An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity

An Argument to Prove that the Abolishing of Christianity in England May, as Things Now Stand Today, be Attended with Some Inconveniences, and Perhaps not Produce Those Many Good Effects Proposed Thereby, commonly referred to as An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, is a satirical essay by Jonathan Swift defending Christianity, and in particular, Anglicanism, against contemporary assaults by its various opponents, including freethinkers, deists, Antitrinitarians, atheists, Socinians, and other so-called "Dissenters." The essay was written in 1712 and, as was common at the time, was distributed widely as a pamphlet. The essay is known for its sophisticated, multi-layered irony, and is regarded as a prime example of political satire.

In the essay, Swift answers several real and rhetorical arguments against Christianity. First, he responds to the argument that the abolition of Christianity would expand the liberty of conscience by arguing that if great wits could not denounce the Church, they might instead turn to the denunciation of the government, causing political unrest. Swift then addresses the argument that the Church, then supported by government funds, was a drain on resources that might be better spent elsewhere. Swift responds that if the funds used to support the clergy were used instead to fund freethinking young gentlemen, the money would, in short time, be squandered away on vices, and divided by disagreeable marriages. Next, Swift counters the argument that the abolition of Christianity would open up another day of the week (the Sabbath) to commercial activities for the benefit of the nation by arguing that the Sabbath provides benefits by allowing lawyers time to write their briefs, merchants to tally their books, and others to exercise, go to coffeehouses, and otherwise enjoy themselves, ironically implying that the argument is specious because the Sabbath was not kept as intended in any case. Swift then counters the argument that abolishing Christianity would remove arbitrary sectarian distinctions between Whig and Tory, High Church and Low Church, etc. that arguably damaged civil discourse and politics, by arguing that Christianity merely stands in as a convenient and arbitrary source of such distinctions and that abolishing it would only allow other equally arbitrary distinctions, essentially arguing that the problem is merely semantic and that such distinctions are a part of human nature.

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