genetic Fallacy?
“Nobody has proven that ghosts don't exist, therefore ghosts exist.”
What is Appeal to Ignorance?
“How can you believe Christianity when Christians have done terrible things throughout history?”
What is a Red Herring?
“If Christianity were true, Christians would be good people. My Christian neighbor cheated on his wife. Therefore, Christianity isn't true.”
What is a Hasty Generalization?
“Everybody at school thinks Christianity is outdated, so Christianity must be outdated.”
What is Bandwagon / Appeal to Popularity?
“A famous actor said Christianity is harmful. He's won three Oscars, so he obviously knows what he's talking about.”
What is Appeal to Authority?
“I wore my A2GG shirt to my test and got an A. The shirt made me smarter.”
What is Post Hoc / False Cause?
“If evolution were true, Christianity would be false. Therefore, you must choose between Christianity and evolution.”
What is a False Dilemma?
“Have you finally admitted that the Bible is full of contradictions?”
What is a Loaded Question?
Answering either “yes” or “no” accepts something hidden in the question.
“Either you believe in science or you believe in God.”
What is a False Dilemma?
“You Christians talk about sexual morality, but I've seen Christians committing sexual sins too.”
Therefore, Christian sexual ethics must be false.
What is Tu Quoque?
“One Christian I met was incredibly judgmental. Christians are judgmental people.”
What is a Hasty Generalization?
“The universe is made entirely of matter that isn't conscious. Therefore, the universe as a whole cannot contain consciousness.”
What is the Fallacy of Composition?
Why: What's true of individual parts doesn't automatically have to be true of the whole.
“No Christian would ever treat someone that way.”
Someone provides an example of a professing Christian doing exactly that.
“Well, then they obviously weren't a real Christian.”
What is No True Scotsman?
Important apologetics nuance: Not every distinction between genuine and nominal Christianity is this fallacy. Jesus Himself distinguishes false professors from genuine disciples. The fallacy occurs when someone arbitrarily redefines the category simply to escape a counterexample.
“Christians say God created the universe, so basically Christians believe a magical man in the clouds snapped His fingers and everything appeared.”
What is a Straw Man?
“Christianity can't possibly be true. Think about how horrible it would feel if someone I loved weren't in heaven.”
What is Appeal to Emotion?
“If Christians allow drums in worship, next we'll have concerts, then nobody will care about preaching, and eventually the church won't even believe the Bible.”
What is a Slippery Slope?
“If God is loving, He would never judge anyone. God is loving. Therefore, God never judges anyone.”
What is Begging the Question?
The hidden premise—a loving God cannot judge—already assumes the disputed definition of love.
“God must have caused the Big Bang because scientists don't know everything about what caused it.”
What is Appeal to Ignorance / God-of-the-Gaps Argument?
“Miracles are impossible because supernatural events don't happen. We know supernatural events don't happen because miracles are impossible.”
What is Circular Reasoning / Begging the Question?
“If God existed, science would be unable to explain the universe. Science can explain natural phenomena. Therefore, God doesn't exist.”
What is a False Dilemma?
***Daily Double if you can explain why this is a false dilemma***
“Christians say they have faith, meaning they trust Christ based on what they believe is true. But faith means believing something without evidence. Therefore Christianity is belief without evidence.”
What is Equivocation?
Why: The argument quietly changes the definition of faith.
“You claim Jesus existed? Fine—show me evidence outside the Bible.”
You provide Tacitus and Josephus.
“Those don't count. Show me archaeological evidence.”
You provide archaeological evidence for relevant people and places.
“That doesn't prove Jesus. Show me something written during His lifetime.”
Every time evidence is provided, the required standard changes.
What is Moving the Goalposts?
“Christianity teaches that God created everything. If everything needs a creator, then God needs a creator. But Christians say God doesn't need a creator. Therefore, the cosmological argument contradicts itself.”
What is a Straw Man?