Theodore Drange in his book Nonbelief & Evil has proposed the argument from Nonbelief (ANB). It goes as follows: The gospel messege = the following three propositons: (a) There exists a being who rules the entire universe. (b) That being has a son. (c) The ruler of the universe sent his son to be the savior of humanity. Situation S = the situation (or situation type) of all, or almost all, humans since the time of Jesus of Nazareth coming to believe all the propositions of the gospel message by the time of their physical death. Using the above definitions, ANB may be expressed as follows: (A) If the God of evangelical Christianity were to exist, then he would possess all the following four properties (among others): (1) being able to bring about situation S, all things considered; (2) wanting to bring about situation S, i.e.,having it among his desires; (3) not wanting anything else that necessarily conflicts with his desire to bring about situation S, as strongly as he wants to bring about situation S; (4) being rational (which implies always acting in accord with his own highest purposes). (B) If there would exist a being who has all four properties listed above, then situation S would have to obtain. (C) But situation S does not obtain. It is not the case that all, or almost all, humans since the time of Jesus of Nazareth have come to believe all the propositions of the gospel message by the time of their physical death. (D) Therefore [from (B)&(C)], there does not exist a being who has all four properties listed in premise (A). (E) Hence [from (A)&(D)], the God of evangelical Christianity does not exist. This is Drange's ANB. I thought it would be of interest to believers and nonbelievers.
